Moluccae insulae celeberrimae

Acquired From: Paulus Swaen

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Excellent

Confirmed: No

Date Acquired: 2017

Description: This richly illustrated map of the famed Spice Islands (Moluccas) was originally engraved around 1620 by Jodocus Hondius II and issued as a loose-sheet publication. Following Hondiuss death in 1629, Willem Jansz. Blaeu acquired this and thirty-seven other copperplates. The next year, Blaeuworking with his son Joan Blaeuissued his first world atlas, Atlantis Appendix (1630), which included this map among sixty plates. It was later reissued in his Appendix Theatri A. Ortelii et Atlantis G. Mercatoris (1631).nIn 1634, Blaeu announced his intention to publish an expanded international edition of his atlas. That same year, a German edition titled Novus Atlas das ist Abbildung und Beschreibung von allen Ländern des Erdreichs was issued, though the volume appears to have been compiled hastily, as several maps were left incomplete (View Record (#76)). In 1635, the atlas was republished in a more complete two-volume format, available in several languages: German, Latin (Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Atlas novus), French (Le théâtre du monde), and Dutch (Toonneel des Aerdrycks, ofte Nieuwe Atlas).nThe present map was included in the 1650 Dutch edition. It is oriented with west at the top and shows eight Moluccan islands off the west coast of Gilolo (Halmahera): Machian (Makian), Timor (Motir), Pottebackers Eylandt (Mare), Tidoro (Tidore), Miterra, Ternate, and Haern. nAn inset of Bachian Island (Bacan) is also included.

First published: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Atlas novus, Amsterdam: Willem Jansz. Blaeu, 1635

Image Size (cm): 48.5×37.2

Mapmaker: Blaeu, Willem Jansz. (1571-1638)

Notes: Purchase details-clarify publication and date of map

Other states: First engraved c. 1620 by Jodocus Hondius II; first issued by Blaeu in Atlantis Appendix, 1630

Price: A650

Primary Category: Southeast Asia

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

References: Johannes Keuning, Blaeus Atlas, Imago Mundi 14 (1959): 7489.

Sheet size (cm): 60.5×51

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: Toonneel des Aerdrycksofte Nieuwe AtlasAmsterdam: Willem Jansz Blaeu 1650

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