Map by Willem Blaeu entitled Hibernia Regnum
Willem Blaeu/ Hibernia Regnum Vulgo Ireland/ Amsterdam, c.1635/ 50.2 cm x 38.9 cm (19.75” x 15.3 ”)/ Copper engraving/ Uncoloured/ Latin text on the verso. A map of the whole of Ireland signed Guiljelmum Blaeu in the bottom left-hand corner. Printed from the plate engraved for the two-volume Atlas Novus, first published by him and his son Joan in 1635. Unsigned. This example is from the first state of the plate; four ships were added to the sea in the second state, used in the Atlas Maior in 1662 (Bonar Law, 1997, p. 36). Here the impression shows little wear on the plate, indicating that this is an early issue.
Purchased from Joyce Williams Gallery, Vancouver, Canada, 1981.
Gallery/Dealer
No
This is a purported first state first printing of the 17th century entitled Hibernia Regnum Vulgo Ireland by Dutch cartographer, Willem Blaeu (1571 - 1538). This assessment does not serve as an authentication or verification of such. The estimate is based on actual recent past recorded auction sales of comparables. Retail 'asking prices' can be higher and vary.
I did not state not accepting the statement provided by the dealer; my statement is that I did not also authenticate that this myself.
Thank you for the clarification.
I'm surprised that you do not accept the authenticity of the assessment that this is a print from the first state of the plate. I supplied a supporting reference to Andrew Bonar Law, the authority on printed maps of Ireland from this period. On p. 36 of his book, The Printed Maps of Ireland 1612-1850, he illustrates the second state of the map, which has four ships engraved in the sea, and notes that "The first state has no ships in the sea." There are no ships on the map submitted to you for appraisal.