Antique Engraving of Blaeu's first Map of Brazil, Circa 1640
€ 1 400
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1640
Mapmaker / artist
Willem Blaeu
Sheet size
49 × 58 cm (19.3 × 22.8 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BGPB-003
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Wear consistent with age and use. Original/contemporary hand coloring. Shows wear and soiling. Original folding line, Latin text on verso. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
Blaeu's first map of Brazil, an original antique engraving titled "Novus Brasiliae Typus", published in Amsterdam and dated to about 1640, with original color. The imprint "Amstelodami Guiljelmus Blaeu excudit" appears at the lower right.
The map is turned with north to the right, so the coast of Brazil runs across the sheet with the sea, labeled "Mar del Nort", along the bottom. The captaincies are named along the shore, including S. Vincente, Rio de Janeiro, Spirito Santo, Porto Seguro, Bahia and Pernambuco. The interior is filled with vignettes of native life and animals, among them a fire scene with cannibalism, a hut and figures, a tapir and other beasts. Inset within a decorative border at the top is a small plan of the "Baya de todos Sanctos". In the sea are a galleon, a whale and monsters, and two compass roses mark the rhumb lines. The large title cartouche at the lower left is flanked by a male and a female Brazilian, both shown naked.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571 to 1638), a Dutch geographer and publisher, studied with Tycho Brahe, set up shop in Amsterdam as a maker of instruments and globes, and in 1635 released his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive, Atlas novus.
