:: saved at 6,480 x 5,040 ::

To celebrate the new procedure I decided to get around to editing the Library of Congress‘ copy of Willem Janszoon Blaeu‘s Nova totius terrarum orbis geographica ac hydrographica tabula, which was published in Amsterdam in 1606. I removed the original map from the center and kept the decorative border similar to Nova et Accvratissima Totivs Terrarvm Orbis Tabvla, A New Map of the Terraqueous Globe : according to the the Ancient discoveries and most general Divisions of Geospatial Art, America as a Cloverleaf, and A New And Accurate Map of the World by John Speed. However, unlike the previous antique map mash-ups, which usually feature the earth laid out in two hemispheres, this map uses a rectangular space (Mercator?). The beauty of this open layout is that I can place any of my previously made maps inside of this 402-year-old template.

A common naming practice I’ve noticed in old map is the use of “New & Accurate” and since I like to play around with words, I changed Accurate to Arabesque to create a visual pun. The source map was about 6,500 pixels wide, I underlaid a rotated 9,000 x 6,000 copy of Hirshhorn Quilt to fit perfectly in the center of the new map. I think it would be fun to actually hand-color the engravings on this map to match other copies of this map which have the various figures colored in. The LOC’s copy is uncolored which means that its actually easier to add color to it than if it were already colored because pigment matching is not needed.

: detail of the planet Goddess Venus :

Across the top (left to right) you have the planet gods:

• Luna guiding ships at night
• Mercury holding his Caduceus
• Venus with Cupid
• Sol riding a Quadriga
• Mars being lead by the dogs of war Phobos (Panic) and Deimos (Dread).
• Jupiter with lightening bolts in his hands
• Saturn holding a scythe

Drawn within each of these engravings are the signs of the Zodiac that the planets rule:

• Moon rules Cancer
• Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo
• Venus rules Libra and Taurus
• The Sun rules Leo
• Mars rules Aries and Scorpio
• Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Piscies
• Saturn rules Aquarius and Capricorn

Below I dissect the rest of the border of the map: