Willem & Jan Blaeu
Early map of Chile, 1640 c.
14 ½ x 19 ½ in
37 x 49 cm
37 x 49 cm
SAM3437
Chili Early map of Chile decorated with sea monsters, galleons, and a handsome compass rose. French text on verso. (image available on request). As with many of the regional...
Chili
Early map of Chile decorated with sea monsters, galleons, and a handsome compass rose. French text on verso. (image available on request).
As with many of the regional maps of South America, this map is originally sourced from Johannes de Laet's work detailing the West Indies and the New World published in 1625. De Laet was a wealthy merchant and one of the founding directors of the Dutch West India Company. The maps were compiled by Hessel Gerritz, the cartographer to the Dutch East India Company, who also had an enduring fascination for the New World. The maps came mainly from Spanish and Portuguese sources and became the standard 17th century templates for Dutch maps of Spanish and Portuguese South American colonies.
This map of Chile, with its orientation showing north to the left, is a case in point, having a publishing life of over thirty years in Blaeu's atlases as well as a similar length of time in the atlases of Hondius, followed by Jansson. It is the first folio map of the region.
The map stretches from Val Copayapo (Copiapo) in the north (right) situated in the Atacama desert to a large island in the south (left) which is unnamed but is modern Chiloe. Other recognisable names on the map include Osorno, Valdivia, La Serena, Valparaiso and Santiago de la Nueva Estremadura, now shortened to Santiago and the modern capital of the country.
Original hand colour.[SAM3437]
The Blaeu Family
For much of the 17th Century the firm of Blaeu were the dominant mapmakers at a time when Dutch cartography was universally acknowledged to lead the world. Established in 1596 by Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638), who had studied as a young man under the great astronomer, Tycho Brahe, it originally produced globes and scientific instruments. However, the firm soon expanded into map making and publishing, and eventually became one of the most important and prolific map producers in Amsterdam.
In 1623 they published the "Het Licht der Zeevaerdt" an atlas of sea-charts. In 1629 Willem and his son Jan (1596-1673) purchased 37 engraved plates from the widow of their rival Hondius and the following year they produced their first land atlas, the "Atlantis Appendix" which contained sixty maps. In 1635 this was expanded into the "Atlas Novus" a major world atlas in six volumes. This contained a county atlas of England and Wales and from 1635-59 was published in editions in Dutch, Latin, French, German and Spanish.
After the death of his father, Jan (also spelt Joan or Johannes) Blaeu embarked on one of the most ambitious publishing undertakings of the 17th Century, the printing of the "Atlas Maior". This magnificent work was to contain nearly six hundred maps and, depending on edition, varied between nine and twelve volumes. The exquisite engraving allied with typically lovely hand-colouring make maps from the "Novus" and "Maior" atlases some of the finest ever produced.
The "Atlas Maior" was to be the crowning glory of the Blaeu firm. In 1672 a disastrous fire swept through the Blaeu printing house destroying much of the stock and most of the copper engraving plates. The following year Jan died and the surviving plates were dispersed.
The period between 1570 and 1670 is known as the Golden Age of Dutch Cartography and it is a measure of the Blaeu's achievements that they were the dominant cartographers throughout most of this period. Reflecting their contemporary reputations Willem and Jan were in turn both appointed Hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company (the VOC) and their atlases were frequently presented to foreign sovereigns and potentates by the Dutch government.
Early map of Chile decorated with sea monsters, galleons, and a handsome compass rose. French text on verso. (image available on request).
As with many of the regional maps of South America, this map is originally sourced from Johannes de Laet's work detailing the West Indies and the New World published in 1625. De Laet was a wealthy merchant and one of the founding directors of the Dutch West India Company. The maps were compiled by Hessel Gerritz, the cartographer to the Dutch East India Company, who also had an enduring fascination for the New World. The maps came mainly from Spanish and Portuguese sources and became the standard 17th century templates for Dutch maps of Spanish and Portuguese South American colonies.
This map of Chile, with its orientation showing north to the left, is a case in point, having a publishing life of over thirty years in Blaeu's atlases as well as a similar length of time in the atlases of Hondius, followed by Jansson. It is the first folio map of the region.
The map stretches from Val Copayapo (Copiapo) in the north (right) situated in the Atacama desert to a large island in the south (left) which is unnamed but is modern Chiloe. Other recognisable names on the map include Osorno, Valdivia, La Serena, Valparaiso and Santiago de la Nueva Estremadura, now shortened to Santiago and the modern capital of the country.
Original hand colour.[SAM3437]
The Blaeu Family
For much of the 17th Century the firm of Blaeu were the dominant mapmakers at a time when Dutch cartography was universally acknowledged to lead the world. Established in 1596 by Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638), who had studied as a young man under the great astronomer, Tycho Brahe, it originally produced globes and scientific instruments. However, the firm soon expanded into map making and publishing, and eventually became one of the most important and prolific map producers in Amsterdam.
In 1623 they published the "Het Licht der Zeevaerdt" an atlas of sea-charts. In 1629 Willem and his son Jan (1596-1673) purchased 37 engraved plates from the widow of their rival Hondius and the following year they produced their first land atlas, the "Atlantis Appendix" which contained sixty maps. In 1635 this was expanded into the "Atlas Novus" a major world atlas in six volumes. This contained a county atlas of England and Wales and from 1635-59 was published in editions in Dutch, Latin, French, German and Spanish.
After the death of his father, Jan (also spelt Joan or Johannes) Blaeu embarked on one of the most ambitious publishing undertakings of the 17th Century, the printing of the "Atlas Maior". This magnificent work was to contain nearly six hundred maps and, depending on edition, varied between nine and twelve volumes. The exquisite engraving allied with typically lovely hand-colouring make maps from the "Novus" and "Maior" atlases some of the finest ever produced.
The "Atlas Maior" was to be the crowning glory of the Blaeu firm. In 1672 a disastrous fire swept through the Blaeu printing house destroying much of the stock and most of the copper engraving plates. The following year Jan died and the surviving plates were dispersed.
The period between 1570 and 1670 is known as the Golden Age of Dutch Cartography and it is a measure of the Blaeu's achievements that they were the dominant cartographers throughout most of this period. Reflecting their contemporary reputations Willem and Jan were in turn both appointed Hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company (the VOC) and their atlases were frequently presented to foreign sovereigns and potentates by the Dutch government.
