JOHANNES BLAEU'S THE ATLAS MAJOR, first published in 1662, was and remains the largest atlas ever published. Its six hundred or so maps portray the world as it was known in the middle of the seventeenth century with its great empires, far off kingdoms and lands of legend. The embellishment and decoration of- these maps, unsurpassed in their beauty and detail, belonged to a long lost age of mapmaking.

At the time it was published The Atlas Major was a functional atlas, but it was also the great showpiece of the Amsterdam mapmaker's art. It is believed that it was published in an edition of three hundred copies, which were presented to kings and emperors and bought by wealthy noblemen and merchants to display in their houses and impress their rivals. The French edition was dedicated to Louis XIV, The Sun King, and his finance minister, Colbert, and the Atlas was the most expensive book sold in the course of the seventeenth century.

Several copies still survive and command prices at auction well out of the reach of all but the wealthiest collector. This edition contains one hundred of the most important maps reproduced using the finest modern techniques from the volume held in the map room of the Royal Geographical Society in London.

John Goss, formerly the cartographic consultant at Sotheby's, has written the Introduction which outlines the history of the Atlas, together with caption notes for each of the maps chosen. Many of these include historical information relating to the contemporary history of the region shown.