[Belgium] Novum ac magnum theatrum urbium Belgicae regiae,

ad praesentis temporis faciem expressum. Amst., J. Blaeu, n.d. (1649). Large folio. 10 prel. lvs (introd. to the reader, privileges and dedications) and 2-page plate-index at the end. Letterpress title-page mounted with engraved border, 68 double-page plates incl. views and plans (one fold.: Liège); 6 full-p. maps and plans; 65 half-p. or smaller plans, maps and views; 4 half-p. views on 2 lvs. Richly gilt overlapping vellum w. remains of ties. Front cover w. central coat of arms w. the catholic monograms "IHS", "MAR" and "IOS", back cover w. central crowned initials "ICVD", red edges. Partial worming in blank upper inner corner (touching the borderline of the plan of Dendermonde), occ. waterst. in var. (mainly) blank margins, occ. browing of lvs due to attachment to stubs. Overlapping edge of binding nibbled by rodents, some stains on covers. Otherwise a well-preserved copy, showing the usual internal and external signs of age and wear. An intriguing unknown provenance: the central stamps differ from the lozenge-shaped ones usually found on the townbooks. This may indicate that the volume was originaly bound by the publisher. Otherwise the binding is as usual (see the Dutch edition of this townbook, elsewhere in this section). We found a few more Blaeau atlases offered at auction with identical coat of arms and initials on the cover.

The Townbooks of Blaeu (a seperate volume was dedicated to the Northern Netherlands; see elsewhere in this category) represent a major in Dutch cartography. They contain very fine and detailed large-format plans of the major cities, historical sieges of cities, fortifications and panoramic views.