Current Auction
Lot 585
Current Auction

"Tartaria sive Magni Chami Imperium", Blaeu, (Family)

Subject: Northern Asia

Period: 1642 (circa)

Publication: Toonneel des Aerdrycks

Color: Hand Color

Size:
19.7 x 15 inches
50 x 38.1 cm
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This great map of Tartaria covers all of eastern Asia between the Caspian Sea and northern China and Manchuria. Being one of the most remote regions of Asia, it was among the last to be properly explored and mapped. This map combines the knowledge obtained by the English and Dutch explorers as far as the Ob River with the balance of the map based on the reports of Marco Polo and the Greek classics. The deserts are filled with a wild assortment of devils and dragons, being held at bay from China by the Great Wall. Explorers flank the distance scale and the title is symbolically engraved onto the saddle blanket of a camel, representing the trade over the Silk Road. This map is nearly identical to Jansson's map of the same title, but includes meridians and degrees of longitude at top and bottom. Dutch text on verso, published between 1642-48.

References: Van der Krogt (Vol. II) #8050:2.

Condition: B+

A dark impression with full contemporary color on a bright sheet with light printer's ink residue, minor offsetting, and a small rust spot in the middle of the map. There is toning along the centerfold that is mostly confined to the blank margins.

Estimate: $300 - $375

Current High Bid:
$0

Reserve: Reserve Not Met
Next Bid: $150

Bid Increments
$100 - $249$10
$250 - $499$25
$500 - $999$50
$1,000 - $2,499$100
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