Antique Maps, Blaeu, South America, Tierra del Fuego, Strait of Magellan: Tabula Magellanica, qua Tierrae del fuego cum celeberrimis fretis a F. Magellano et I. Le Maire detectis novissima et...

Tabula Magellanica, qua Tierrae del fuego cum celeberrimis fretis a F. Magellano et I....

Old coloured sea chart of the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego. Printed in Amsterdam by Joan Blaeu in 1643.

Reference 11765

Description

Blaeu's splendid map of Tierra de Fuego with the Strait of Magellan.

Old coloured sea chart of Tierra de Fuego with the Strait of Magellan and Le Maire Strait by Willem Blaeu. From the French edition of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, titled Theater du Noude Atlas, printed between 1643 and 1650.

Shows the islands at the southern tip of South America. Tierra de Fuego (formerly Magellanica) is separated by the Strait of Magellan from Patagonia, the mainland. The highly decorative map is decorated with a fleet of ships and rhumb lines with three compass roses. The map is considered to be one of the most beautiful of the region. With two cartouches and a dedication to Constantino Hugenio (Constantijn Huygens), the secretary of the two Princes of Orange, Frederick Henry and William II.

Ferdinand Magellan discovered and explored the sea route between the mainland of South America and Tierra del Fuego during his circumnavigation of the globe. The natural passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean is named today Strait of Magellan. Magellan himself died during this journey on 27 April 1521 in the Philippines.

Details

Cartographer	Willem Janszoon Blaeu
Title	Tabula Magellanica, qua Tierrae del fuego cum celeberrimis fretis a F. Magellano et I. Le Maire detectis novissima et accuratissima descriptio exhibetur.
Publisher, Year	Joan Blaeu, Amsterdam, 1643-50
Plate Size	41.2 x 53.6 cm (16.2 x 21.1 inches)
Sheet Size	51.1 x 61.2 cm (20.1 x 24.1 inches)
Reference	Van der Krogt, P.: Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici, 9950:2B

Condition

Some minor browning at top margin. Very good condition.

Cartographer

Willem Janszoon Blaeu was born 1571 in Alkmaar. He was trained from 1594 to 1596 by the famous danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. 1599 he went to Amsterdam and founded a business as globe maker. Later he started producing map and sea charts, including his first world map in 1605. In 1633 he was appointed Hydrographer for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). His most famous work was the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus of 1635, which was published until 1655 in total six volumes. After Blaeu's death in 1638 his sons Joan and Cornelis continued the business and finished the Atlas Novus and started an even larger work, the Atlas Maior, which reached 12 volumes. In 1672 a fire destroyed the printing house and most of the printing plates. Joan Blaeu died the following year, leaving the business to his three sons Willem (1635-1701), Pieter (1637-1706) and Joan II (1650-1712). While the business began to decline in the hands of his sons, the dominance of the Blaeu publishing house finally ended in 1703 when the V.O.C. stopped publishing maps bearing the Blaeu family name. Some of the surviving plates were bought by F. de Wit and Schenk & Valk.

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Willem Janszoon Blaeu: Tabula Magellanica, qua Tierrae del fuego cum celeberrimis fretis a F. Magellano et I. Le Maire detectis novissima et....

Old coloured sea chart of the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego. Printed in Amsterdam by Joan Blaeu in 1643.

South America - Blaeu, Willem Janszoon - Tabula Magellanica, qua Tierrae del fuego...