Geographia Blaviana

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: Yes

Date Acquired: 5/10/2017

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. The origins of this enterprise, however, extend back several decades. In 1599, after briefly studying with the 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. nIn 1629, following the death of Jodocus Hondius Jr., Blaeu acquired thirty-seven copperplates from the Hondius family. The following year, working 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 Blaeu's 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, issued simultaneously 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. Their title pages were later imitated by Blaeus principal 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 subsequently 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.nOften described as the general title page to the Atlas Maior this composition centres in Cybele (Earth/Mother goddess) seated in a chariot drawn by two lions. As a mother deity associated with fertility and the earths bounty, Cybeles presence underscores the atlass ambition to encompass and unify global knowledge. She holds an oversized key, metaphorically unlocking the secrets of the known worlda motif that aligns with Blaeus role as cosmographer and custodian of terrestrial knowledge.nSurrounding Cybele are four female personifications of the continents, each accompanied by a signature animal. ''Europe'', poised and regally dressed, is paired with a horse, symbolising nobility and civilisation. ''America'', partially clothed and adorned with feathers, stands beside an armadillo, a New World creature that exemplifies the exoticism of the Americas in European thought. ''Asia ''holds a flowering staff and is accompanied by a camel, evoking the continents perceived riches and ancient trade routes. ''Africa,'' dark-skinned and minimally clothed, leads a majestic elephant, reinforcing European conceptions of African strength, mystery, and exotic fauna.nThe scene is inspired by a design associated with Rubens, whose allegorical painting (now held in the Louvre Museum) underscoring the deliberate alignment of cartographic publishing with high art and imperial theatre. As an opening statement, Geographia Blaviana presents geography not as neutral description but as ordered, performative knowledge.

First published: Atlas Maior, sive Cosmographia Blaviana… Vol. 1, Amsterdam: Joan Blaeu, 1662

Mapmaker: Blaeu, Joan (1596-1673)

Price: 4,750

Primary Category: Titlepage

Purchase Reference: Ledger 2022

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

Shirley ID #: 52 Courtiers and Cannibals

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: First