Over ons
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Paulus Swaen Inc. specializes in maps, atlases, globes, travel posters, master prints and decorative prints from the 16th - 18th century. We specialize in antique maps of all parts of the world, produced by renowned cartographers, such as Ortelius, Mercator, Blaeu, Janssonius, Hondius, Visscher, de Wit, etc.
Last but not least vintage posters, modern and old master prints and Medieval manuscripts are offered in our BuyNow and Buy-It-Now catalog!
A certificate of authenticity will be produced for every sold item and we lifetime guarantee the items we sell.
The high standard of quality of our collection of maps and atlases is world-renowned.
The firm was founded in 1978 in the Netherlands by Pierre Joppen, who is still the company owner. The Gallery was housed until the middle of 1997 in a lovely old building in Geldrop in the Southern part of The Netherlands. Paulus Swaen Inc is since 1996 been incorporated in Florida USA where we started to produce our catalogs on the Internet. In 2021 we opened an office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and in 2022 we started with online Buy-or-Bid Sales.
Paulus Swaen Europe bv
To better serve our European buyers and sellers, we have opened an office in Amsterdam.
Our Amsterdam office manager Roland Boelen has 25 years of experience in collection building and eventually selling a collection.
Feel free to contact Roland if you need assistance in selling your maps or an art collection in general.
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BuyNowGallery
In our online BuyNow catalog we offer fine atlases, maps, globes, and travel books. The items are available for direct sale and no commission is added.
Please have a look at the BuyNow Gallery catalog or check out our gallery highlights.
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Buy-or-Bid Sale
With the arrival of the metaverse and web3, we think we are at a crossroads with new opportunities to sell maps and prints differently, with new ways to contact our collectors and create new map lovers.
We started in June 2022 to organize "Buy or Bid" sales with monthly general sales.
Items will be listed for seven days, and you may purchase an item at the Buy price at any time, and the sale for this item has closed.
If you do not wish to pay the Buy price, you may also bid/offer lower on any item.
Items that do not sell at the Buy price will be made available at the highest accepted bid after the close of the sale.
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The Map Bar
Take a break and pop in at The Map Bar,
the metaverse meeting point, with plenty of antique maps on the wall.
Each Tuesday 1.00PM EST (7.00 PM Amsterdam) you meet and speak with
other collectors or you will have a chat with a stranger about other
things in life. (and you can access it through a browser, so no headset
is required). POP IN AT THE MAP BAR
Meta Map.gallery
What was born as an idea from science fiction has long since become
reality. The metaverse is more than just virtual reality, augmented
reality, extended reality, or cyberspace - it’s all of those things at
once.
Walk around in one of our Paulus Swaen metaverse galleries and discover our maps of the Ukraine, World, Hong Kong and Africa.
GO TO META GALLERY
We buy maps and atlases
Interested in selling your maps, prints, atlases or posters. We buy for stock or know
collectors and museums looking for good additions to their collections.
Please send us a list/pictures of what you have now.
Valuations
We
provide auction estimates free of charge, from photographs sent via our online form or as an email attachment. Such auction estimates are not for valuation purposes and are subject to revision on inspection of the object.
We do not evaluate maps and atlases published in the 20thcentury.
Please click here to do a valuation.
We used and hope again soon to travel around the globe, doing Antiquarian Map fairs in Milan (January), Miami (February), London (June), Rome (September), and Paris (November). We participate at the Virtual Map & Poster fair at www.collectableevents.com
Therefore the best way to contact us is using the contact form or give us a call at USA +1 (727) 687 3298 or Amsterdam +31 20 2255198 (Roland Boelen +31 (0)6 51384297)
We are members of I.M.Co.S., B.I.M.C.C., and the Philip Lee Phillips Society, Library of Congress.
We have created some short but informative articles for those interested in the backgrounds of maps and prints. Our unique HiBCoR grading system can help the starting map collector to set his focus.
We find that many of our clients these days come from the corporate sector. Many business headquarters would rather have antique maps on the walls of their boardrooms than abstract modern art because they tend to fit into the traditional office environment.When collecting items in the range of over 500 dollars, or more commonly in the thousands of dollars, our personal feeling is that it is better to buy first-class quality. While it might seem attractive to buy a heavily restored copy for less than the cost of a top-quality item in original colors, in the long run, you're much better off with first-class quality.
More than 45 years of experience have taught us when selling an item of good quality, you only have to take a price then it is easy to make a deal. Remember this when selling your collection!
Feel free to contact us if you have a question about buying or selling old maps, atlases, prints, posters. The best way to contact us
is still using our contact form
Paulus Swaen, Inc.
901 North Hercules Avenue, Suite A
Clearwater
Florida 33765, USA
email : paulus@swaen.com
Tel. +1 727 687 3298
Paulus Swaen Europe bv
Pieter Lastmankade 2, 1075 KJ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
email : amsterdam@swaen.com
Tel. +31 (20) 2255198
KvK Amsterdam 83585729
Pierre Joppen - is the president and founder of Paulus Swaen and since its foundation in 1978 Pierre has specialized in maps, atlases, and globes from the 16th to 18th century. His knowledge of early Dutch mapmakers and coloring techniques by 18th-century colorists such as Dirk Jansz. van Santen is world-renowned. Originally trained as a graphic designer, he has a keen eye for the aesthetic aspect of engraving and map-making.
Roland Boelen - Is the Paulus Swaen Europe b.v. manager and he has 25 years of experience in the auction and collecting world. Roland has experience in collection building and eventually selling a collection. Feel free to contact Roland Boelen if you want to sell in our auction or for any assistance you need in selling your art collection.
Wouter Steiner - Is our partner in Paulus Swaen Europe b.v. and he is a lawyer specializing in mobile communication, multimedia and data-mining solutions.
Ian Williams - is our UK-based map cataloger with 28 years of experience in the map trade.