COLLECTION NAME:
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Record
Author:
Blaeu, Willem Janszoon, 1571-1638
Author:
Strubicz, Maciej, about 1530-1604
Author:
Gerritsz., Hessel, approximately 1581-1632
Date:
1613
Short Title:
Magni Dvcatvs Lithvaniae
Publisher:
Guiljelmi Ianssonii
Publisher Location:
Amsterdam
Type:
Atlas Map
Obj Height cm:
75
Obj Width cm:
76
Scale 1:
Scale not determined.
Note:
1 map : copperplate engraving on 4 sheets. Title at the top of the map, in a shield-shaped cartouche decorated with hanging fruit. Key of the different types of settlement in the bottom left, in a cartouche surmounted with the arms of the Duchy of Lithuania (the Vytis). Below, issuing from the bottom of the signature, is Blaeu's signature, which is flanked by two putti. Scale bars at the bottom, on a thick banner entwined around a large caliper. This sheet was the product of a cartographic endeavour that began in the mid-1580s, when Prince Nicolas Christophe Radziwill commissioned a survey of the Duchy of Lithuania from Maciej Strubicz, cartographer to the recently deceased King Stephen Báthory. Surviving correspondence suggests that Radziwill had intended to publish the resulting map as early as the 1590s, and while it has been speculated that a lost print appeared sometime before 1604, Blaeu’s is the earliest engraved version of the map to have survived. In its original state of 1613 it was accompanied by a Latin text below the map, two sectional studies of the Dniepr river, and a further Latin address to the reader, presented in a cartouche held by putti (for a copy of this state see Maps 9.Tab.15.). For some reason this address does not mention Strubicz, only Tomasz Makowski, who has often been mistaken for the cartographer, but was probably the author and/or courier of the drawing which was brought to Amsterdam for Gerritsz to engrave. After the initial run the plates remained in Blaeu’s stock. In 1631 the map was revised for publication in atlases, firstly by removing the Latin text and eventually the supplementary plans of the Dniepr. The reduced sheet remained in use for several decades in the atlases of Willem and his son Joan, who probably issued the impression used in the Klencke Atlas.
Reference:
P. van der Krogt, Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 2, Houten, 2000, pp. 501-2, no. 1730 1/4:2A G. Schilder, Monumenta Cartographia Neerlandica, vol. 4, Alphen, 1990, pp. 75-7, no. 29.5 (this state?)
Country:
Lithuania
Country:
Latvia
Country:
Poland
Country:
Belarus
Full Title:
Magni Dvcatvs Lithvaniae, Caeterarvmqve Regionvm Illi Adiacentivm Exacta Descriptio Illss.mi. ac Excellss.mi. Pricipis et Dni. D. Nicolai Christophori Radziwil. D.G. Olijcæ ac in Nieswies Ducis, S. Rom. Imperii Principis in Szylowiec ac Mir Comitis et S. Sepulchri Hierosolimitani Militis &c. Opera cura et impensis facta ac in lucem edita / Sculptum apud Heselum Gerardum.
List No:
10151.023
Page No:
BL System Number 004877481 Maps K.A.R.(20).
Series No:
23
Publication Author:
Blaeu, Joan, 1596-1673
Publication Author:
Hondius, Jodocus, 1563-1612
Publication Author:
Visscher, Claes Jansz
Publication Author:
Blaeu, Willem Janszoon, 1571-1638
Publication Author:
Tassin, Christophe Nicolas
Pub Date:
1660
Pub Title:
(Klencke Atlas). Orbis Terræ Compendium, Carolo Secundo dedicatum a I. Kliencke (a Collection of Maps by Blaeu, Hondius, Visscher, &c.)
Pub Reference:
British Library Maps K.A.R. R. Shirley, The Mapping of the World: Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700, London, 1993, 2nd ed, pp. 392-6, no. 371. In the Catalogue of Maps, Prints, Drawings, etc., forming the geographical and topographical collection attached to the Library of his late Majesty King George the third, etc., London, 1829. .British Museum, Catalogue of Maps, Prints, Drawings, etc., forming the geographical and topographical collection attached to the Library of his late Majesty King George the third, etc., London, 1829
Pub Note:
The Klencke Atlas resides at the British Library and we are grateful to them for providing scanned images of the atlas and complete catalog metadata as part of a joint project to scan and catalog the maps and atlases from the low countries of Europe that are part of the King George III Topographical Collections. From the British Library description: "The Klencke Atlas is one of the world's biggest: it measures 176 x 231 cm when open. It takes its name from Joannes Klencke, who presented it to Charles II on his restoration to the British thrones in 1660. Its size and its 40 or so large wall maps from the Golden Age of Dutch mapmaking were supposed to suggest that it contained all the knowledge in the world. At another level, it was a bribe intended to spur the King into granting Klencke and his associates trading privileges and titles. Charles, who was a map enthusiast, appreciated the gift. He placed the atlas with his most precious possessions in his cabinet of curiosities, and Klencke was knighted. Later generations have benefited too. The binding has protected the wall maps which have survived for us to enjoy - unlike the vast majority of other wall maps which, exposed to light, heat and dirt when hung on walls, have crumbled away. Titled 'Orbis Terræ Compendium, Carolo Secundo dedicatum a I. Kliencke. i.e. a Collection of Maps by Blaeu, Hondius, Visscher, &c. One Volume 5 feet 10 inches by 3 feet 2 inches." For more on the Klencke Atlas, see the British Library website, https://www.bl.uk/c…
Pub List No:
10151.000
Pub Type:
World Atlas
Pub Maps:
42
Pub Height cm:
176
Pub Width cm:
116
Image No:
10151023.jp2
Authors:
Blaeu, Willem Janszoon, 1571-1638; Strubicz, Maciej, about 1530-1604; Gerritsz., Hessel, approximately 1581-1632
Link To Source
Magni Dvcatvs Lithvaniae
