Original antique copper engraving, uncolored. Engraved by J. Gibson Original antique map showing the north-western part of todays Belgium, with parts of todays GFrance and the Netherlands. A large very decoratice title cartouche in the upper left corner, a mile scale in British Statute Miles in the lower left corner.

Original copper engraving, hand colored when published. Antique map of the roadstead of Dunkerque by Blaeu W. & J.. Verso french text. Published in „Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas novus" in quo tabulae et descriptiones omnium regionum editae a Guiljel: et Ioanne Blaeu.

Original antique copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash. This detailed bird´s eye view shows Amsterdam. This fine engraving was published in Gabriel Bodenehr's famous serious "Europeans Macht und Pracht", a series of engravings depicting city views, plans, fortresses and castles in Europe. Many plates often are showing fortifications in Hungary and Southeast Europe, Spain, Belgium, Austria and Germany. Gabriel Bodenehr was during this period a successful publisher for maps and prints in Augsburg in Southern Germany. Gabriel Bodenehr the Elder (1664-1758 or 1673-1765) was a German map maker and member of a famous engraver and publisher family of Augsburg. His main work was "Atlas Curieux" first published 1704. He was the son of Johann Georg Bodenehr (1631-1703). Gabriel's son was Gabriel Bodenehr the Younger (1705–1792).

Steel engraving, hand colored in outline and wash. Decorative fully hand colored detailled plan of Amsterdam, with milage scale and table of explanations.

Original antique copper engraving, uncolored. Original antique map of the Netherlands, published in,the Geographical Dictionary'. Shwoing the Netherlands bordered by France, Germany and the North Sea, with many place names, rivers, mountains, etc.

Original antique copper engraving, hand colored in wash when published ca. 1590 in volume III of the town book 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum' by Braun and Hogenberg. The entire series of the 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum' comprised six volumes and was published and printed from 1572 towards 1619. This decorative map shows four plans on one doublepage, all in bird´s eye views. They shows us ground plans of these four cities. The maps are very detailed engraved with many houses, streets, churches, etc. Georg Braun (also Brunus, Bruin; 1541 – 10 March 1622) was a topo-geographer. From 1572 to 1617 he edited the Civitates orbis terrarum, which contains 546 prospects, bird's-eye views and maps of cities from all around the world. He was the principal editor of the work, he acquired the tables, hired the artists, and wrote the texts. He died as an octogenarian in 1622, as the only survivor of the original team to witness the publication of volume VI in 1617. Braun was born and died in Cologne. His principal profession was as a Catholic cleric. However, he spent thirty-seven years as canon and dean at the church, St. Maria ad Gradus, in Cologne. His six-volume work was inspired by Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia. In form and layout it resembles the 1570 Theatrum orbis terrarum by Abraham Ortelius, as Ortelius was interested in a complementary companion for the Theatrum. The Braun publication set new standards in cartography for over 100 years. Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590, from Mechelen) created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were Joris Hoefnagel, Jacob Hoefnagel, cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Primarily European cities are depicted in the publication; however, Cairo Casablanca and Mexico City as well as Cuzco on one sheet are also included in volume I, whereas Tunis is featured in volume II. Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590) was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Hogenberg was born in Mechelen in Flanders as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg. In 1568 he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He is known for portraits and topographical views as well as historical allegories. He also produced scenes of contemporary historical events. Hogenberg died in Cologne. (Wikipedia)

