[Lithuania] - “Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae…”. J. Blaeu. After 1648.

[Lithuania] – “Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae…”. J. Blaeu. After 1648 .

Hand-colored copperplate engraving; 44.5 x 52.5 (pl. 50 x 59.5)
A very rare map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (west-oriented). In the upper right corner, against the backdrop of the Baltic Sea, is the Pogoń; below, in the center of the map, is a cartouche with text addressed to the viewer, “Spectator, …” (concerning the borders of Lithuania). On the left side, the title cartouche (with a dedication to Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł, the patron of the map’s creation, by Tomasz Makowski in 1613), followed by a legend and text in a frame reading “Paludes Polesiae…” (The Marshes of Polesia). The colophon in the lower left corner reads: “Ioannes Blaeu excudebat.” The map was compiled and published in Amsterdam by Joannes Blaeu (1595–1673), son and successor of Willem Janszoon, to replace the famous Radziwiłł map. Included in the Blaeu publishing house’s atlases from 1648 to 1667. Blank verso. A tear in the upper left corner (repaired), atlas folding creases, slight soiling; otherwise in very good condition. Very rare!
Lit.: Imago Poloniae, vol. II, p. 192, item K90/1