Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer

Spieghel der Zeevaerdt, Leiden, 1584 The first printed sea atlas in the world, published from Christoffel Plantijn's press in Leiden. Waghenaer finished the 23 charts for its first part around 1580, and a second part followed in 1585. A London edition, The Mariners Mirrour, appeared in 1588. These charts reward a slow look. Waghenaer pairs each coastal chart with a matching coastal profile, the outline of the shore as a pilot would see it from the sea, so each sheet works as both map and picture. They are working sailors' charts rather than maps of the land, and they suit a collector of maritime history best.