A mapmaking milestone
The story behind Joan Blaeu's Atlas Maior. By Petra Lamers-Schütze
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In many ways, the 17th century marked the beginning of the modern world. The new science, based on evidence alone, radically changed the perception of the world. The invention of the telescope revealed the morphology of the moon and allowed the discovery of new stars. Mapping the world in an ever more detailed and precise fashion corresponded not only to growing military, political, and economic demands, but also offered the chance to come to terms with this new world in philosophical and cultural ways.
By the end of the 15th century, as people began studying our planet more and more, mapmaking was becoming a burgeoning and successful business. Ptolemy's Geographia had long been an important source for explorers, travelers, and scholars, and its printed version of 1475 was later expanded, in the 16th century, in the form of new, unbound maps. Map collectors then began binding these loose maps together in what is now considered to be an early form of the atlas. It wasn't until 1570 that the first world atlas was published: Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum orbis terrarum, which contained 53 maps and their descriptions. This was an enormous success and other cartographers began to follow suit. To reach a broader public, in the late 16th century atlases were reduced to compact books - this very quickly killed the market and the successful period of the first atlas publications came to an end. Around 1630, two Amsterdam map publishers, Joan Blaeu and Johannes Janssonius, both began reviving the world atlas business, sparking a legendary competition to conquer the market. Their efforts revolutionized mapmaking and paved the path for the modern atlas, resulting in varied and richly ornamented "speaking" maps and publication in up to 4 languages (Latin, German, Dutch, French). By 1658, their atlases contained up to 450 maps, but the record was broken in 1662/65 by Joan Blaeu's Atlas Maior with its 596 maps.
Curiously, neither of the two publishers in question had ever surveyed a piece of land or drawn an original map. The port of Amsterdam afforded a confluence of nationalities where information could be obtained about almost anything. Often, they would obtain an original manuscript made by a scholar who had mapped the territory in question, such as the maps of Scotland by Timothy Pont.
Page [1] [2]
Page [1] [2]
In many ways, the 17th century marked the beginning of the modern world. The new science, based on evidence alone, radically changed the perception of the world. The invention of the telescope revealed the morphology of the moon and allowed the discovery of new stars. Mapping the world in an ever more detailed and precise fashion corresponded not only to growing military, political, and economic demands, but also offered the chance to come to terms with this new world in philosophical and cultural ways.
By the end of the 15th century, as people began studying our planet more and more, mapmaking was becoming a burgeoning and successful business. Ptolemy's Geographia had long been an important source for explorers, travelers, and scholars, and its printed version of 1475 was later expanded, in the 16th century, in the form of new, unbound maps. Map collectors then began binding these loose maps together in what is now considered to be an early form of the atlas. It wasn't until 1570 that the first world atlas was published: Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum orbis terrarum, which contained 53 maps and their descriptions. This was an enormous success and other cartographers began to follow suit. To reach a broader public, in the late 16th century atlases were reduced to compact books - this very quickly killed the market and the successful period of the first atlas publications came to an end. Around 1630, two Amsterdam map publishers, Joan Blaeu and Johannes Janssonius, both began reviving the world atlas business, sparking a legendary competition to conquer the market. Their efforts revolutionized mapmaking and paved the path for the modern atlas, resulting in varied and richly ornamented "speaking" maps and publication in up to 4 languages (Latin, German, Dutch, French). By 1658, their atlases contained up to 450 maps, but the record was broken in 1662/65 by Joan Blaeu's Atlas Maior with its 596 maps.
Curiously, neither of the two publishers in question had ever surveyed a piece of land or drawn an original map. The port of Amsterdam afforded a confluence of nationalities where information could be obtained about almost anything. Often, they would obtain an original manuscript made by a scholar who had mapped the territory in question, such as the maps of Scotland by Timothy Pont.
Page [1] [2]
Atlas Maior
Hardcover, 29 x 44 cm (11.4 x 17.3 in.), 626 pages
$ 200.00
$ 200.00
"The greatest and finest atlas ever published." -Koeman I, Bl 56
World Map (detail)