Rare wall map of the Americas

Willem Jansz. Blaeu (d.1638) was the founder of the Blaeu publishing house that became the pre-eminent mapmakers and publishers in Europe in the second and third quarters of the seventeenth century.

One of the earliest maps that he published was a fine wall-map of the Americas, first published in 1608, and re-issued thereafter. His map proved very influential, and for the next forty years virtually all maps of the Americas were based on his cartographic delineation.

This particular derivative was issued by the publisher Gottfried de Scaichi (or Scaicki), of whom very little is known. It is possible that Scaichi was originally of Dutch origin, with some authorities suggesting that he was from Utrecht, and that his is one and the same as the publisher Geer van Schayk, working at Rome at the same time There is also some confusion about when he was actually working, with some authors giving a date as late as the 1660s or 1670s.

However, it is more likely that he was working in the 1620s - not least because the elaborate dedicatory scene apparently refers to Philip III of Spain (d.1621). Furthermore, this map shows Tierra del Fuego before the addition of Le Maire's Strait, discovered in 1618, but the news of which was kept secret by the Dutch until 1622. This makes this one of the earliest derivative of Blaeu's map. Scaichi evidently followed either state one or state 2 of Blaeu's map. Each of these states known in only one surviving copy.

The map is surrounded on three sides by additional decorative panels; the side panels depict costume of the natives of the regions of the Americas, while the lower border contains vignette views of 12 principal settlement of the region, including St Augustine, Florida (the oldest surviving European settlement in North America), Mexico City, Cusco, Havana and Rio de Janeiro.