Antique maps are not mass-manufactured goods, where price is the only decisive factor once you decided what to buy. Antique maps are unique pieces of art that have survived for many hundreds of years. No such map is physically the same as the next one, even if we are talking about prints from the same copperplate or woodblock.
Therefore, you would like to inspect a map personally before you buy it, and we, at Cartographica Neerlandica, have the conviction that you, as a potential client, deserve to have the opportunity do just that. We only want satisfied clients, who have the chance to see before they buy, and who come back to us confidently because they like the price/quality relationship of our maps, the information we provide about our stock, and the ordering procedure we follow. A unique product deserves confidence and a personalised approach. That is the goal we aim at. Of course, to see maps in order to have the opportunity to decide whether you want to buy them or not, you can visit us. We are located in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, a suburb of Utrecht, about 45 minutes by train or car away from Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport. We will gladly pick you up from the Bilthoven train station. Appointment by telephone is necessary for that, as we work from closed premises.
However, if you do not have the chance to visit us, as is the case for most of our clients, we have developed the following procedure for mail-ordering maps.
If you find a map in our stocklist that you would like to know more about, send us an e-mail: info@orteliusmaps.com.
Or give us a call at +31-30-2202396.
In your message, you can ask us to send you a (photo-)scan (about 50 KB) or a high resolution digital jpg image of about 1 MB by e-mail of the map of your interest, and a 200 word description, also by e-mail. Our descriptions contain: title, dimensions of the image, margins and total sheet size in mm, date, bibliographical references, description of geographical image, description of color, (old or modern, if colored), possible flaws in plate area, margins and on verso, overall quality and price, or a high resolution photograph.
On our website you can view low- and high resolution images as well as all individual map descriptions. On the basis of this information you can assess whether you would like to see the map itself.
If you do not want to buy the map, that ends our contacts for the time being.
If you do want to buy the map, you can initiate a bank transfer to our account. Our bank account IBAN is: NL83ABNA0212 5422 65; BIC: ABNANL2A. Outside the Euro zone you can use TransferWise to transfer money to our back account.
We will refund you fully if you do not like the map. If you have bought from us before, and want to inspect a map which may be of interest to you, there is no need to transfer money beforehand. Just indicate which map you want to receive on approval, and we will send it with invoice.
After having received and inspected the map, you decide within five days whether you would like to keep it. If you like to keep the map, and have received it on approval basis because you bought from us before, then pay using of the methods above. If you do not like the map for whatever reason (which you need not communicate to us), just return the map in its original carton tube by registered air mail. If you have any further questions about this procedure, please let us know.