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. 
Paulus Swaen was founded by current owner Pierre Joppen. Every sold item has 48 years of primary research behind every attribution and condition description. Each item will receive a certificate of authenticity and 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.
Join our newsletter and be the first to be notified of new acquisitions and get exclusive offers.
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

Comitatus Flandria.

First published by the van Langrens c.1595, after his acquisition of the plate, Visscher heavily re-engraved the map, inserting panelled borders on three sides (the lower...

$4000 / ≈ €3438
Maker: VISSCHER, C.Jsz.
Date: Amsterdam, c. 1630

 


Parte orientale della China.. / Parte occidentale della China. (2 sheets)

The map depicts the eastern part of China with Korea -correctly- as a peninsula. Formosa is included as well. Japan is partly visible i.e. the area of Yamaguchi, strait K...

$6500 / ≈ €5587
Maker: CORONELLI, V.M.
Date: Venice, 1695

 


Japanese Stereotype Map of the World from 1932 Share Hitome de wakaru Manga sekai genjō chizu. At a glance: Cartoon Map of the Current World Situation. 目でわかる 漫画世界現状地圖

An extraordinary satirical map of the world was seen through Japanese eyes in the early 1930s as Japanese imperial ambitions strengthened. The map was published as an edi...

$6500 / ≈ €5587
Maker: SHISHIDO SAGYO
Date: Tokyo, Showa 7, or 1932

 


Carte des Isles de Maiorque Minorque et Yvice.

Uncommon map of Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza prepared by J.N. Bellin. With an inset plan of the harbor of Mahon "Plan du Port et de la Ville de Mahon", and a seco...

$700 / ≈ €602
Maker: BELLIN, J.N. / HOMANN HEIRS
Date: Nuremberg, 1756

 


Index Geographicus Tum veteristum novae cognitae Terrae. . .

This rare and decorative advertising poster uses the world map by Presbyter Chrysanthos, who was the Patriarch of Jerusalem. In the top we see John Constantine Bessaraba ...

$2200 / ≈ €1891
Maker: BOBIGNY / PELLETERIES
Date: Paris, ca. 1930

 


(Art déco gouache)

Outstanding "art deco" gouache (unsigned) from the workshop of "Robert Pichon. Ateliers de Dessin et Lithographie – 10, rue Rochechouart – Paris. The gouac...

$750 / ≈ €645
Maker: PICHON, R. (Workshop).
Date: Paris, ca. 1930

 


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 / ≈ €86
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 / ≈ €1289
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 / ≈ €5157
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 / ≈ €86
Maker: THE FIGHTING PENCILS
Date: Leningrad, 1974

 



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