This map, published by the Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in 1648, is one of the most important and influential mapamundis of the 17th century.

This is a large-format work, conceived as a mural map. In its original format, it required 21 plates to be printed, occupying a width of three metres and a height of two metres. Today, only three intact copies of the original plates remain, including this copy in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

The world map divides the world into two hemispheres, dividing the continents at the Atlantic Ocean. It reflects Dutch cartographic knowledge in the mid-17th century, being one of the first maps to incorporate the western coasts of New Netherland (Australia) and part of the outline of New Zealand, both discoveries incorporated after the expeditions of Abel Tasman between 1642 and 1644.

This work was published in 1648, coinciding with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia, which formally recognised the independence of the United Provinces from the Crown of Spain. Further breaking with the past, the map is also the first to include a heliocentric representation of the Earth in the top centre. This was a challenge to the Catholic Church, but now with the assurance that in the independent Netherlands the reformation had triumphed.

Sources

• Joan Blaeu's Nova totius terrarum orbis tabula (1648)