Willem Janszoon Blaeu Kingdom of Galicia Colored Engraving Map Circa 1635

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Description

Artist: Willem Blaue

Age: 1600 - 1650

Medium: Print on Paper

Unframed Dimensions: Sight 16 1/2" x 19 3/4"

Overall … Read more Artist: Willem Blaue

Age: 1600 - 1650

Medium: Print on Paper

Unframed Dimensions: Sight 16 1/2" x 19 3/4"

Overall Dimensions: Frame 23 x 26 3/4"

Kingdom of Galicia, a historical region in northwestern Spain Circa 1640

COMMENTS: Circa 1640 - Willem Blaue is considered the greatest Dutch cartographer of all time. His maps are stunningly illustrated, filled with marvelous details, and are far more collectible (and valuable) than those by most of his contemporaries

The 17th century was probably the most important period in the making of modern Europe. It was during this time that Galileo and Newton founded modern science. It was also a time when cartographers drew inspiration from explorers and with the help and vision of publishers produced outstanding maps of Europe and the rest of the world in a manner that was more refined than ever before. The 17th century witnessed the birth of colonization, with several countries competing for wealth and power in America and Asia. The Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and others, all struggled to maintain and extend colonies and trading posts in distant corners of the globe. This also necessitated the mapping of new sea routes and hence new lands that had earlier been ignored by mapmakers. It is not surprising therefore, that the names of so many cartographers, printers and publishers appear in the history of the 17th century. One man to whom we owe a great debt for his incredible contribution to the publishing of maps is Joan Blaeu, the eldest son of Willem Janszoon Blaeu. It was under the control of Joan that the Blaeu printing press achieved lasting fame by moving towards the printing of maps and expanding to become the largest printing press in Europe in the 17th century. Until the late 1620s, the Mercator maps published by Jodocus Hondius II dominated the European market for world atlases. However, following the latter's death in 1629, and the growing competition in publishing sea charts and pilot books, the Blaeu business seized its opportunity to publish a grand world atlas: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum or Atlas novus which was priceless in terms of its exhaustive contents.

This Blaeu regional map offers an early 17th Century depiction of the Kingdom of Galicia, a historical region in northwestern Spain. It extends from the Asturias de Oviedo region and Aviles in the Northeast to Bayona and the Portuguese border on the South, with Santiago de Compostela at the center. One of the primary features of the map is its detailed representation of the cities and natural features of the region. See less