Antique Blaeu Map of Saintonge, Angoumois and La Rochelle, 1642

About this sheet

The provinces of Saintonge and Angoumois on the Atlantic coast of France, with La Rochelle at the top of the sheet, the Oceanus Aquitanicus along the western edge, Talmont on the Gironde and part of the pays de Medoc across the estuary to the south. Part of Poitou closes the northern side and the Angoumois runs away to the east. This is the cognac country and the salt marsh coast behind it, and the map shows the ports and the islands from which that trade moved. The plate is engraved with the fineness expected of the Blaeu workshop and carries a decorative title cartouche. It pairs naturally with the Poitou sheet from the same volume.

The Blaeu house of Amsterdam was the greatest cartographic publisher of the Dutch golden age. Willem Jansz Blaeu began the atlas that his son Joan Blaeu carried to its full extent, and the Dutch text edition, Toonneel des Aerdriicx ofte Nieuwe Atlas, set a standard for engraving, paper and typography that no rival in Europe matched. The copper plates were cut with great delicacy, the title cartouches were designed as ornaments in their own right, and the sheets were printed on heavy laid paper that has survived three and a half centuries remarkably well.

Blaeu maps have been collected continuously since the seventeenth century and are the benchmark against which other Dutch cartography is measured, so a sheet from this atlas is a serious piece of the history of the book as well as a map. A large Blaeu plate is one of the few antique maps that can carry a wall on its own.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, scattered spots and a few small chips along the upper margin edge; the centre fold is as issued and the image is clean.

This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.