Old Map of Lancashire in 1654 by Joan Blaeu - Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Blackburn
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This exceptionally rare map of Lancashire was created by Joan Blaeu, working from his renowned mapmaking workshop in Amsterdam, and was originally published in his monumental "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus" in 1654. Blaeu inherited and expanded one of the greatest cartographic businesses of the Dutch Golden Age, and his county atlases of England and Wales remain some of the most admired and collectible maps ever produced. This sheet was originally hand-coloured almost four centuries ago, and the example behind this print is among the finest surviving impressions of the plate.
The map covers the historic county of Lancashire in full, naming towns and villages including Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Blackburn and the area around Windermere in the north, close to Lancashire's old detached northern reaches beyond Morecambe Bay. Rivers, hills and parish boundaries are picked out with the delicate engraving typical of Blaeu's workshop, offering a rare seventeenth-century snapshot of a county that would later become the industrial heartland of England, long before the mills and canals of the Industrial Revolution transformed its landscape.
A map of this vintage and pedigree makes a memorable Christmas or birthday gift for anyone from Lancashire, a thoughtful housewarming present for a new home in Manchester, Liverpool, Preston or Blackburn, or a fitting retirement gift after a lifetime spent in the county. It also suits a corporate gift for a business with roots in the North West. The fine engraved detail of Blaeu's original 1654 plate has been carefully restored throughout this print, right down to the smallest village name.
