Themes
Blaeu Atlas
Map of the world from the Blaeu Atlas
The Blaeu Atlas is one of the most prestigious products of the Dutch Golden Age, reflecting the prosperity
and culture, as well as the knowledge of geography accumulated in the Dutch Republic. It was these elements
that had combined to ensure the supremacy of Dutch shipping on the world's seas in the seventeenth century.
The Blaeu Atlas, or Grooten Atlas Oft Werelt Beschrijving, In Welcke 't Aertryck, De Zee, En Hemel, Wordt
Vertoont En Beschreven (Large Atlas or Description of the World, in which Earth, Sea and Sky are Shown and
Described) was also known as the Atlas Maior. The nine-volume set was published between 1662 and 1672 in
various languages. It was far superior to any previous atlas in the quality of its maps, their quantity and
the exquisite typography.
Each volume was bound in parchment, with gold tooling. It was available in black-and-white as well as in
colour. The colours were not printed, but painted in by hand. In fact it must have taken the equivalent of
five years’ work to produce each Blaeu Atlas. When it was published, more than three centuries ago, an
uncoloured version cost 350 guilders and a coloured version 450 guilders, making it the most expensive book
to appear in the seventeenth century. In today's terms, the price would have been about 50,000 euros. As a
collector's item, a complete and pristine Blaeu Atlas currently fetches many times that amount. In the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries these richly decorated works were a prized possession among art lovers
and collectors. It was the ultimate gift. One of those who received a copy was Admiral Michiel Adriaenszn de
Ruyter, following his victory over the English in the epic Four Day's Battle in 1666. In the seventeenth
century, proud owners often kept their copy in specially-made cabinets, many as elaborate as the atlas
itself.
The maps of the known continents are works of art, with ornamental margins, beautiful decorations and vivid
detail. Along the top margin are views of major cities. Those on the map shown here include Havana, Mexico
and Rio de Janeiro. The margins of the continental maps feature depictions of local peoples in traditional
garb, although most native Americans appear rather scantily clad in these vignettes, with the exception of
the Greenlanders in the top left-hand corner.
Sixteen copies of the Dutch set were known to exist in the Netherlands in 1970. How this set of the Blaeu
Atlas came to form part of the bank's collection is not known. However, it has been in the bank's possession
for at least 150 years.