BLAEU'S MAP OF IRELAND FROM "THE GREATEST AND FINEST ATLAS EVER PUBLISHED" (KOEMAN)

(IRELAND) BLAEU, Willem. Hibernia Regnum Vulgo Ireland. [Amsterdam]: Apud Guiljemum Blaeu, [circa 1641]. Original hand-colored copper-engraved map, image measures 20-1/2 by 16 inches; handsomely matted and framed, entire piece measures 26-1/2 by 22 inches. $4000.

Original Blaeu map of Ireland, probably from one of the four Latin editions of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum published between 1641 and 1662, with fine period hand-coloring in outline.

In 1630, Willem Janzzon Blaeu, the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company, published his first world atlas, the Atlantis Appendix, with 60 maps. The second expanded edition, with 99 maps, appeared in the following year. Blaeu continued to produce new maps at such a rate that by 1634, he abandoned the single volume format, and announced his intention to publish a new world atlas, entitled the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (or Theatre du Monde), now recognized as the "greatest and finest atlas ever published" (Koeman). He was assisted by his two sons, Johannes and Cornelis (who died in 1643). The continuous acclaim that the Blaeu firm receives is based primarily upon their extremely high production standards: the quality of the engraving, the paper, and coloring are of the highest order. This fine map of Ireland, embellished with an Irish harp in the cartouche surrounding the title, ranks with other Blaeu maps among the most beautiful ever made. See Shirley I, 238.

A handsome map in fine condition.