Map of Corsica oriented north to the left taken from the Flemish edition of Johannes Blaeu’s famous Atlas Major published in Amsterdam in 1664. The cartography is based on Giovanni Antonio Magini’s surveys, here re-proposed by Blaeu with the same precise toponymy but with a more careful representation of the reliefs and the river system.
The famous publishing house of the Blaeu family was founded in Amsterdam in 1596 by Willem Janzoon Blaeu (1571-1638) who initially produced globes, nautical charts and scientific instruments but soon set about, buying Mercator’s copper plates from his son-in-law Jodocus Hondius, to produce a world atlas. After his death, the business was continued by his two talented sons Cornelius (1616-1648) and Johannis (1596-1673) who greatly expanded their father’s already ambitious cartographic project. The Atlas Major is the result of the Blaeu’s immense work and is unanimously recognised as one of the highest moments in the history of cartography. The approximately 600 maps that compose it are all engraved with very fine strokes and embellished with splendid cartouches, heraldic references and especially splendid cursive calligraphy. The Blaeu’s work came to a halt in 1672 when the Great Fire of Amsterdam destroyed the workshop and most of the map matrixes. The following year Johannis died and the remaining plates were dispersed and bought by rivals Frederick De Wit, Schenk and Valk. The publishing house finally closed in 1695.
