No reference to this great work of Blaeu appears in the literature of cartography, and it seems probable that we have here the only copy extant. In the records of the States General of Amsterdam may be found, however, the entry, “23 April 1605. Is W. Jansz. [Blaeu] van Alcmaer, ende Herman Alartsz, die de heren Staten gepresenteert hebben een grote Werelts Caerte, voor een gratuiteyt toegelegt 25 gl.,” and of the same date, “Id. Is W. Jz. van Alcmaer, wonende te Amsterdam, geaccordeert octroy, voor den tyt van 6 jaren etc. te mogen doen drukken ende vuyt geven een groote mappam mundi in twee ronden, by hem yerst uitgegeven.” These passages are cited by Baudet in his “Leven en werken van Willem Jansz. Blaeu” without comment other than a very brief word which would seem to indicate that the author had no definite knowledge of the map or maps to which reference is made in the above record.[38] It is altogether probable that we have in these entries a reference to this particular map. [Illustration: World Map from Toonneel des Aerdrycx, by Willem Janszoon Blaeu] Curiously and somewhat vexatiously, one finds in the reference to the copyright privilege, granted by the authorities, appearing on sheet thirteen, the date “23 April ----,” the numbers designating the year wanting because of the injured condition of the map. Some wonder is occasioned by the appearance of the French lilies in the elaborately engraved cartouche on sheets thirteen and fourteen, and by the dedication to Henry IV of France, which reads, “Serenissimo Christianissimo ac potentissimo D. D. Henrico IIII Franciae et Navarre Regi. Domino suo ... entissimo hanc Universi orbis terrarum Mappam I. M. Q. dat di ... dedicat.” Close examination, however, discloses the fact that both the lilies and the dedication were skilfully pasted on the map after its completion, though by whom and on what particular occasion remain matters of conjecture. The attachment of the coat of arms and the dedication must have occurred before 1610, the date of King Henry’s death, and the fact serves at least to fix the time when the map was engraved as prior to that year, or in all probability in 1605. The map is 244 × 134 cm. in size, including the border. The two large hemispheres, each 116 cm. in diameter, present the world, as then known, in stereographic projection. An ornamental border surrounds it, and all available space outside the great hemispheres and within this border is filled with pictures of cities, rulers in martial array, representations of the typical races of men, while in the angles formed at the top and at the bottom of the map, between the two hemispheres, appear the north and the south celestial hemispheres, each 26 cm. in diameter.