Gallaecia Regnum Descripta A F.Fer – Galicia – Asturias De Oviedo Aviles Bayona Santiago De Compostela – Original Copper Engraved Map – 1650

Publisher: Blaeu, Joan
Price: £250
Publication Date: Not dated but c.1650
Format: Original copper engraving with original or early hand-colouring
Condition: In very good plus condition, unframed
Sheet Size: 58cm x 50.3cm

Condition:

Date: c.1650. French text to the reverse. Sheet Size: 58cm x 50.3cm. Original or early hand-colouring. Original central fold lines. Minor creasing. Very minor age-toning but generally very bright and clean with very good, wide margins. A strong impression. Overall in very good plus condition. Scarce thus.

Description:

A seventeenth-century copper-engraved regional map of the Kingdom of Galicia in north-west Iberia, published by the Amsterdam house of Willem and Joan Blaeu and included in the Atlas Novus and later Blaeu atlases. The Latin title translates to “The Kingdom of Galicia, described by F. Fer.”, indicating Blaeu’s reliance on an Iberian source credited as “F. Fer.” (a common Blaeu practice when incorporating local surveys).

Geographic scope and content

• Coverage: The Atlantic and Cantabrian littoral of Galicia and its inland provinces, usually extending to the Portuguese frontier on the Miño (Minho) and touching parts of Asturias and León to the east.
• Urban hierarchy: Principal centres are clearly legible—Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña (La Coruña), Lugo, Ourense (Orense), Pontevedra, Tui (Tuy), with secondary ports and market towns stepped down in type size and style.
• Hydrography: Blaeu renders the Miño, Sil, Ulla, Tambre, Eume, and other rivers with notable care; estuarine rías are articulated as deep, fjord-like inlets (Rías Altas and Rías Baixas), reflecting their importance to navigation and coastal trade.
• Relief and passes: The Galician Massif and interior sierras are shown in the period’s “molehills” convention—schematic but informative for understanding river basins, overland routes, and the positioning of fortified places.
• Frontier logic: The cartography underlines the Miño as a political and cultural boundary with Portugal, with Tui and Valença (across the river) often paired to signal cross-border exchange and defence.

Location: Map Drawer C: SR: 003023

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