Antique Map of the Bay of Batavia by Van der Aa, c.1720

Antique map titled 'La rade de Batavia'. (The roadstead of Batavia.) This map shows the roadstead before the Indonesian city of Batavia, nowadays Jakarta. This plate originates from ...

Antique map Friesland titled 'Descriptio veteris Agri Batavi et Frisii (..)'. Old map of Friesland, the Netherlands. This map depicts the old land of Batavia and Friesland. Originate...

Antique map titled 'Aftekening der Expeditie van de Hr. Commissaris Govert Cnoll uyt Soerabaja, tot afhalinge van Pangerang Adepati Anom'. Map showing the expedition...

A small early 18th century black and white map of Batavia by the Dutch cartographer Pieter Van Der Aa. This map was first published in his 'Nouvel ...

1627 Hendrik Hondius map entitled "Vltoniae orientalis pars," Ric.a009 Title: Vltoniae orientalis : pars Title (alt.) : Ultoniae orientalis pars Creator: Mercator, Gerh...

An exceptionally rare and original 17th-century engraving of New Amsterdam, now New York City, published by the renowned Amsterdam cartographer Carel (Carolus) Allard around 1674. Kn...

1654 Joan Blaeu map of the Sutherland, Scotland, entitled "Southerlandia," Hand Colored Ric0007 Description: Lovely map centered on Sedan and D...

This is a 17th century hand-colored map entitled "Insula Gaditana Isla de Cadiz" from Johannes (Joan) Blaeu's Atlas Maior, published in Amsterdam in 1662. The map provides an excellent plan of Cadiz Island on the southwest coast of Spain, with its harbor, fortifications, agricultural fields and several surrounding salt processing areas. Numerous sailing ships of various sizes are included in and around the harbor and bay, including five large sailing ships, as well as twenty-four smaller ships. There is a small compass rose overlying the bay. The bridge to the mainland from the island is shown on the right. There is an extremely ornate and colorful title cartouche in the lower left, with its mythological figures reminiscent of Raphael’s Galatea fresco at the Villa Farnesina in Rome. The vibrant colors are vividly preserved. The master colorist tried to emulate a painting by using various tones to create a three-dimensional effect.
 Blaeu's name is present in the plate in the lower right. Blaeu stated in his description of Cadiz: “The main wealth of the islanders consists of salt, which they harvest, and
 the tuna fisheries.” 
 This 17th century hand-colored map is framed in an ornate, partially textured bronze-colored wood frame and glazed with UV protected conservation glass. There is a vertical center fold, as issued. There is a faint crease in the lower right and faint color offset on the left from the right side of the map, resulting from having been in an atlas for hundreds of years. Small foci of paint are present in the upper portion of the left margin and in the left corner margin. The map is otherwise in very good condition. Due in large part to their powerful trade empire, the Dutch became known for cartography in the seventeenth century. This period is considered the Golden Age of Dutch cartography. Their publishing houses produced the highest quality work in Europe, particularly those maps and charts of foreign lands, and Dutch map-making set the bar for cartographic accuracy and artistry into the early-eighteenth century. Some of the most well-known cartographers worked in Amsterdam during this period. Perhaps the most famous of these was the Blaeu family. Willem Janszoon Blaeu, set up shop in Amsterdam. His son, Johannes (Joan), succeeded him upon his death in 1638, continuing in his father’s position as Hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company and selling maps to the public. The Blaeu map presses, located near Amsterdam’s Dam Square...