Map of America nova Tabula […]

Object Details

Object Essay

The name Blaeu (or Blaeuw) is synonymous with the most elaborate and beautiful maps produced during the golden age of the Netherlandish cartography. In the 17th century, the Dutch were the leading designers, publishers, and marketers of maps and atlases, and the Blaeu family competed with the older Mercator family, often copying existing information and adding extra decorative elements. The information was the best available, presented with a grand flourish.       

This map of North and South America first appeared in Blaeu’s Atlantis Appendix in 1630, and it was printed regularly in Amsterdam from the same copperplate during the next four decades. This copy was issued with an edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Atlas Novus of 1650.^{1_{Koeman, 67–74.}} The information is typical of what was known of the New World, with most of the detail given in the Spanish colonies of South America, Central America, and the West Indies. Facts about the British and French colonies in North America and the great interior are relatively sparse. The map is surprising for what it does show and is dated by what it does not: neither the Mississippi River nor the Great Lakes appear, but a mountain range crosses the middle of the continent horizontally; a large lake marks the present-day Carolinas; and so on. In overall impression, in its mixture of fact and fiction, the map is fascinating.      

An added glory of this work is its decoration. Insets present nine city plans along the top margin and ten pictures of Native Americans along the sides. Images of ships and sea monsters are drawn into the oceans, while Indian activities are shown on the lands. These are not idle drawings, but are derived from the best ethnological and cartographic information of the day. In the spirit of the Renaissance learning and creativity, the map gives an ebullient picture of an America in which Europeans were establishing permanent settlements—and new cultures.

Donald H. Cresswell

Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.