ANDERS BURE. VERY RARE & IMPORTANT WALLMAP OF THE NORDIC COUNTRIES, Orbis arctoi nova et accurata delineatio, 1626, by Bureus.

BUREUS, ANDREAS (BURE, ANDERS) (1571-1646). Orbis arctoi nova et accurata delineatio, Auctore Andrea Bureo Sueco. V. S. Trauthman sculpsit et excud[it]. 1626.

Very rare and important hand-coloured engraved large wallmap of Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. It depicts all Nordic countries (except Iceland), the Baltic States, and parts of northern Germany. The map was created by the mathematician, war councilor, and cartographer Andreas Bureus (1571-1646), who was ennobled Anders Bure in 1624.
The map consists of six engraved sheets (each approx. 57 x 43 cm) which were engraved by V. S. Trauthman and is surrounded by a describing text in Latin in woodcut (part of the text is missing, see below). Embellished with the portrait of the Swedish Royal couple (king Gustavus Adolphus and queen Maria Eleonora) surrounded by coat-of-arms, above is Mother Swea (Svea) with the two virtues; in the right corner Poseidon with his trident. In the sea are many sailing ships or ships in battle together with two compass-roses and sea monsters. In the north of Sweden and Finland are many images of wild animals, such as foxes, hares, reindeers, elks, wolfes and bears. Bure also included many images of the Sámi people, for example a man in a sleigh, a Sàmi goahti (kåta) "Troll" drum etc.

The text consists of 2 long and 7 short columns, altogether 16 leaves.
According to the owner, the map was restored in 1950s by the Royal Library in Stockholm and was at that time also mounted on woven which is attached to blackpainted wooden stretchers.
Measurements 146 x 160,5 cm (to the black frame, incl. text), 158 x 189 cm (incl. the stretchers).
CONDITION: The map with minor loss to left part of Germany, repaired tears, creases and a few cracks, small burnhole, some minor spots; lacking part of the text, partly in the beginning to the left, more to the lower part and under the map. The colour is near contemporary, the portraits of the Royal couple probably be in later colour. The title with loss of part of the word delineatio, lacking the first embellishment before the word "Orbis" due to repair).

Anders Bure (before his ennoblement Andreas Bureus; 1571-1646), Swedish cartographer, considered the "father of Swedish cartography". He worked in the royal chancery (the precursor to the Government offices) and in 1603 was commissioned to produce a map of the Nordic countries by the future King Charles IX of Sweden. He produced a first map, covering the northern parts of Sweden, in 1611; it was considerably more accurate than earlier attempts at mapmaking and has been called the first real map of Sweden. It was followed by this more comprehensive map of Scandinavia in 1626 (Orbis arctoi nova et accurata) which would become a model for mapmakers for generations. In 1628, he became de facto the first head of Lantmäteriet, the Swedish Mapping, Cadastral, and Land Registration Authority.
King Gustavus Adolphus funded his newly appointed cartographer Bure by given him about 1000 bibles (published in 1618), which Bure was to sell in order to get more money to the project. This map was based on thorough research, extensive personal travels, and also data from contemporary Dutch maps. It was also less fantastical and lacked the depictions of imaginary beasts of Olaus Magnus' Carta marina from 1539. In the northern parts of Scandinavia and in Lappland, Bure included images of reindeer and a bear, and also many other images of the Sámi people and some of their customs. According to the historian of cartography Günter Schilder, the result "marked a definite breakthrough in Swedish cartography and significant advance in the representation of that region (Lindroth, 1975, p. 482).

The map was found in the 1930s in the attic at Vartofta manor in Västergötland in the south of Sweden, which then belonged to the family of Storckenfeldt.
This impressive wall map is extremely rare among private collectors and even rarer on the auction market – it was last sold in 1996.
Orbis arctoi nova symbolizes the rising power of the Swedish Empire during the reign of king Gustavus Adolphus and it was also commissioned and financially sponsored by the king.
The map is dedicated to the king and his wife, queen Maria Eleonora, in the beautiful cartouche with portraits of the royal couple. The map was an essential political tool for the king during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and demonstrated Sweden's newfound greatness. Copies were given to various important European potentates, including the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna.

The map is undoubtedly one of the most important works of Swedish cartography, and also of great international importance as it was copied by contemporary cartographers all over Europe, and for a century was reproduced in reduced form in most foreign atlas works by several of the foremost cartographers of the Dutch Golden Age, such as Visscher, Hondius and Blaeu. Its accuracy, except for the province of Skåne's (Scania) unusually triangular shape, was a testament to Bureus's skill, given that he didn't have access to the secret Danish base maps (Skåne and Halland belonged to Denmark until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658.

The original edition was very small and this wall map is to our knowledge preserved in only further 7 copies in libraries, museums or other institutions, and probably one in private hands. The printing plates were preserved until 1802, when they were destroyed in a fire, except for a small batch with the Royal couple's portrait. This is still kept in the Antiquarian topographical archive (Antikvarisk-Topografiska arkivet), The Swedish National Heritage Board in Stockholm.

Valentin Staffanson Trautman (Trauthman, ca 1580-1629), illuminator, engraver (printmaker), draftsperson, born in Germany; he probably arrived in Stockholm in 1616. Apart from the Bureaus' wall map, he amongst others made three portraits of Gustav II Adolf and the 1618 illustrations for Bible edition.
The text surrounding the map was anonymous, but probably written by Bureaus himself, perhaps with help of his cousin Johannes Bureus who was the first National Antiquarian and head of The Swedish National Heritage Board (founded by Gustavus Adolphus in 1630).

PROVENANCE: Family of Storckenfeldt.

Mounted on woven and renovated, lacking part of text. Not able to roll.
See text.