Beschreibung:

BLAEU, Joan (1596-1673) & Willem BLAEU (1571-1638). Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie Blaviane, en laquelle est exactement descritte la Terre, la Mer et le Ciel. Amsterdam: Joan Blaeu 1667.
BLAEU, Joan (1596-1673) & Willem BLAEU (1571-1638). Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie Blaviane, en laquelle est exactement descritte la Terre, la Mer et le Ciel. Amsterdam: Joan Blaeu 1667. 12 volumes, 2 o (510 x 315 mm). 12 letterpress titles with woodcut printer's devices, volume I with general letterpress title and engraved allegorical title, 8 engraved architectural titles with letterpress overslips, 596 (of 597) engraved maps, plans and views (see below), most full-sheet, a few folding, the maps embellished with cartouches, allegorical figures, coats-of-arms, ships, etc., numerous woodcut and engraved diagrams and illustrations in text, woodcut initials and ornaments, MAPS, ENGRAVED TITLES AND TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS FULLY COLORED BY A CONTEMPORARY HAND, A FEW HEIGHTENED WITH GOLD. (Some browning and occasional staining, a few minor repairs, light marginal dampstaining to volumes VIII and XII). Publisher's Dutch vellum over pasteboard, covers paneled in gilt with central gilt arabesque and large floral corner pieces, smooth spines gilt in 8 compartments, gilt lettered red and green morocco spine labels, silk ties edges gilt. (Missing a few ties, some minor rubbing). Provenance : François Ragazzoni (bookplate). Contents : Volume I Arctic, Europe and Scandinavia. Title, engraved frontispiece, 60 (of 61) engraved maps and plates (Koeman lists only 60, omitting the last map "Aroe insulae delineatio geometrica" [1/2-page], lacking Koeman 21 "La partie Boreale de la Jutie Septentrionale") including the world map (short repaired tear to center fold) and 14 plates depicting Uranienborg, the observatory of Tycho Brahe, and his astronomical instruments. -- Volume II Northern and Eastern Europe. Title, 39 engraved maps and plates, including the plans of Moscow and the Kremlin (without Koeman no. 33 "Illyrie ou Sclavonie", issued with the 1663 edition but not called for in the printed index of this volume, and present in only a few copies of the 1667 edition). - Volume III Germany. Title, 96 engraved maps, including 3 large folding plates of the Rhine, the Danube, and Alsace (without Koeman no. 84 "Frankenlandt," issued in the 1663 edition, but not called for in the printed index to this volume). -- Volume IV Belgium and the Netherlands. Title, 2 engraved titles, 63 engraved maps. -- Volume V England. Title, engraved title, 58 engraved maps, 3 engraved views in text of Stonehenge and Avebury. -- Volume VI Scotland and Ireland. Title, engraved title, 55 engraved maps. -- Volume VII France. Title, engraved title, 37 maps. -- Volume VIII France and Switzerland. Title, 36 engraved maps. -- Volume IX Italy. Title, engraved title 60 engraved maps. -- Volume X Spain and Africa. 2 titles, 41 maps and plates, including 7 plates of views and plans of the Escorial. -- Volume XI Asia. Title, 2 engraved titles, 28 engraved maps (text leaf Oo slightly shorter) -- Volume XII America. Title, 23 maps (last two leaves with repaired internal tear). SECOND EDITION IN FRENCH, A FINELY COLORED COPY OF BLAEU'S MONUMENTAL ATLAS. "The contents of this unprecedented atlas illustrate the high standards of contemporary cartography and geographical knowledge, and its presentation bears witness to the superb craftsmanship of engraver, printer, binder, and papermaker. The production of the vast atlas is a demonstration... of the enterprise of the Amsterdam printers of the time and of the financial and commercial capacity of the House of Blaeu in particular" (Koeman, Joan Blaeu p. 1). "The French edition, comprising twelve volumes [instead of nine], is literally the most voluminous of all editions. It contains five maps more than the Latin edition and one less than the Dutch. The French edition, moreover, was the only one that went into a second edition..." (ibid., p. 48). Koeman, Atlantes neerlandici I, Bl 58-59, pp. 246-270; Koeman, Joan Blaeu and his Grand Atlas (Amsterdam 1970); Phillips 479. (12)