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.
Our BuyNow catalog offers old and rare maps, decorative prints, travel posters, books and Medieval manuscripts!
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.
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 & 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.
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.
Mapmakers and explorers
Sometimes, maps become more famous than their makers. Many cartographers only become famous after they’ve created a masterpiece.
Still, others make a famous map, then disappear from history forever.
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.
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.
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 historically achieved prices can help understand the pricing development of old 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
![[Title page from Theatrum orbis Terrarum, with past-on]](/uploads/cache/43860-250x250.jpg)
[Title page from Theatrum orbis Terrarum, with past-on]
The frontispiece of the third part of the 'Theatrum', by Johan Blaeu. Heightened with goldDecorated with terrestrial and celestial globes and to the left Ptolemy (with sp...
Date: Amsterdam, ca. 1650
![Amphitheatri Veronen[sis] diligens et accurata delineatio…](/uploads/cache/49136-250x250.jpg)
Amphitheatri Veronen[sis] diligens et accurata delineatio…
The print features the Amphitheater of Verona, it comes from "Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae" (The Mirror of Roman Magnificence). Example of the first state of...
Date: Rome, Antonio Lafreri, ca. 1560
Ormus. (Hormuz)
This very interesting early engraving shows the ships of the Dutchman Van den Broecke, who in December 1628 left his directorship in Surat. Before returning to Batavia he...
Date: Amsterdam, F. Bernard, 1725
Nouvelle Mappa Monde.
State 2 of this fine double hemisphere world map, from an unusual perspective, with a "Mer de L'Ouest" or "Sea of the West". Paris is located at the c...
Date: Venice, 1776 - 1784
Hollandiae Antiquorum Catthorum..
This map shows Holland in great detail, including small towns, walled cities, rivers and lakes (many of which were reclaimed in the 17th century, and no longer exist). A ...
Date: Antwerp, 1598
Americae Nova Descriptio.
Final state. According to Philip Burden, "this scarce map is America's first single-sheet map with decorative borders." A re-issue of the 1614 plate by Pieter v...
Date: Amsterdam, 1652
Popular Listings
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...
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,...
Date: Oxford, 1680
![[Anti capitalism Soviet Union propaganda poster]](/uploads/cache/47032-250x250.jpg)
[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 ...
Date: Leningrad, 1974
The Soviet Political Poster. - a portfolio collection of 32, full-color posters.
An attractive, large portfolio set of 32 reproductions published in Leningrad in 1976 by Aurora Art Publishers, containing various Soviet Union political posters from 191...
Date: Leningrad, Aurora Art Publishers, 1976
