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What is New

Paulus Swaen has stopped its auction activities since last year.

Pierre Joppen founded Paulus Swaen Old Maps in 1978, and the company is one of the oldest, single-owned antique and rare map sellers.
During the last 46 years, Pierre has pioneered online map selling and is unafraid of innovation.
A great deal has transpired in the 46 years of active map trading. 


What is New at Paulus Swaen

May 1, 2025
AI ChatBot & LiveChat
We started a virtual chatbot, called "Mercator", to provide our users with instant help on the most frequently asked questions.
We also launched our AI-driven chatbot, Ortelius, to provide more info to Famous Mapmakers and Explorers.
january 1, 2025>

Paulus Swaen NewsLetter.
We started updating our clients with our Email NewsLetter and providing exclusive offers. 
Our BuyNow catalog will be updated with Recent Acquisitions !

July 1, 2024
Paulus Swaen has stopped its auction activities.
We have decided to stop auctioning and instead devote more time to finding high-quality, rare maps to sell directly to our clients through our BuyNow catalog, Newsletter, and exclusive offers. 

2022
Creation of Meta4Maps - An Online Metaverse platform to present old maps

2010
Creation of HIBCoR. A grading system can help the starting collector to set their focus.

2001 - 2012
Miami Map Fair Steering Committee member

1996
Paulus Swaen Inc.'s first internet auction of maps went online

1996
Paulus Swaen Inc. was founded and incorporated in FL, USA

1975 - 1985
Paulus Swaen participated in the first 10 editions of the TEFAF Antique Fair in Maastricht, NL

1978
Paulus Swaen Old Maps and Prints was founded in the Netherlands

Virtual Collection

Virtual collection

What was once an idea from science fiction has long since become a reality! The metaverse is more than just virtual reality, augmented reality, extended reality, or cyberspace - it’s all those things at once.

virtual collection With Virtual Collection / WishList, you can save and collect your favorite items in one place. It is free and you can delete an item from your list at any time.
We have already added the purchased items or items for which you have placed bids in the past. With one click, you can add any of the 30,000+ maps, prints or Medieval manuscripts from our BuyNow Catalog or Catalog Archive.

  • Add an item to this Virtuam Collection List by clicking on the virtual collection icon on any of the 30,000+ items in the BuyNow Catalog or Catalog Archive
  • The item can be deleted from this list by clicking on the virtual collection icon.
  • You will be the first to be updated when new items or updates in these categories become available in our BuyNow catalog. Select/deselect your email notifications settings.
  • You must be logged in to view your items. Learn more [+]