Original copper engraving, published ca. 1588 in volume III of the town book 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum' by Braun and Hogenberg. The entire series of the 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum' comprised six volumes and was published and printed from 1572 towards 1619. Latin text edition. Bird's-eye view plan of Bergen-op-Zoom. The town plan features three market squares, namely the main market, the fish market and the corn market. Also prominent in the circular historical centre is the basilica of Sint-Lambert. Georg Braun (also Brunus, Bruin; 1541 – 10 March 1622) was a topo-geographer. From 1572 to 1617 he edited the Civitates orbis terrarum, which contains 546 prospects, bird's-eye views and maps of cities from all around the world. He was the principal editor of the work, he acquired the tables, hired the artists, and wrote the texts. He died as an octogenarian in 1622, as the only survivor of the original team to witness the publication of volume VI in 1617. Braun was born and died in Cologne. His principal profession was as a Catholic cleric. However, he spent thirty-seven years as canon and dean at the church, St. Maria ad Gradus, in Cologne. His six-volume work was inspired by Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia. In form and layout it resembles the 1570 Theatrum orbis terrarum by Abraham Ortelius, as Ortelius was interested in a complementary companion for the Theatrum. The Braun publication set new standards in cartography for over 100 years. Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590, from Mechelen) created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were Joris Hoefnagel, Jacob Hoefnagel, cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Primarily European cities are depicted in the publication; however, Cairo Casablanca and Mexico City as well as Cuzco on one sheet are also included in volume I, whereas Tunis is featured in volume II. Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590) was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Hogenberg was born in Mechelen in Flanders as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg. In 1568 he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He is known for portraits and topographical views as well as historical allegories. He also produced scenes of contemporary historical events. Hogenberg died in Cologne. (Wikipedia)

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash when published.

Original antique copper engraving, hand colored in wash and outline when published. Detailed map of the duchy of Brabant with the neighbouring provinces. Political borders are drawn in outline colors. With many place names, rivers, lakes, mountains, woods, etc. Nicolaes Visscher (25 January 1618, Amsterdam – buried 11 September 1679, Amsterdam) was a Dutch engraver, cartographer and publisher. He was the son of Claes Janszoon Visscher. His son, Nicolaes Visscher II (1649–1702), also worked with him and continued the family tradition of mapmaking after his death. Visscher died in Amsterdam in 1679 and was buried in the Nieuwezijds Kapel on 11 September of that year, though a death year of 1709 is maintained by some sources. His engraved double hemisphere map, Orbis Terrarum Nova et Accuratissima Tabula, was created in 1658 in Amsterdam. It also contains smaller northern and southern polar projections. The border is decorated with mythological scenes, one in each corner, drawn by the painter Nicolaes Berchem, showing Zeus, Neptune, Persephone and Demeter. It is an early example of highly decorated Dutch world maps. (Wikipedia)

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash.

Original copper engraving, hand colored in outline, when published. The map was published by Phillip Buache and is engraved after the observations by the famous French cartographer Guillaume de L'Isle. The map is very accurate, nearly all rivers are named and many towns and smaller villages are shown.

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash.

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash. A highly decorative map of Holland titled ,Comitatus Hollandiae ...´, the county of Holland with all its places by the famous Dutch map maker Frederic de Wit from Amsterdam. Published in his atlas of the low countries around 1680 in Amsterdam. Top of the map with engraved title, upper rightr corner with a maritime allegoric scence and the coat of arms of Holland. Orientated with the west to the top, a compass rose in the Zuyder Zee and in the lower left corner with an inset map of the Texel and Vlieland islands. With many engraved place names, channels, rivers, place names, routes and trails, further a small mileage scale at the bottom.

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash.

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash.

Detailled sea chart is showing the North Sea with with its coast from Texel towards Delft and S. Gravenhage. The map is ornated in the upper left corner with a small title cartouche, two compass roses and a small ship. Near the upper right corner we find a mileage scale to convert Dutch, Spanish, English & French leagues to degrees.

