America

Colouring: Coloured

Confirmed: No

Description: Following the death of Willem Blaeu in 1638, his son Joan Blaeu expanded and refined the familys atlas project, culminating in the monumental Atlas Maior. Its origins, however, date back several decades. In 1599, after briefly studying with Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, Willem Janszoon Blaeu settled in Amsterdam, where he established himself as a maker of globes, astronomical instruments, wall maps, and pilot books. In 1629, following the death of Jodocus Hondius Jr., Blaeu acquired thirty-seven copperplates from the Hondius family. The following year, with his eldest son Joan, he published the Atlantis Appendix, a single-volume world atlas comprising sixty maps, many derived from the Hondius plates. This was followed in 1631 by Appendix Theatri A. Ortelii et Atlantis G. Mercatoris, further expanding his cartographic output.nIn 1634, Blaeu announced a more ambitious international edition of his atlas. That same year, a hastily assembled German-language version appeared under the title Novus Atlas das ist Abbildung und Beschreibung von allen Ländern des Erdreichs, with several maps left incomplete (View Record (#76)). A more formal and complete edition followed in 1635, published in Dutch (Toonneel des Aerdrycks, ofte Nieuwe Atlas), Latin (Novus Atlas), and French (Le Théâtre du Monde). These multilingual volumes were designed for a broad European readership. Title pages from these editions were later imitated by Blaeus rival Johannes Janssonius in his own Le Théâtre du Monde ou nouvel atlas (1639, 1643; #303 and View Record (#320)).nOver the next two decades, Joan Blaeu expanded the atlas with volumes dedicated to Italy and Greece (1640), England and Wales (1645), Scotland and Ireland (1654), and China (Atlas Sinensis, 1655). The project reached its peak with the publication of the Atlas Maior, sive Cosmographia Blaviana, first issued in Latin (1662, 11 vols.), and later translated into Dutch (Grooten Atlas, oft Werelt-Beschrijvinge, 1664, 9 vols.), French (Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie Blaviane, 1667, 12 vols.), and Spanish (Atlas Mayor, o Geographia Blaviana, 1672, 10 vols.).nFor both the 1635 Dutch, Latin, and French precursors of the Atlas Maior, Geographia Blaviana, Joan Blaeu introduced a coordinated series of engraved title pages, each serving as a symbolic gateway to a specific geographic region. From these earlier publications, the present collection includes an early 1638 reissue of the French title page from Le Théâtre du Monde (View Record (#351)), as well as two title pages for the Spanish section: one from the 1644 French edition of Le Théâtre du Monde, ou nouvel atlas (View Record (#147)), and another from the 1658 Dutch edition of Toonneel des Aerdrycks (View Record (#318)).nThe collection also includes title pages from the Atlas Maior, Geographia Blaviana: the general title page (View Record (#157)), along with allegorical frontispieces for the Arctic (View Record (#284)), Europe (View Record (#151)), Africa (View Record (#149)), and America (View Record (#150)). A distinct title page for Asia (View Record (#152)) was adapted from the earlier Atlas Sinensis of 1655. In addition, the collection features View Record (#148), which introduces the section on Tycho Brahes astronomical instruments.nThis titlepage introduces America. A feather-skirted female personification, armed with a bow and standing defiantly atop the severed head of a European manlikely a conquistadorsignifying violent resistance to colonisation. Surrounding her are images of extraction nd conquest: Indigenous labourers mining gold, European ships loading treasure, and piles of ingots. A large lizard underscores the regions perceived exoticism. Above, clouds teem with putti, Christian missionaries converting Indigenous peoples, and a surreal battle between a devil and a conquistador. The composition is a vivid allegory of wealth, violence, and spiritual conquest.

Engraver: Jeremias Falck (16101677)

First published: Atlas Maior, sive Cosmographia Blaviana… Vol. 11, Amsterdam: Joan Blaeu, 1662

Mapmaker: Blaeu, Joan (1596-1673)

Notes: Purchase details

Primary Category: Titlepage

Rarity: R2 Very rare – one or two copies appear on the market

Shirley ID #: 53 Courtiers and Cannibals

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: First