This engraved map of Lake Mälaren is the only extant copy of one of the first maps printed in Sweden. It was drafted by Andreas Bureus in 1614 and is regarded as a forerunner to his map of the Nordic countries of 1626. It has a dedication in Latin from Bureus to his patron Jacob van Dijk: “This small map I bequeath in the stead of a map of the whole world; I shall provide you an engraved map of the entire northern reaches of the world at a subsequent time, farewell.” The map was unknown until 1958, when a Swedish book collector found it interleaved in a 17th-century Dutch atlas. The National Library of Sweden acquired the map through purchase in 1976. Lake Mälaren is located in southeastern Sweden, just west of Stockholm. Covering approximately 1,140 square kilometers, the lake extends about 120 kilometers across Sweden and has more than 1,200 islands. Bureus (1571–1646) is known as the father of Swedish cartography. He embarked upon a career in the Royal Chancellery in 1602 and was entrusted with several important missions in the service of the state. In 1628 he was assigned the task of founding what was to become the Swedish National Land Survey. In 1624 he was made a member of the Swedish nobility with the name Anders Bure.