3770 - Johannes Blaeu, copperplate map of Thuringia

Johannes Blaeu, copperplate map of Thuringia bottom left: cartouche decorated with putti and inscribed here as ‘Thuringia Landgraviatus Auct. Adolario Erichio (Adolar Erich - creator of the original), coat of arms in the top left-hand corner and publisher’s mark crowned with a coat of arms in the bottom right-hand corner; depiction of the area between Mansfeld in the north, Merseburg in the east, Meiningen in the south and Eisenach in the west; Erfurt lies approximately in the centre; partially coloured copperplate engraving, c. 1640; typographical text on the reverse; standard fold line in the centre; slight signs of wear, Dimensions of the map approx. 41.5 x 52 cm. Sheet dimensions approx. 49 x 58 cm. Artist information: also known as Johannes Willemszoon, John Williamson or Ioanne Blaev, Dutch cartographer, copperplate engraver, bookseller and publisher (1596 Alkmaar to 1673 Amsterdam), son and pupil of Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638), moved to Amsterdam in 1603, initially studying law and obtaining a Doctor of Laws degree in 1620, documented as working for his father by 1631 at the latest; together with him, published the ‘Novus Atlas’ in 1636, the subsequent refinement of which would later establish his reputation as a cartographer; in 1638, his father died and he took over the business (workshop, publishing house, bookshop) with his brother Cornelis Blaeu (c. 1610-1642); published further volumes of the “Novus Atlas”; in 1638 he was appointed to succeed his father as official cartographer to the Dutch East India Company; from 1651 to 1672 he was elected to the Amsterdam City Council; Appointed printer to the King of Sweden; in 1655 published the 5-volume and, in 1662, the 11-volume “Atlas Maior”, one of the most expensive and successful publications of the time; in 1659 opened a branch in Vienna, in 1662, he handed over the bookshop to his son Pieter Blaeu; in 1667, he opened a second printing works; in 1672, Blaeu’s workshop was destroyed in the Great Fire of Amsterdam; source: AKL and the internet.