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

Imperium Russicum, cum regionibus adiacentibus duabus Tabulis ex optima quae A. 1784 tribus foliis comparavit Mappa geographica, aliisque subsidiis delineatum a C. Mannert, Tabula Ima. . .

A detailed map of the European part of the Russian Empire. Scarce map. Copper etching by C. Mannert and edited by Adam Gottlieb Schneider and Johann Christoph Weigel. Man...

Maker: MANNERT, C.
Date: Nuremberg, 1794

 


Nuevo plano de la ciudad de Buenos Aires y parte del partido de avellaneda . . .

A rare detailed city plan of Buenos Aires prepared in 1912 by Ernesto Escalante. The plan depicts the city from the Partido de Avellaneda and the Villa Riachuelo to the R...

$1500 / ≈ â‚¬1282
Maker: ESCALANTE, E.
Date: Buenos Aires, 1912

 


Chamonix - Mont Blanc - Chamonix N°5 Sud.

Magnificent 1:10,000 scale color printed map of Chamonix - Mont Blanc (Chamonix N°5 Sud) based on stereotopographic ground and aerial surveys carried out in the field in ...

$1000 / ≈ â‚¬855
Maker: INSTITUT GEOGRAPHIQUE NATIONAL.
Date: Paris, 1953

 


Insularum Moluccarum Nova description.

Exquisite map of the famous Spice Islands based. This map was the first large-scale map of the region and depicts the islands which provided first the Portuguese and then...

$750 / ≈ â‚¬641
Maker: SCHENK, P. / VALK, G.
Date: Amsterdam, 1730

 


Insulae Palaos seu Novae Philippinae 87 Alias Archipelagus S. Lazari ven Carolinae . . .

Map of Philippine archipelago. Stöcklein's work is a compound of letters of the Jesuit missionaries from all over the world and here particularly the ones stationed at th...

$1200 / ≈ â‚¬1026
Maker: STÖCKLEIN, J.
Date: Augsburg, 1726

 


Profil de la renomée ville et port d'Emstredam cappitalle des estats de Hollande.

Extremely rare panoramic town-view of Amsterdam seen from the river IJ.Exceptional bright, sharp example.The print is skillful copy of the print of Matthieu Merian, now w...

$7000 / ≈ â‚¬5985
Maker: BOISSEAU, J.
Date: Paris, 1647

 


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‚¬85
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‚¬1282
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‚¬5130
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‚¬85
Maker: THE FIGHTING PENCILS
Date: Leningrad, 1974

 



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