Old, antique double-cordiform world map, by Oronce Fine. 1540
The Blaeus: Willem Janszoon, Cornelis & Joan
Willem Jansz. Blaeu and his son Joan Blaeu are the seventeenth century's most widely known cartographic publishers.
Willem Jansz. (also written Guilielmus Janssonius) = Willem Janszoon Blaeu was born in Uitgeest (Netherlands), near Alkmaar, in 1571. He studied mathematics under Tycho Brahe and learned the theory and practice of astronomical observations and the art of instrument- and globe-making.
In 1596, he came to Amsterdam, where he settled down as a globe-, instrument- and mapmaker. He published his first cartographic work (a globe) in 1599 and probably published his first printed map (a map of the Netherlands) in 1604. He specialised in maritime cartography, published the first edition of the pilot guide Het Licht der Zeevaert in 1608, and was appointed Hydrographer of the V.O.C. (United East India Company) in 1633. After publishing books, wall maps, globes, charts and pilot guides for thirty years, he brought out his first atlas, Atlas Appendix (1630). This was the beginning of the great tradition of atlas-making by the Blaeus.
In 1618, another mapmaker, bookseller and publisher, Johannes Janssonius, established himself in Amsterdam next door to Blaeu's shop. No wonder these two neighbours began accusing each other of copying and stealing their information and became fierce competitors who did not have a good word to say about each other. In about 1621 Willem Jansz. decided to end the confusion between his name and his competitor's and assumed his grandfather's nickname, 'blauwe Willem' ('blue Willem'), as the family name; after that, he called himself Willem Jansz. Blaeu.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu died in 1638, leaving his prospering business to his sons, Cornelis and Joan. We only know that Cornelis's name occurs in the prefaces of books and atlases until c. 1645.
Joan Blaeu, born in Amsterdam in 1596, became a partner in his father's book trade and printing business. 1638, he was appointed his father's successor in the Hydrographic Office of the V.O.C. His efforts culminated in the magnificent Atlas Major and the town books of the Netherlands and Italy – works unsurpassed in history and modern times, giving eternal fame to the name of the Blaeu's.
A fire ruined the business on February 23, 1672, and one year later, Dr. Joan Blaeu died. The fire and the director's passing caused the complete sale of the Blaeu House's stock. Five public auctions dispersed the remaining books, atlases, copperplates, globes, etc., among many other map dealers and publishers in Amsterdam. The majority was acquired by several booksellers acting in partnership.
In the succeeding years, the remaining printing department remained in the hands of the Blaeu family until 1695, when the printing house's inventory was sold at a public auction. That meant the end of the Blaeu family as a printing house of world renown.
Nova, Et Integra Universi Orbis Descriptio.
Item Number: 26410 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > World and Polar
Antique double-cordiform world map by Oronce Fine.
Date on map: 1540
Size: 29 x 42cm (11 x 16 inches)
Verso: Blank
Condition: Excellent.
Condition Rating: A+
References: Shirley (World), 66 State 4; Clancy, p.122 Map 8.1; Schilder (Australia), p.257 map #7.
From: MELA Pomponius. De Orbis Situ libri tres. Paris, Christian Wechel, 1540.
"The eminent French cartographer Oronce Fine prepared this double-cordiform map: a rendering considerably in advance of any others printed earlier. ...
Fine's map is a detailed woodcut, geographically much superior to the large oval map by Sebastian Münster-Hans Holbein in the Basle editions. Much of the right-hand (or southern) cordum is taken up with the new Terra Australis, noted as being 'recently discovered but not yet explored.' Beyond the tip of South America is marked the Mare magellanicum, one of he first uses of the navigator's name in such a context. Central America contains numerous place names reflecting the conquests and explorations of Cortez in the early 1520s, but further north Fine has unambiguously made the North America continent part of the eastern extremity of Asia. Four islands make up the north polar regions. The separate island of Greenland is named, and a large promontory marked Gaccalar (supposedly Labrador) extend from the North American land mass into the Atlantic.
There is a detailed floral surround to the map, two mermaids, two muscular cherubs, the French royal coat of arms and, at the head of the map, the title in a flowing banner. Oronce Fine's map is one that deserved enlargement on to two sheets. Unfortunately, in many cases the margins of surviving copies are badly frayed as after folding once for insertion into the book they were still too wide for the binding." (Shirley)
Finé's map is also one of the earliest printed maps to show the southern continent as a distinct landmass to counterbalance, cartographically speaking, the northern hemisphere.
The Blaeus: Willem Janszoon, Cornelis & Joan
Willem Jansz. Blaeu and his son Joan Blaeu are the seventeenth century's most widely known cartographic publishers.
Willem Jansz. (also written Guilielmus Janssonius) = Willem Janszoon Blaeu was born in Uitgeest (Netherlands), near Alkmaar, in 1571. He studied mathematics under Tycho Brahe and learned the theory and practice of astronomical observations and the art of instrument- and globe-making.
In 1596, he came to Amsterdam, where he settled down as a globe-, instrument- and mapmaker. He published his first cartographic work (a globe) in 1599 and probably published his first printed map (a map of the Netherlands) in 1604. He specialised in maritime cartography, published the first edition of the pilot guide Het Licht der Zeevaert in 1608, and was appointed Hydrographer of the V.O.C. (United East India Company) in 1633. After publishing books, wall maps, globes, charts and pilot guides for thirty years, he brought out his first atlas, Atlas Appendix (1630). This was the beginning of the great tradition of atlas-making by the Blaeus.
In 1618, another mapmaker, bookseller and publisher, Johannes Janssonius, established himself in Amsterdam next door to Blaeu's shop. No wonder these two neighbours began accusing each other of copying and stealing their information and became fierce competitors who did not have a good word to say about each other. In about 1621 Willem Jansz. decided to end the confusion between his name and his competitor's and assumed his grandfather's nickname, 'blauwe Willem' ('blue Willem'), as the family name; after that, he called himself Willem Jansz. Blaeu.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu died in 1638, leaving his prospering business to his sons, Cornelis and Joan. We only know that Cornelis's name occurs in the prefaces of books and atlases until c. 1645.
Joan Blaeu, born in Amsterdam in 1596, became a partner in his father's book trade and printing business. 1638, he was appointed his father's successor in the Hydrographic Office of the V.O.C. His efforts culminated in the magnificent Atlas Major and the town books of the Netherlands and Italy – works unsurpassed in history and modern times, giving eternal fame to the name of the Blaeu's.
A fire ruined the business on February 23, 1672, and one year later, Dr. Joan Blaeu died. The fire and the director's passing caused the complete sale of the Blaeu House's stock. Five public auctions dispersed the remaining books, atlases, copperplates, globes, etc., among many other map dealers and publishers in Amsterdam. The majority was acquired by several booksellers acting in partnership.
In the succeeding years, the remaining printing department remained in the hands of the Blaeu family until 1695, when the printing house's inventory was sold at a public auction. That meant the end of the Blaeu family as a printing house of world renown.