Johannes Blaeu and Martino Martini | Novus Atlas Sinensis, 1655, folio, publisher's vellum gilt

Johannes Blaeu and Martino Martini

Novus Atlas Sinensis a Martino Martinio. Amsterdam: Johannes Blaeu, 1655

FIRST EDITION, folio (517 x 330 mm.), Latin text, hand-coloured engraved allegorical frontispiece, dedication to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria with illuminated initials, 17 double-page hand-coloured engraved maps, general preface and descriptions for each mapped region: Peking, Xansi, Xensi, Xantung, Honan, Suchuen, Huquang, Kiangsi, Kiangnan, Chekiang, Fokien, Quangtung, Qvangsi, Queicheu, Junnan, including a map and appendix on Japan, sections on the Kingdom of China and the Tartar War, publisher’s vellum gilt, small armorial gilt stamps to centre of covers, yapp edges, spine gilt, gilt edges, green cloth ties, slight worming, dampstaining in upper right corner and lower left corner affecting some leaves, some browning at margins, vellum stained, some oxidisation to pigments, last leaf with repaired tear

THE FIRST EUROPEAN ATLAS OF CHINA. This finely bound edition was published separately, but became the sixth volume of Blaeu's Theatrum. The maps, after Martino Martini's surveys, display the unique collaboration between Martini, who was the Jesuit Superior of Hangchow, and the successful Amsterdam cartographer Johannes Blaeu. The resulting atlas of seventeen maps contains a general map of China, fifteen maps of provinces and a separate map of Japan. This edition corresponds to Koeman's entry 2:501B, since the engraved title page reads 'Novus Altas Sinensis...', without making mention of Blaeu's Theatrum series. 

LITERATURE:

Koeman, II, 2:501B; Cordier, Sinica 182; Löwendahl 116; van der Krogt 2:501; Western Travellers in China, 16

PROVENANCE:

Armorial gilt stamp to upper cover, depicting 3 wheels surmounted by a crown surrounded by Greek letters; armorial gilt stamp to back cover, depicting foliate roundals with letters 'ICVD' surmounted by a crown