This map is an improved edition of the world map of Willem Jansz. Blaeu from 1619. This edition is offered for the first time in the catalogue of Joan Blaeu in 1646, where in the section 'Tabulae geographicae, majori forma' a 'Groote Nieuwe Ronde Werelt Map' is mentioned. Joan Blaeu left the title with his father's address and the date 1619 unchanged.
The title strip is mounted along the top of the world map. Below the title is a decorative border with images of twelve princes on horseback, illustrated with a Latin verse.
The main map in two hemispheres consists of nine sheets printed from eight copper plates.
The main map is shown on both side edges by sixteen faces resp. boundaries of major cities. Adjoining these city images and also along the bottom edge of the map are 38 costume groups.
The two hemispheres are surrounded by personifications of the four elements and the four seasons, The northern and southern stars are engraved between the two hemispheres.
A Latin description of the world is mounted on the decorative strips along the sides and bottom edge.
In the map image significant changes were made in comparison with the map image of 1619. In the Western Hemisphere, the fictional west coast of North America disappeared, but California is now represented as an island. Furthermore, on the east coast of North America, the mapping of Hudson Bay and the area to its north has been greatly expanded with new discoveries. In the northern Pacific are Hokkaido and some Kuril Islands as a result of the Maerten Gerritsz Vries journey (1643) included in the map image. In the South Pacific, the original Cartouche with the legend of the Prime Meridian disappeared and gave way to the drawing of the west coast of New Zealand, discovered by Tasman in 1643. The Statenland at St Le Maire is the result of the circumnavigation by Hendrick Brouwer registered as an island in 1643. The Eastern Hemisphere shows the results of both Tasman's travels (1642-43 and 1644) and the discoveries of his predecessors in Australia. Furthermore, as a result of the more intensive mapping by the VOC, the Indonesian archipelago is depicted more precisely than before. This is the only known copy. Dimensions of the map (wxh): 276 x 173 cm.
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