Old Map of Wiltshire in 1665 by Joan Blaeu - Salisbury, Stonehenge, Chippenham
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This exceedingly rare, full-colour map of Wiltshire was created by the master Amsterdam mapmaker Joan Blaeu and originally published in his celebrated atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus, in 1665. Produced during the golden age of Dutch cartography, the map was hand-coloured almost four centuries ago and survives today as one of the finest examples of this particular plate still in existence, a testament to the skill of Blaeu's Amsterdam workshop and its central place in seventeenth-century mapmaking.
The map covers the historic county of Wiltshire in detail, taking in the cathedral city of Salisbury, the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, and market towns including Swindon, Trowbridge, Chippenham, Melksham, Marlborough, Devizes, Warminster and Calne, with the county's rivers, including the Avon and the Kennet, and its rolling chalk downland engraved throughout. Wiltshire's patchwork of parishes and manors is rendered with the elegant engraving style for which Blaeu's Amsterdam workshop was renowned, and the whole sheet is finished with the kind of decorative cartouche and compass rose typical of the period.
This map makes a lovely housewarming, wedding, retirement, birthday or Christmas gift for anyone connected to Wiltshire, as well as a striking corporate gift for a Wiltshire-based business or a thoughtful anniversary present for a couple who married near Salisbury or Stonehenge. Every fine engraved line from this 1665 plate has been carefully restored to preserve its original detail and colour, keeping every market town and river name sharp and legible.
