1645 / 1663 Joan Blaeu map of Anglo-Saxon England

Heptarchy-blaeu-1645
$3,000.00
Britannia prout divisa fuit temporibus Anglo-Saxonum praestertim durante illorum Heptarchia. - Main View
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1645 / 1663 Joan Blaeu map of Anglo-Saxon England

Heptarchy-blaeu-1645

Masterwork of Dutch Engraving in Original Color Heightened with Gold.
$3,000.00

Title


Britannia prout divisa fuit temporibus Anglo-Saxonum praestertim durante illorum Heptarchia.
  1645 (undated)     16.25 x 21 in (41.275 x 53.34 cm)     1 : 2530000

Description


This is a beautiful original color example of Joan Blaeu's map of England in the early Middle Ages. It features masterfully engraved illustrations of early British kings.
A Closer Look
The map's content is based on John Speed's 1611 Britain as it was Devided in the tyme of the Englishe-Saxons especially during their Heptarchy, but the execution far outstrips Jodocus Hondius' engraving for Speed. Shirley praised its quality:
The unknown engraver for Jan Blaeu has re-created each of the 14 scenes as an unmistakable Dutch miniature in the dramatic style of the greater paintings of the time. When colored in the best contemporary tradition [as this example certainly is], Blaeu's map is one of the finest available.
The Heptarchy
Historians in the 16th and 17th centuries believed that Anglo-Saxon England, from the end of the Roman period until the (mostly) unifying reign of Egbert of Wessex (c. 829 CE), had been ruled by seven minor kingdoms: Kent, Sussex (Here styled South Saxon,) Wessex (West Saxon,) Essex (East Saxon,) Northumberland, East Anglia, and Mercia.
The Founding Kings
The left border of the map is decorated with depictions of the Heptarchy's legend-shrouded founding kings, spanning the 5th-6th centuries. These are presented in heroic poses and fancifully 'ancient' armor, with martial scenes in the background.
The Christian Kings
The right-hand border depicts vignettes from the lives of the Anglo-Saxon kings that converted to Christianity: Æthelberht of Kent receiving the Papal mission led by Augustine of Canterbury, Saeberht of Essex founding the monastery on the future site of Westminster Abbey, King Eorpwald of East Anglia becoming the first English king to be killed for having converted, and the murder of King Peada of Mercia through his wife's betrayal during the 656 CE Easter celebration. The semi-mythical histories of these early kings have been preserved in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the ecclesiastical history of the Venerable Bede, and Nennius' 9th-century History of the Briton. While none of these histories are entirely factual, they collectively form the basis of English identity. By the 17th century, however flawed, these histories had become canonical, a process reinforced by images such as these.
Publication History and Census
This map was engraved for inclusion in Joan Blaeu's 1645 so-called 'Atlas of England,' the fourth part of his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus. The volume was printed in eight editions, and the map appears in each with no state changes. The present example corresponds typographically to the 1663 French-text edition of the work. We see sixteen cataloged in OCLC, but attractive original color examples are scarce on the market.

CartographerS


Joan (Johannes) Blaeu (September 23, 1596 - December 21, 1673) was a Dutch cartographer active in the 17th century. Joan was the son of Willem Janszoon Blaeu, founder of the Blaeu firm. Like his father Willem, Johannes was born in Alkmaar, North Holland. He studied Law, attaining a doctorate, before moving to Amsterdam to join the family mapmaking business. In 1633, Willem arranged for Johannes to take over Hessel Gerritsz's position as the official chartmaker of the Dutch East India Company, although little is known of his work for that organization, which was by contract and oath secretive. What is known is his work supplying the fabulously wealthy VOC with charts was exceedingly profitable. Where other cartographers often fell into financial ruin, the Blaeu firm thrived. It was most likely those profits that allowed the firm to publish the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive, Atlas Novus, their most significant and best-known publication. When Willem Blaeu died in 1638, Johannes, along with his brother Cornelius Blaeu (1616 - 1648) took over the management of the Blaeu firm. In 1662, Joan and Cornelius produced a vastly expanded and updated work, the Atlas Maior, whose handful of editions ranged from 9 to an astonishing 12 volumes. Under the brothers' capable management, the firm continued to prosper until the 1672 Great Amsterdam Fire destroyed their offices and most of their printing plates. Johannes Blaeu, witnessing the destruction of his life's work, died in despondence the following year. He is buried in the Dutch Reformist cemetery of Westerkerk. Johannes Blaeu was survived by his son, also Johannes but commonly called Joan II, who inherited the family's VOC contract, for whom he compiled maps until 1712. More by this mapmaker...


John Speed (1542 - 1629) was an important English historian and cartographer active in the early 17th century. Speed was born in Fardon, Cheshire and apprenticed under his father as a tailor. Though his heart was never in tailoring, Speed dedicated himself to this profession until he was about 50 years old. During all the time, Speed dedicated his spare time to research as amateur historian and mapmaker - even preparing several maps for Queen Elizabeth. In London, Speed's interest in history lead him to join the Society of Antiquaries. Eventually he befriended the wealthy Sir Fulke Greville, who sponsored his researches and eventually freed him from the haberdashery profession. Working with William Camden, Speed eventually published his 1611 Historie of Great Britaine. Though this history itself was amateurish and of minimal importance, Speed's inclusion of numerous maps of British Cities and town was seminal. In many cases these plans were the first maps ever issued of their respective subjects. Later, turning his attention more fully to Geography, Speed published the magnificent atlas Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine and, just prior to his death, the 1627 A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World. These were the first British world atlases and have a landmark position in the history of cartography. These atlases continued to be published well after Speed's death. Learn More...

Source


Blaeu, J., Le Théâtre du Monde ou Nouvel Atlas... Quatriesme Partie. (Amsterdam: Blaeu) 1663.    

Condition


Very good. Marginal mends with no loss. Superb original color, heightened with gold.

References


OCLC. 1118090847. Shirley, R. Early Printed Maps of the British Isles, no. 549. Van der Krogt, P. C. J., Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici, 5000H:2B.