South America · 17th century
€ 1 400
One of a kind: this is the sheet in the photographs. Ships from Langweer, the Netherlands.
Wear consistent with age and use. Original/contemporary hand coloring. Shows wear and soiling. Original folding line, Latin text on verso. Please study image carefully.
Antique map titled 'Novus Brasiliae Typus'. Fine old color example of Blaeu's first map of Brazil, with north oriented to the right. Includes inset map of Baya de todos Santos, elaborate cartouche, 2 compass roses and richly embellished vignettes of native Brazilian life and animals.
The interior of the map includes vignettes of indigenous animals and native scenes, including cannibalism. Inset within a decorative border is a small map of "Baya de todos Sanctos". In the sea are monsters, a galleon and two compass roses. The large title cartouche features a male and female Brazilian, both of whom are shown naked.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638) was a prominent Dutch geographer and publisher. Born the son of a herring merchant, Blaeu chose not fish but mathematics and astronomy for his focus. He studied with the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, with whom he honed his instrument and globe making skills. Blaeu set up shop in Amsterdam, where he sold instruments and globes, published maps, and edited the works of intellectuals like Descartes and Hugo Grotius. In 1635, he released his atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive, Atlas novus.
