BLAEU, Joan Atlas maior, sive cosmographia blaviana,... Lot 589

BLAEU, Joan [Atlas maior, sive cosmographia blaviana, qua solum, salum, coelum, accuratissime describuntur]. Geographiae Blavianae volumen quartum, quo liber IX, X, Europae continentur. Amsterdam Heirs J. Blaeu 1662 Large folio: 3 (of 4) engr. titles, 63 finely hand-coloured pl., mostly double-paged and mounted on lvs (1st title of the United Netherlands missing, pp. iii-vi detached, sm. wormholes, most lvs sl. toned and occ. browned). Armorial binding in contemp. ivory vellum, gilt decorated covers with coat of arms of a Bishop, spine with gilt roll-stamps, gilt edges (upper part spine split and partly defective). Blaeu's volume of the Low Countries from the first Latin edition of his "Atlas Maior", which is considered "the greatest and finest atlas ever published". Illustrated with 60 double-paged and 3 in-text maps, plans and topographical views. Compared to the previous atlas editions by the Blaeu family, J. Blaeu increased the number of maps: for the Southern Netherlands he reused copperplates from A. Sanderus's "Flandria Illustrata", while for the Northern Netherlands, he included 6 maps of the polders acquired from the stock of C.J. Visscher. Ref. Van der Krogt II [2:601.4]. Prov. Episcopal collection (armorial binding).