Antique Map of Limburg, Namen and Ardennes by Blaeu (c.1635)

Description: Antique print, titled: 'Leodiensis Dioecesis.' - Detailed map including the Dutch and Belgium provinces Limburg and the Belgium province of Namen and Ardennes. Exquisitely engraved with an elaborate cartouche featuring two adorable putti and the coat of arms, a scale of miles, and a compass rose. French text on verso. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.

Artists and Engravers: Made by an anonymous engraver after 'J. & W. Blaeu'. Willem Janszoon Blaeu was born 1571 in Alkmaar. He was trained from 1594 to 1596 by the famous danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. 1599 he went to Amsterdam and founded a business as globe maker. Later he started producing map and sea charts, including his first world map in 1605. In 1633 he was appointed Hydrographer for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). His most famous work was the "Atlas Novus" or "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus" of 1635, which was published until 1655 in total six volumes. After Blaeu's death in 1638 his sons Joan and Cornelis continued the businees and finished the "Atlas Novus" and started an even larger work, the "Atlas Maior", which reached 12 volumes. In 1672 a fire destroyed the printing house and a year later Joan died. Some of the surviving plates where bought by F. de Wit and Schenk & Valk. The business was closed finally in 1695.