Description
Beautiful old coloured map of the Turkish Empire by Willem Blaeu. Very decorative map of the Ottoman Empire issued during the first half of the 17th Century. The beautiful title cartouche shows Sultan Suleiman I on his throne. Decorated with sailing ships in the Arabian Sea and the Mediterranean.
Condition
Minor browning. Very good condition with attractive old colours and wide margin.
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: Turcicum Imperium.
Old coloured map of the Ottoman Empire. Printed in Amsterdam by J. Blaeu in 1635.
Turkey - Blaeu, Willem Janszoon - Turcicum Imperium