3777 - Joan Blaeu, Map of Nassau

Joan Blaeu, Map of Nassau top left: a cartouche typical of the period, labelled here ‘Nassovia Comitatus’, top right: coat of arms; bottom right: distance markers with a legend; bottom left: publisher’s details “Amstelodami Guilselm Blauw Exudit”; depicting the area between Olpe in the north, Marburg in the east, Wiesbaden in the south and Koblenz in the west, “Geographia Blauianae volumen tertium, quo Germania, quae est Europae liber octavus, continetur.”, partially coloured copperplate engraving, published c. 1670, typographically inscribed on the reverse, central fold mark and slight signs of wear, framed behind glass on both sides, dimensions of the image approx. 38 x 49 cm. Artist information: also known as Johannes Willemszoon, John Williamson or Ioanne Blaev, Dutch cartographer, copperplate engraver, bookseller and publisher (1596, Alkmaar - 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, evidence of him working for his father by 1631 at the latest; together with his father, he 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.