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.
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

Tempe.

An attractive view of Mount Olympus and the valley in northern Thessaly (Greece), called the Vale of Tempe in ancient times, through which the river Peneus (present-day S...

$600 / ≈ â‚¬520
Maker: ORTELIUS, A.
Date: Antwerp, 1590

 


A Map of the City of Philadelphia, showing the Location of the Volunteer Fire Companies. . .

A fine, large pictorial plan of the City of Philadelphia, based on the drawing by Jacob Riegel in 1937, which itself was based on an earlier work dating back to 1794. The...

$450 / ≈ â‚¬390
Maker: THE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA.
Date: Philadelphia, 1938

 


Anverpia, nobile in Barbantia oppidum, parrim maritimum . . . [Antwerp]

The bird's-eye plan provides an excellent view of the citadel, city, docks and fortifications. The city was defended by a line of fortification and a moat constructed und...

$950 / ≈ â‚¬824
Maker: BRAUN, G. / HOGENBERG, F.
Date: Cologne, 1585

 


Volume III of the monumental atlas, ‘L’Orbe Cattolico ossia Atlante Geografico Storico Ecclesiastico’.

PETRI Girolamo's extremely rare Atlas volume III of the monumental atlas, ‘L’Orbe Cattolico ossia Atlante Geografico Storico Ecclesiastico’, respectively depicting eccl...

$25000 / ≈ â‚¬21672
Maker: PETRI G.
Date: Rome, 1858

 


[Sea monsters] De regni Settentrionali Monstri marini & terrestri…

Münster's plate of monsters of both land and sea, taken from an Italian text edition of Münster's Cosmographia, which is a short and complete summary of Renaissance knowl...

$3600 / ≈ â‚¬3121
Maker: MÜNSTER, S.
Date: Basel, 1558

 


Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica..

The first of four states of the map. French text on verso. One of the most beautiful world maps ever engraved and one of the most influential in promulgating the Californ...

$9500 / ≈ â‚¬8236
Maker: HONDIUS, H.
Date: Amsterdam, 1630-1633

 


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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