CYPRUS

CYPRUS / ΚΥΠΡΟΣ - KIBRIS.

First International Congress of Cypriot Studies.
Map of Cyprus island made by Willem Janszoon and Joan Blaeu in 1647.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 07.04.1969.
Face value: 50 mils of Cypriot piastre.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 628,985 copies.
Size: 42 x 29 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 318.
- Scott No. 325.
- StampWold No. 324.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 330.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 310.

Willem Janszoon Blaeu (Uitgeest or Alkmaar, 1571 - Amsterdam, October 21, 1638) was a Dutch cartographer and atlas editor. Disciple of Tycho Brahe, he acquired a basic experience in cosmography and celestial cartography. He opened his own printing press in Amsterdam, where he published practical guides for sailors, including Het Licht Der Zeevaart ("Navigational Light," 1608), based on Brahe's astronomical observations. His most notable works are Nova Orbis terrarum geographica ac hydrogen tabula (1606-1607), who uses the Mercator projection, and Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Novus Atlas (1647), from which the map represented on the stamp is taken. From 1620s he worke with son Joan Blaeu (Alkmaar, September 23, 1596 - Amsterdam, May 28, 1673), who was a prominent cartographer.