On antique maps

Adorned with embellishments and decorative border scenes, such a map could be framed or mounted on linen and hung on the wall as decoration as well as a source of information. Both the method of paper manufacturing and the printing technique made large formats impossible. A method to make larger prints nevertheless, was to divided a map into several pieces, which were printed on separate sheets and then mounted together, therewith creating a wall map. The earliest known wall maps date from the first decade of the 16th century.

Also wall maps, from around 1595, were adorned with decorative borders featuring images. Sometimes a printed geographical description was added onto the edge. The entire work was mounted on linen and hung between wooden sticks. Due to their high decorative value, wall maps, despite their high price, became much sought-after objects and served as informative wall decorations in homes, where they were immortalized in various paintings by 17th-century Dutch masters. The wall maps themselves usually did not survive. Hanging on the wall, they were exposed to various harmful influences: sunlight and humidity, smoke and dirt, frequent touching, etc. Only a few of the mounted maps have survived intact, but they are often in poor condition. Some collectors kept their wall maps as loose sheets or bound them into a volume. We owe it to them that we can that examples have survived. The production of large, richly decorated wall maps reached its peak in the early years of the 17th century. Every self-respecting mapmaker had at least one wall map of the world, a set of the continents, and one of the Seventeen Provinces in their inventory. Some even offered wall maps of one or more European countries in addition to these.

The purpose of a map is generally to provide information about a specific country or region, usually because significant events are taking place there. When these events are explained in a text in letterpress beneath the map or on the verso side, we often refer to it as a news map. During the time of the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648), this genre of maps was highly popular.

A bunch of loose folio maps, bound together for convenience, forms the prototype of an atlas. The publishing of atlases is a relatively young phenomenon in commercial cartography. The atlas by Abraham Ortelius, the “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum” from 1570, is widely considered as the first atlas publication. This atlas, containing at first about 70 maps, was an immediate success and publication continued through 40 or more editions until 1612. But it was not the only success story of the time.

There was extraordinary activity in every facet of map making: Gerardus Mercator’s atlas in three parts was printed in Amsterdam between 1585 and 1595; also printed there in 1584 was the first atlas of engraved sea charts “De Spiegel der Zeevaerdt” by Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer; in the Rhineland, there was the superb collection of over 500 town plans in 6 volumes compiled by Braun and Hogenberg, published between 1572 and 1618.

For much of the 17th century Dutch shipping dominated the world’s trade routes; as a consequence it was hardly surprising that Amsterdam supplanted Antwerp as the great cartographic centre. Their map makers kept pace with the growth of geographical knowledge and from the workshops of Hondius, Blaeu, Jansson, De Wit and others the European market was supplied with atlases, sea charts, town plans and every kind of map reflecting the expansionism of the age. The maps produced in this period have always been highly esteemed as superb examples of engraving and design, never equaled in any other age.

It was to France that the initiative and map producing passed from the Dutch at the end of the seventeenth century. Secure in royal patronage and support, especially during the long reign of Louis XIV, French cartographers took the lead in scientific mapping by astronomical observations and by triangulation and the names of the Sanson and Cassini families, Delisle, d’Anville and others, dominated the map world.

Towards the end of the 18th century, a new style of maps, as demanded by the modern world, was severely practical and utilitarian, and finally brought to an end the long history of decorative map making of which we have so many beautiful examples for sale in our shop.