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 catalog are 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.

Amsterdam Map Fair
Amsterdam Map Fair, 12 September

Paulus Swaen will be exhibiting at the 3rd Amsterdam Map Fair in the Maritime Museum on September 12, 2026. Please check out some of the highlights we will bring to the fair

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 historical prices can help explain 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

La Pieuvre Germanique.

Scarce lithographed plate not dated, by Eugène Danzanvilliers, printed by Grandremy in Paris. The plate listed by Adhemar is dated 1874. Eugène Danzanvilliers was a draug...

$3000 / ≈ â‚¬2601
Maker: DANZANVILLIERS, E.
Date: Paris, 28 Quai de la Rapée, c.1874

 


L'Impero della preda ossia la Piovra d'Absburgo.

Austro-Hungarian Octopus zinc lithographed map. A propaganda sheet attacking the Austro-Hungarian Empire, showing it as an octopus with its tentacles wrapped around the v...

$500 / ≈ â‚¬433
Maker: ANONYMOUS.
Date: La Zincografia, Milan, c. 1915

 


Imperii Russici et Tartariae Universae tabula novissima.

Decorative and rare map covering Russia, Tibet, China, Tartary, Korea, Taiwan and Japan prepared by J. M. Hasius. The sea between Japan and Korea is mentioned Mare Orient...

$1200 / ≈ â‚¬1040
Maker: BROEDELET, J.
Date: Utrecht, 1743

 


Carte Genealogique pour conduire a l´Histoire des Rois du Nord la carte de Leurs etats, leurs armes et des remarques pour conduire a l‘intelligence de l‘ Histoire du Nord

Two sheets pasted together, engraved with a map of Scandinavia and a map of southern Sweden, surrounded by the geneology and the coats-of-arms of the Scandinavian kingdom...

Maker: CHATELAIN, H.A.
Date: Amsterdam, 1728

 


De Zee-Kuste vant Landt te Noort-oosten sorterende onder Norweghen ende eendeels onder Sweden alsoe tlandt aldaer in zijn gedaente is, van Distelberch tot Waersberghe.

A rare Latin text edition of this early and detailed chart of the coast of Norway of this landmark contribution to the science of navigation. Decorated by a large title c...

$3000 / ≈ â‚¬2601
Maker: WAGHENAER, L.J.
Date: Leiden, Plantijn, 1585

 


Universalis Cosmographia.

A very desirable cordiform (heart-shaped) world map from Johann Honter's 'Rudimentum'. The map is a reduced version of Waldseemüller's and Apianus' earlier world maps. Th...

$2000 / ≈ â‚¬1734
Maker: HONTER, J.
Date: Zurich, Froschauer, ca. 1546/1548

 


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‚¬1300
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‚¬5201
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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