Original antique copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash when published. French text edition. This detailed map shows the mouth of the River Maas and extends from Gouda in the north to Steenbergen in the south. The cities Rotterdam, Delft, and Brielle are depicted with miniature bird's-eye plans. A compass rose is engraved to the top right, and the map is further adorned with sailing ships and featuring fish. The strapwork title cartouche is in the upper right corner. Joan Blaeu (23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. In 1620 he became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635 they published the Atlas Novus (full title: Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus) in two volumes. Joan and his brother Cornelius took over the studio after their father died in 1638. Joan became the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu's world map, Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula, incorporating the discoveries of Abel Tasman, was published in 1648. This map was revolutionary in that it "depicts the solar system according to the heliocentric theories of Nicolaus Copernicus, which show the earth revolving around the sun.... Although Copernicus's groundbreaking book On the Revolutions of the Spheres had been first printed in 1543, just over a century earlier, Blaeu was the first mapmaker to incorporate this revolutionary heliocentric theory into a map of the world." Blaeu's map was copied for the map of the world set into the pavement of the Groote Burger-Zaal of the new Amsterdam Town Hall, designed by the Dutch architect Jacob van Campen (now the Amsterdam Royal Palace), in 1655. Blaeu's Hollandia Nova was also depicted in his Archipelagus Orientalis sive Asiaticus published in 1659 in the Kurfürsten Atlas (Atlas of the Great Elector). and used by Melchisédech Thévenot to produce his map, Hollandia Nova—Terre Australe (1664). As Joan Blaeu, he also published the 12 volume "Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie blaviane, en laquelle est exactement descritte la terre, la mer, et le ciel". One edition is dated 1663. That was folio (540 x 340 mm), and contained 593 engraved maps and plates. In March 2015, a copy was on sale for £750,000. Around 1649 Joan Blaeu published a collection of Dutch city maps named Toonneel der Steeden (Views of Cities). In 1651 he was voted into the Amsterdam council. In 1654 Joan published the first atlas of Scotland, devised by Timothy Pont. In 1662 he reissued the Atlas Novus, also known as Atlas Maior, in 11 volumes, and one for oceans.[citation needed] A cosmology was planned as their next project, but a fire destroyed the studio completely in 1672. (Wikipedia)

Original copper engraving, published around 1572-73 in Antwerpen in the atlas "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum". Finely hand-colored in wash and outline, when published, a colored title cartouche in the upper centre. Villages and towns are shown as miniature views, moreover the map is ornated with ships in the North Sea. A highly decorative 16th century map of the Netherlands.

Original antique copper engraving, uncolored as published. A fine, strong and early impression impression of this antique map dedicting the low countries. Koeman assumed that the cartographic source of this map is maybe based on Jan van Hoirne's 1556 map of the ,Oosterscherzee', however Karrow attributes this map to the 1568 map of the Low Countries by Matthias Zündt. Finally, Meurer (p.91) makes a convincing case for de Jode's 12 sheet map of 1566, itself based primarily on Jakob van Deventer's province maps (Broecke p.99). Ortelius was born on 14 April 1527 in the city of Antwerp, which was then in the Habsburg Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). The Orthellius family were originally from Augsburg, a Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1535, the family had fallen under suspicion of Protestantism. Following the death of Ortelius's father, his uncle Jacobus van Meteren returned from religious exile in England to take care of Ortelius. Abraham remained close to his cousin Emanuel van Meteren, who would later move to London. In 1575 he was appointed geographer to the king of Spain, Philip II, on the recommendation of Arias Montanus, who vouched for his orthodoxy. He travelled extensively in Europe and is specifically known to have traveled throughout the Seventeen Provinces; in southern, western, northern, and eastern Germany (e.g., 1560, 1575–1576); France (1559–1560); England and Ireland (1576); and Italy (1578, and perhaps twice or thrice between 1550 and 1558). Beginning as a map-engraver, in 1547 he entered the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an illuminator of maps. He supplemented his income trading in books, prints, and maps, and his journeys included yearly visits to the Frankfurt book and print fair, where he met Gerardus Mercator in 1554. In 1560, however, when travelling with Mercator to Trier, Lorraine, and Poitiers, he seems to have been attracted, largely by Mercator's influence, towards the career of a scientific geographer. (Wikipedia)

