hr: Antiques

Photo Credit: thejourney1972 

They are often regarded as the most remarkable atlas ever created. It composed of two thousand and plus beautiful maps, prints and drawings. A visual documentation of the 17th century which gives us a picturesque idea of the geography, warfare, politics and their society during that era.

It was a lawyer in Amsterdam, Laurens Van der Hem who used Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior as his foundation of his magnificent collection. He collected more maps, charts and several architectural prints and portraits done by well-known artists.

Included in his collection are four volumes of manuscripts maps and topographical drawings that are considered by historians and artists alike to be such an impressive work of art.

The Atlas is right now in the care of the Austrian National Library in Vienna. A lot of people wanted to get hold of this atlas since it is not only aesthetically beautiful but the information that it holds is quite massive: Geography, architecture, sculpture, folklore, topography, navigation, warfare and many more.
When the Van der Hem died, his daughter naturally inherited it and took care of it with infinite care. She turned down several offers who wanted to but the Atlas. During 1711, she showed it to a known and highly respected bibliophile Konrad Zacharias von Uffenbach. At first, the gentleman could not understand why so many are at awe with the collection but when he saw the whole collection he said that it should not be called Blaeu-Atlas but a truly Royal Atlas,

When the daughter died, it was auctioned in 1730. Prince Eugene of Savoie, a famous general and art lover and collector was the one who bought it. It made his personal collection even more attractive. It was rumored that he bought the whole collection for 22,000 gilders. When he died, a niece of his by the name of Victoria sold it to the Imperial Library in Vienna which is the Austrian National Library we know of today.

It is considered to be one of the largest and well-made Atlases ever created.