Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae Caeterarumque Regionum illi Adiacentium Exacta Descriptio
| Reference: | S43953 |
| Author | Willem Janszoon BLAEU |
| Year: | 1613 |
| Zone: | Lituania |
| Measures: | 1100 x 775 mm |
| Reference: | S43953 |
| Author | Willem Janszoon BLAEU |
| Year: | 1613 |
| Zone: | Lituania |
| Measures: | 1100 x 775 mm |
Description
Fine example of this important wall map of Lithuania and parts of Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, etc. extending to Cracow, Kiev, Warsaw, Riga, Konigsberg, Dantzig, Leopolis, etc.
The map was engraved by Hessel Gerritsz from original drafts prepared under the instructions of Prince Nicolas Christophe Radziwill, and first issued in 1613 by Willem Blaeu, under his original imprint Guilhelmus Janssonis. This is one of the earliest maps published by Blaeu, who did not incorporate this map into an atlas until approximately 1630.
Example of the fifth state of seven according with Aliaksei Adamovitch (cf. Map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1613, 2021), published in the 1640 edition of Appendix Theatri A. Ortelii et Atlantis G. Mercatoris.
“The well-known map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dated 1613, became widespread only with the beginning of the publication of the atlases Appendix Theatri A. Ortelii et Atlantis G. Mercatoris by Willem Blaeu in 1631 (Koeman 2:021). The only extant copy of the original issue is the wall map located in Weimar (Duchess Anna Amalia Library), traditionally attributed by researchers to an earlier period, but there is no evidence for this (the map could have been made to order in 1630–31). The second, more famous "Uppsala" copy (Uppsala University Library) of the map was made after 1631. In any case, researchers of Blaeu's cartographic heritage for quite a long time had questions about the intensity of using the map - from 1613 to 1631, and even about the dating of the map itself by 1613”. Adamovitch
The magnificent engraving by Gerard Hesselsz. includes the Lithuanian coat of arms within an elaborate cartouche, an ornate title piece of scroll work, a wind rose, and three ships in full sail on the Baltic Sea. Buczek remarks that "the map ... occupies a very prominent position among ... European cartography ... and ... was also a great step forward in the mapping of the lands then forming part of Poland ... there are on the map 1020 towns and villages and within the boundaries of the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania alone there are 511 towns, 31 villages, and 1 monastery” (cf. Buczek, The History of Polish Cartography from the 15th to the 18th Century, 1966, p. 58-63).
Etching with fine colouring, usual folds, very good condition.
Bibliografia
Aliaksei Adamovitch, Map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1613, 2021; T. Buczek, The History of Polish Cartography from the 15th to the 18th Century, 1966, p. 58-63.
Willem Janszoon BLAEU (Uitgeest 1571- Amsterdam 1638)
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At the beginning of the seventeenth century Amsterdam was becoming one of the wealthiest trading cities in Europe, the base of the Dutch East India Company and a centre of banking and diamond trades, its people noted for their intellectual skills and splendid craftsmanship.
At this propitious time in the history of the Northern Provinces, Willem Janszoon Blaeu, who was born at Alkmaar in 1571 and trained in astronomy and the sciences by Tycho Brahe, the celebrated Danish astronomer, founded a business in Amsterdam in 1599 as a globe and instrument maker.
It was not long before the business expanded, publishing maps, topographical works and books of sea charts as well as constructing globes.
His most notable early work was a map of Holland (1604), a fine World Map (1605-06) and Het Licht der Zeevaerdt (The Light of Navigation), a marine atlas, which went through many editions in different languages and under a variety of titles.
At the same time Blaeu was planning a major atlas intended to include the most up-to-date maps of the whole known world but progress on so vast a project was slow and not until he bought between 30 and 40 plates of the Mercator Atlas from Jodocus Hondius II to add to his own collection was he able to publish, in 1630, a 60-map volume with the title Atlantis Appendix.
It was another five years before the first two volumes of his planned world atlas, Atlas Novus or the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum were issued. About this time he was appointed Hydrographer to the East India Company.
