Thick paper, with wide margins all around. For this reason, the map is much rarer than the regular world map by the Blaeu family. It replaces the rectangular world map with decorated borders that Joan's father Willem had produced as early as 1606, and which is all other atlases of the Blaeu publishing firm. It is the first and best map of the most magnificent work of its kind ever. The map only appears in the magnificent Atlas Maior, a book for kings and princes, a grand showpiece, the most expensive and impressive book of the day, in twelve volumes containing a total of more than 600 maps. Seminal map of the world in double hemispheres by Joan Blaeu (1596-1673).
