Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula

Double hemisphere map of the world from the celebrated Atlas Maior, one of the crowning achievements of the Dutch Golden Age.

By the early 1650s, Joan Blaeu, realised that their firm needed a new flagship publication and he began planning the “Atlas Major”, now perceived as the paradigm of 17th century atlas production. Ultimately, it comprised of twelve volumes produced over seven years, illustrating the geography of the world through hundreds of maps. Blaeu realised that the world map for this work had to be something special and therefore produced a radically different image in comparison to the iconic Mercator Projection that was present in the Atlas Novus. This newly designed world map was a double hemisphere, surrounded by illustrated figures and showing the latest geographical knowledge available. The publishing date of this map presents some dating conundrums. It was first issued in the Atlas Major in 1662. However, there is evidence of its use as early as 1658. More of a puzzle is the portrayal of the island of Korea and the shape of the coastline of China which resembles that of earlier Jesuit surveys collected by Texeira and first published by Ortelius in 1584. Blaeu himself was to correct and update the region in his own “Atlas Sinensis.” These corrections were based on new Jesuit surveys compiled by Martino Martini which were given to Blaeu and published in 1655, suggesting that the preparation and engraving of this world map pre-dated this new publication.

The remarkable portrayal of Australia is based on reports from several Dutch voyages culminating with those of Abel Tasman’s of 1642 and 1644. The portrayal is taken from Blaeu’s own double hemisphere wall map of 1648. The depiction of the Americas bear a striking resemblance to Nicholas Visscher II’s double hemisphere map of 1658 although who used who as a source is a matter of debate as both maps were contemporaneous. A major departure is the portrayal of California as an island, here shown on the Briggs model with a flat northern shore, with the northwest coast shown distinctly curving towards Hudson’s Bay, hinting strongly at the existence of a North West Passage. This differs markedly from the 1648 wall map. Despite French geographical advances in the Great Lakes region, this map portrays them as one large body of water with an indeterminate western shore. There has been little update to the shape or geography of Africa, its main source still being the wall map of 1608. The Far East is again based on Blaeu’s own map first issued in 1630/5.

Aesthetically, this map is perceived as being one of the greatest of the Dutch Golden Age. The upper border is illustrated by heavenly bodies as represented by various classical deities, including Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These are being observed and recorded from below by two of the greatest astronomers of the age, Mercator on the left and Copernicus on the right. The lower border shows a series of figures lounging atop various carts and chariots. These are allegories of the seasons; shown from left to right they depict spring, summer, autumn and winter.

The “Atlas Major” has arguably been described as the finest printed geographical work ever produced and the importance of this map cannot be overstated.

Original hand colour. Latin text on verso (image available on request). [WLD4386]