Joan Blaeu (1598-1673) is one of the most famous of the Dutch cartographers. The fourth volume of his ‘Novus Atlas’ focused on England and Wales. Willem Blaeu established the firm in 1599 as instrument and globe makers. He went on to produce some of the highest quality atlases ever published. Several attempts had been made to drain the Fenns as this area was known without great success dating back to the Romans. The region contained busy trading ports and there was much opposition to any such work. The first map of the region was by William Hayward in 1604 which it appears was never engraved. The first printed map apparently derived from Hayward is that of Henricus Hondius published in Amsterdam, 1633, which was followed by a similar map by Joan Blaeu offered here. Draining the region would become the greatest engineering achievement of the seventeenth century. This is a rare example lacking as it does any text to the verso. Frostick Norfolk 14.1; Skelton 28; Van der Krogt, P. (Atlantes) 5310:2.