In 1638 Willem Blaeu died and the business passed into the hands of his sons, Joan and Cornelis, who continued and expanded their father's ambitious plans.
After the death of Cornelis, Joan directed the work alone and the whole series of 6 volumes was eventually completed about 1655.
As soon as it was finished he began the preparation of the even larger work, the Atlas Major, which reached publication in 1662 in II volumes (later editions in 9-12 volumes) and contained nearly 6oo double-page maps and 3,000 pages of text.
This was, and indeed remains, the most magnificent work of its kind ever produced; perhaps its geographical content was not as up-to-date or as accurate as its author could have wished, but any deficiencies in that direction were more than compensated for by the fine engraving and colouring, the elaborate cartouches and pictorial and heraldic detail and especially the splendid calligraphy.
In 1672 a disastrous fire destroyed Blaeu's printing house in the Gravenstraat and a year afterwards Joan Blaeu died. The firm's surviving stocks of plates and maps were gradually dispersed, some of the plates being bought by F. de Wit and Schenk and Valck, before final closure in about 1695.
It ought to be mentioned here that there is often confusion between the elder Blaeu and his rival Jan Jansson (Johannes Janssonius). Up to about 1619 Blaeu often signed his works Guilielmus Janssonius or Willems Jans Zoon but after that time he seems to have decided on Guilielmus or G. Blaeu.
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Willem Janszoon BLAEU (Uitgeest 1571- Amsterdam 1638)
|
At the beginning of the seventeenth century Amsterdam was becoming one of the wealthiest trading cities in Europe, the base of the Dutch East India Company and a centre of banking and diamond trades, its people noted for their intellectual skills and splendid craftsmanship.
At this propitious time in the history of the Northern Provinces, Willem Janszoon Blaeu, who was born at Alkmaar in 1571 and trained in astronomy and the sciences by Tycho Brahe, the celebrated Danish astronomer, founded a business in Amsterdam in 1599 as a globe and instrument maker.
It was not long before the business expanded, publishing maps, topographical works and books of sea charts as well as constructing globes.
His most notable early work was a map of Holland (1604), a fine World Map (1605-06) and Het Licht der Zeevaerdt (The Light of Navigation), a marine atlas, which went through many editions in different languages and under a variety of titles.
At the same time Blaeu was planning a major atlas intended to include the most up-to-date maps of the whole known world but progress on so vast a project was slow and not until he bought between 30 and 40 plates of the Mercator Atlas from Jodocus Hondius II to add to his own collection was he able to publish, in 1630, a 60-map volume with the title Atlantis Appendix.
It was another five years before the first two volumes of his planned world atlas, Atlas Novus or the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum were issued. About this time he was appointed Hydrographer to the East India Company.
In 1638 Willem Blaeu died and the business passed into the hands of his sons, Joan and Cornelis, who continued and expanded their father's ambitious plans.
After the death of Cornelis, Joan directed the work alone and the whole series of 6 volumes was eventually completed about 1655.
As soon as it was finished he began the preparation of the even larger work, the Atlas Major, which reached publication in 1662 in II volumes (later editions in 9-12 volumes) and contained nearly 6oo double-page maps and 3,000 pages of text.
This was, and indeed remains, the most magnificent work of its kind ever produced; perhaps its geographical content was not as up-to-date or as accurate as its author could have wished, but any deficiencies in that direction were more than compensated for by the fine engraving and colouring, the elaborate cartouches and pictorial and heraldic detail and especially the splendid calligraphy.
In 1672 a disastrous fire destroyed Blaeu's printing house in the Gravenstraat and a year afterwards Joan Blaeu died. The firm's surviving stocks of plates and maps were gradually dispersed, some of the plates being bought by F. de Wit and Schenk and Valck, before final closure in about 1695.
It ought to be mentioned here that there is often confusion between the elder Blaeu and his rival Jan Jansson (Johannes Janssonius). Up to about 1619 Blaeu often signed his works Guilielmus Janssonius or Willems Jans Zoon but after that time he seems to have decided on Guilielmus or G. Blaeu.
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