Europe - Greece; Blaeu - Graecia - 1643

Technical data

Title incised: Greece.
Author / Cartographer: Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571–1638), cartographic attribution. Edition of the Blaeu publishing house.
Designer / Engraver: not indicated on the plate.
Publisher: Joan Blaeu, Amsterdam. The title cartouche bears the formula «Joh. et Corn. Blaeu exc.», which associates Cornelis Blaeu with the edition as well.
Place: Amsterdam.
Epoch: around 1643. The plate is without a dated engraving.
Technique: copper-engraved intaglio with manual coloring, of an undetermined date.
Support: paper.
Dimensions: sheet 50 × 58.5 cm. Engraving imprint 41.5 × 52 cm.
Composition: single horizontal plate with a central vertical editorial fold, geographic grid, graduated frame and scale in common German miles.
Editorial provenance: Le Théâtre du Monde, ou Nouvel Atlas, French edition.
verso: French typographic text entitled «GREECE», in two columns per page, with an ornate initial.
Regions depicted: Mainland Greece, Peloponnese, Ionian and Aegean Islands, Albania, historic Macedonia, Thrace and the western coast of Anatolia. In current terms, the map covers territories of Greece, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey, as well as a fragment of Salento in Italy.

Description

Geographic map of Greece and the Aegean archipelago, extending from the Bay of Kotor and the southern Adriatic coast to the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara. The mainland includes Epirus, Thessaly, Attica and the Peloponnese, indicated as Morea. Among the islands are Corfu, Kefalonia and Zante in the Ionian Sea, Euboea, called Negroponte, the Cyclades and islands near the Anatolian coast, among which Lesbos, Chios and Samos.

The engraving distinguishes inhabited centers, waterways and the reliefs depicted in profile. The manual coloring emphasizes the coasts and territorial divisions, while the broad calligraphic inscriptions mark the marine spaces. In the bottom left, the title cartouche is topped by a person in Ottoman dress seated under a canopy, flanked by a armed figure. A sailing vessel appears off Morea. On the right side, a second cartouche, topped by a coat of arms, bears the dedication to the French scholar Claude de Saumaise, Latinized Claudius Salmasius.

Historical-artistic note

Willem Janszoon Blaeu founded in Amsterdam the cartographic house which his sons Joan and Cornelis continued after his death. The plate reflects the family’s editorial tradition, combining a richly detailed geographical drawing with an elaborate figurative apparatus. The French text on the verso places the sheet in the French version of the atlas. The presence of classical names, such as Achaia, alongside toponyms like Morea and Negroponte, documents the geographical lexicon with which Dutch publishing of the Seventeenth century described the eastern Mediterranean.

Condition Report

Good overall state of preservation. Central vertical editorial fold marked, with slight browning and a paper strip on the verso along the fold line (die-cut). Preserved margins, with brown halos and small stains, more evident along the upper and lower edges. Small tear on the lower margin along the central fold. Slight warping of the support. Engraving sharp and coloring legible. Verso with French typographic text, light yellowing and sporadic stains.