A rare 1635 World Map by Willem Blaeu (Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula) is expected to sell between $20,000 and $24,000 by the end of the Old World Auction on 14 September.
- 1635 World Map by Willem Blaeu – Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula
This is a reduction from Blaeu’s larger 1606 wall map. It was published in 1635 by Joan Blaeu, Willem Blaeu’s son. It was colored extensively before publication, and the same remarkable detail as the 1606 map is now enhanced by the vivid colors. Blaeu himself based the map on information from a 1592 world map by Petrus Plancius. The reduction was carried out by Josua van Ende and was included in atlases of the time.
The 1635 world map is currently in Grade A condition and comes complete with allegorical representations of the sun, the moon, the five known planets, the four elements and the four seasons and vignettes showing the Seven Wonders of the World! These were the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus at Rhodes, the Pyramids, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus at Cairo, the Temple of Diana, the Statue of Jupiter and the lighthouse at Alexandria.
