1640 Tabula Islandiae Auctore Georgio Carolo Flandro.

Tabula Islandiae Auctore Georgio Carolo Flandro. By: Willem Blaeu Date: 1640 (Published) Amsterdam Dimensions: 14.75 x 19.25 inches (36.47 x 48.9 cm) This lovely colored map of Iceland was published by Willem Blaeu. It is based on a classic in the history of mapmaking, the renowned Ortelius map of 1585, which was the first relatively accurate map of Iceland. The information for Ortelius’ map was taken from indigenous Icelandic sources, presumably from the works of Bishop Gudbrandur Thorlaksson. We see in this map of some fifty plus years later that geographically, little has changed in the representation of the island. Mount Helka is shown erupting which is very accurate as it is the most active volcano in Iceland with more than twenty documented eruptions since 874 AD. Interesting notes can be found in Latin which include two springs known to change white wool black and black wool white (located in the southwest portion of the island), and a notation of a 'shape shifting serpent that