Even though a fire destroyed the Blaeu printing works in 1672, the copperplate for the world map miraculously survived, and was subsequently acquired by the Van Keulen dynasty of mapmakers, being included in some of their atlases between 1681 and 1685.

 Maior' of 1662. Unlike the first Blaeu family atlas map, which had been their standard since 1630, this map depicts the world in two hemispheres. 



 edited the cartography of the 1648 version of this map, which was referenced by competitors, such as the Visscher family and 

. The Pacific Northwest coastline appears in greater detail, with California as an island and ‘Nova Albion’, ‘Pt. Sr. Franco Draco’, and part of ‘Anian’ are all new features on 

’s map. ‘Yesso’ (Hokkaido) and other phantom islands fill the northwest Pacific while New Zealand has a partial coast glimpsed by Abel Tasman on his explorative voyage in 1642. Van Diemen’s Land floats south of mainland Australia. The rest of the continent is studded with place names of Dutch origin, a result of the Dutch East India Company’s frequent encounters with the continent on their voyages to the region.

The Sunderland Collection

The Blaeu family’s world map, created by Joan Blaeu for his new twelve-volume 'Atlas Maior' of 1662, replaced the first Blaeu family atlas map of 1630. As with all productions of the Blaeu firm, the engraving, layout, and elegance of decoration are all of the highest standard. The map is invariably printed on thick paper of quality and often superbly hand-coloured. Surrounding the double-hemispheres in the upper border, celestial figures are seated amid clouds which are laid out to reinforce the Copernican heliocentric Solar System theory. In the lower border are representations of the four seasons with each allegorical figure seated in an appropriate chariot quaintly drawn by pairs of beasts and birds.

The Blaeu family is synonymous with the finest mapmaking of the seventeenth century. Following Willem Janszoon Blaeu’s death in 1638, Joan Blaeu expanded the ‘Atlas Novus’ into the 'Atlas Maior', the largest and grandest atlas of its time. It was justly famed for its high quality production values. The atlas frequently served as the official gift of the Dutch Republic to princes and other authorities. It is one of the most lavish and highly prized of all seventeenth-century illustrated books.

The Blaeu family’s new world map, created by Joan Blaeu for his new twelve-volume ‘Atlas Maior’ of 1662. This extraordinary world map replaced the first Blaeu family atlas map, which had been their standard since 1630. Map historian Jerry Brotton suggests that this is the first world map in an atlas to portray the Copernican solar system.

Blaeu's World Map, showing the Copernican Solar System