PAULUS SWAEN OLD & RARE MAPS

We specialize in rare maps, atlases, globes, travel posters, master prints, and decorative prints from the 16th to 18th centuries and offer antique maps from all parts of the world, produced by renowned cartographers such as Ortelius, Mercator, Blaeu, Janssonius, Hondius, Visscher, and de Wit.
The items listed in our BuyNow catalogare available for immediate sale and every sold item will receive a certificate of authenticity. We offer a lifetime guarantee on all our items.
The high standards of our map and atlas collection are world-renowned.


Catalog of old maps and prints

Swaen BuyNow CATALOG

Our BuyNow-catalog offers immediate sale items, and no commission is charged. The catalog includes old maps of the World - America - Asia - Europe - Africa - Medieval Manuscripts - Nuremberg Chronicle - Prints - Posters, atlases, globes, etc.
Our stock is updated weekly, and our most recent additions are conveniently displayed in our "Latest Listings".
Have a look at our Gallery highlights or our Curated Collection of carefully selected old and rare maps, all graded 8-10 stars in the HiBCoR grading system.

Latest Listings

Latest Listings & Updates

You can always check our latest listings page. It is updated daily and you see what we’ve recently added. Let's take a look at some rare maps we've recently acquired.
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Feel free to contact us using the contact form, Chat on WhatsApp, or Social Media.


Highlights
Gallery Highlights

In this highlights section of the BuyNow catalog, we present some personal favorites from our large stock of authentic maps, atlases, prints, globes, posters and Medieval manuscripts.
The items are immediately available, and no commission is charged.

mapmakers
Mapmakers and explorers

Sometimes, maps become more famous than their makers. Many cartographers only become famous after they’ve created a masterpiece.
Still, others make a famous map, then disappear from history forever.

My Collection+
My Collection+

Now you can save any of your favorite items from our BuyNow catalog, Latest Listings or Archive in one place. Build your own Virtual Collection. It is free and you can delete an item at any time. Previously acquired items are automatically added to the My Collection+ list.

mapping of
The Mapping of . . .

We have created some short articles on the mapping of Arabia, Australia, Canada, China, Hungary, the Invasion of Minorca, Japan, Korea, Malta, the Mer de l'Ouest, the Northwest Passage, Poland, Russia, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Ukraine, among other regions.

catalog archive
Archive of sold items

Paulus Swaen maintains an archive of sold items, including images. Most map images are not subject to copyright and can be used freely, as they are in the public domain. These historically achieved prices can help understand the pricing development of old maps.


Articles about maps
Read our short articles

If you are interested in the backgrounds of antique maps, prints, mapmakers, etc. then you should read our short but informative articles >>>>
Or about posters, old prints, Nuremberg Chronicle, optical prints, medieval manuscripts, etc.



Featured Listings

Calendrier de la cour, tiré des éphémérides, pour l'Année bissextile.. / Notebook bearing silver plates with the VOC monogram.

A personal gift, only made for the trustees of the V.O.C. The silver plate was probably made by Drick van Hengel and Company because an entry in the diary of mintmaster J...

$4500 / ≈ â‚¬3934
Maker: HÉRISSANT, Ve.
Date: Paris, 1787

 


Nansenbushu bankoku shoka no zu.

This wall-map is a great example of Japanese world maps representing Buddhist cosmology with real-world cartography. It is the earliest one and - therefore - the prototyp...

$16000 / ≈ â‚¬13988
Maker: ZUDA ROKASHI (Priest Hotan)
Date: Kyoto, (Hoei 7 = Year of the Tiger) 1710

 


Nieuwe kaart van Kanada . . .

Nice map of the Bay of Hudson, In Labrador, a small inset of Nova Scotia. The map is dated 1769. All text is in Dutch. The map shows the region shortly after the conclusi...

$500 / ≈ â‚¬437
Maker: TIRION, I.
Date: Amsterdam, 1769

 


Het gezandtschap der Neerlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, Den tegenwoordigen Keizer van China. . .

Third edition of this beautifully illustrated work on China. The first edition was published in 1665.Jan Nieuhof was a "Dutch traveler and adventurer" (1618-72)...

$5500 / ≈ â‚¬4808
Maker: NIEUHOFF, J.
Date: Amsterdam, W. Waasberge, 1693

 


Sumatra.

Gastaldi prepared this map and it was the first separate map of any Southeast Asian island based on actual observation. The general contour of Sumatra is remarkably good ...

$1250 / ≈ â‚¬1093
Maker: GASTALDI, G. / RAMUSIO, J. B.
Date: Venice, 1556

 


Naaukeurige Platte Grond van den Staat en den Loop van Rio de Berbice Met derzelver Plantagien in de Geoctrojeerde Colonie de Berbice Gelegen. . .

Uncommon large-scale map of Berbice with Rio de Berbice and Rio de Canje, with at the bottom left a list of plantation owners. In the top 3 x 3 coats of arms in cartouche...

$9500 / ≈ â‚¬8306
Maker: DE LETH, H.
Date: Amsterdam, 1740

 


Popular Listings

Chinese advertising poster for Red Lion cigarette brand.

This poster, an advertisement for the Red Lion Cigarettes brand from the 1930s, melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithog...

$100 / ≈ â‚¬87
Maker: ASIATIC LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS
Date: Shanghai, 1950/1960

 


A rare suite of 12 original etchings by Martin van Maele to the famous work by Edmond Haracourt.

A rare suite of 12 original etchings by Martin van Maele to the famous work by Edmond Haracourt. The series was published anonymously in a small edition. These etchings a...

$1500 / ≈ â‚¬1311
Maker: VAN MAELE, M.
Date: Nevers, Brussels, 1882,1883

 


Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula.

A beautifully decorative world map taken from the 'English Atlas' by Moses Pitt and Steven Swart, based on an earlier engraved world map by Pieter van den Keere ca. 1630,...

$6000 / ≈ â‚¬5246
Maker: PITT, M. / SWART, S. / JANSSONIUS VAN WAESBERGHE, J.
Date: Oxford, 1680

 


[Anti capitalism Soviet Union propaganda poster]

Propaganda mini anti-capitalism poster published in Russia during The Cold War. By the 1960’s and 1970’s, outrageous practices in Soviet bureaucracy flourished. Poor plan...

$100 / ≈ â‚¬87
Maker: THE FIGHTING PENCILS
Date: Leningrad, 1974

 



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