DESCRIPTION: A fine 17th century map of Iceland priced to sell.
This map of Iceland, "Tabula Islandiae Auctore Georgio Carolo Flandro", was engraved for William Janszoon Blaeu and first published in his firm’s Atlas Novus. The plate is based on surveys by the Dutch navigator Georgius Carolus Flandrus (Joris Carolus), one of the few early European seafarers to chart northern waters. The map depicts Iceland with stylized mountain ranges, rivers, and settlements identified in Latin and Icelandic. Surrounding seas are filled with ships and sea creatures, and a large title cartouche occupies the lower right. The imprint “Guiljelmus Blaeuw” identifies the plate as one originally engraved for Willem before his death in 1638.
The verso text, printed in Dutch, places this example within the early Dutch-language edition of the Toonneel des Aerdrycks issued in Amsterdam around 1648–1650, when the Blaeu firm was transitioning from William to his son Joan. Printed from the original copperplate, this state retains the strong, clean impression of the earliest issues and represents one of the most well known mid seventeenth-century maps of Iceland. The map’s enduring design remained in use for more than two decades and set the cartographic standard for the island until the late eighteenth century.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571–1638) was a Dutch cartographer, globe maker, and publisher who established one of the most important mapmaking houses of the seventeenth century in Amsterdam. Trained under the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, Blaeu combined precise astronomical observation with fine engraving and printing. He produced wall maps, sea charts, and globes noted for their scientific accuracy and elegant design, and in 1630 began issuing his Atlas Novus, a multi-volume world atlas that set new standards in cartographic production. After his death in 1638, his sons, Joan and Cornelis, continued the business, publishing later editions of his atlases under the Blaeu name, including the monumental Atlas Maior of the 1660s.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1650
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Iceland
BODY OF WATER: North Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian Sea
CONDITION: Good.
Dutch text on verso. Minor stain lower right corner. Short margins. Age toning.
COLORING: Contemporary hand color.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 20
" x
15 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION:
PRICE: $600
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