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.
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.
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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+
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 historical prices can help explain 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
![[World and 4 continents] Carte Geographique Astronomique Chronologique et Historique du Monde.](/uploads/cache/63024-250x250.jpg)
[World and 4 continents] Carte Geographique Astronomique Chronologique et Historique du Monde.
French wall map of the world in 4 sheets published by Crépy "à l'entrée du Cloistre de St. Benoist du côté des maturins". A decorative wall map of the world sur...
Date: Paris, 1720-1735
Islandia.
1603 ORTELIUS, A. - Perhaps the most famous map of Iceland. On the south side of the island, a collection of all possible sea monsters is depicted. Polar bears on ice flo...
Date: Antwerp, 1603
Nova Africa descriptio.
1660 - DE WIT, F. - Carte à figures - map of the African continent. Bordered, above, by panels showing panoramas of Cairo, Alexandria, Algiers, Tunis, Tangier, and Ceuta....
Date: Amsterdam, after 1660
![Etats-Unis de L'Amerique Septentrionale. [Two sheets in manuscript ]](/uploads/cache/03972-250x250.jpg)
Etats-Unis de L'Amerique Septentrionale. [Two sheets in manuscript ]
Two sheets giving detailed information in French about the population in 1810, principal cities, products of industry and commerce, the financial situation for 1818, etc....
Date: France, ca. 1819
![[ Manuscript map of the Ligurian coast from Pietra to Genova ].](/uploads/cache/26627-250x250.jpg)
[ Manuscript map of the Ligurian coast from Pietra to Genova ].
Very detailed French manuscript map of the Ligurian coast from Pietra and Finale, Savone to Genoa with the Maritime Alps in the background. The Liguria coast borders to n...
Date: France, ca. 1790-1800
Carte d'Afrique Dressée pour l'instruction par Guillaume DeLisle. . .
The map is a rare re-issue of the Delisle map of 1722. In his first map of the continent in 1700, Delisle re-measured the Mediterranean, being the first to establish its ...
Date: Paris, J.Dezauche, 1819
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...
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...
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 plan...
Date: Leningrad, 1974