Original antique copper engraving, uncolored as published. A fine copy in a dark impression, full margins as published. The map shows the area from Echtelen in the north to Denicham in the south, from Vreeden in the west to Groningen in the east. This is the first so-called Cloppenburgh editions which was a competive edition with new engraved maps in a larger format. Most of the maps were engraved by Pieter van den Keere. The Cloppenburgh edition was continued for a couple of years but seems to have been suppressed after 1636 ... . This is another Cloppenburgh edition, now with Latin text. The maps from the Appendix have been incorporated. The title-page is followed by a dedication to Prince Frederik Hendrik, dated 1632 and signed by Johannes Cloppenburgh. (Koeman Atlantes Neerlandici). Gerardus Mercator (5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant bearing (rhumb lines) as straight lines—an innovation that is still employed in nautical charts. Mercator was one of the pioneers of cartography and is widely considered the most notable figure of the school in its golden age (approximately 1570s–1670s). In his own day, he was a notable as maker of globes and scientific instruments. In addition, he had interests in theology, philosophy, history, mathematics and geomagnetism. He was also an accomplished engraver and calligrapher. Unlike other great scholars of the age he travelled little and his knowledge of geography came from his library of over one thousand books and maps, from his visitors and from his vast correspondence (in six languages) with other scholars, statesmen, travellers, merchants and seamen. Mercator's early maps were in large formats suitable for wall mounting but in the second half of his life, he produced over 100 new regional maps in a smaller format suitable for binding into his Atlas of 1595. This was the first appearance of the word Atlas in reference to a book of maps. However, Mercator used it as a neologism for a treatise (Cosmologia) on the creation, history and description of the universe, not simply a collection of maps. He chose the word as a commemoration of the Titan Atlas, "King of Mauretania", whom he considered to be the first great geographer. A large part of Mercator's income came from sales of his terrestrial and celestial globes. For sixty years they were considered the finest in the world, and were sold in such great numbers that there are many surviving examples. This was a substantial enterprise involving the manufacture of the spheres, printing the gores, building substantial stands, packing and distributing all over Europe. He was also renowned for his scientific instruments, particularly his astrolabes and astronomical rings used to study the geometry of astronomy and astrology. Mercator wrote on geography, philosophy, chronology and theology. All of the wall maps were engraved with copious text on the region concerned. As an example the famous world map of 1569 is inscribed with over five thousand words in fifteen legends. The 1595 Atlas has about 120 pages of maps and illustrated title pages but a greater number of pages are devoted to his account of the creation of the universe and descriptions of all the countries portrayed. His table of chronology ran to some 400 pages fixing the dates (from the time of creation) of earthly dynasties, major political and military events, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and eclipses. He also wrote on the gospels and the old testament. Mercator was a devout Christian born into a Catholic family at a time when Martin Luther's Protestantism was gaining ground. He never declared himself as a Lutheran but he was clearly sympathetic and he was accused of heresy by Catholic authorities; after six months in prison he was released unscathed. This period of persecution is probably the major factor in his move from Catholic Leuven (Louvain) to a more tolerant Duisburg, in the Holy Roman Empire, where he lived for the last thirty years of his life. Walter Ghim, Mercator's friend and first biographer, describes him as sober in his behaviour, yet cheerful and witty in company, and never more happy than in debate with other scholars. Above all he was pious and studious until his dying days. (Wikipedia)

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash.

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash when published. The very decorative map shows the area between Dronningen in the north and Hardenberg in the south. In the west from Geelmyden to shortly after Winschooten in the east. At the top left is the beautiful title cartouche engraved with people and dogs. The mileage scale is framed by farmers and their animals in the lower left corner. Various coats of arms are also engraved in the areas. Joan Blaeu (23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. In 1620 he became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635 they published the Atlas Novus (full title: Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus) in two volumes. Joan and his brother Cornelius took over the studio after their father died in 1638. Joan became the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu's world map, Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula, incorporating the discoveries of Abel Tasman, was published in 1648. This map was revolutionary in that it "depicts the solar system according to the heliocentric theories of Nicolaus Copernicus, which show the earth revolving around the sun.... Although Copernicus's groundbreaking book On the Revolutions of the Spheres had been first printed in 1543, just over a century earlier, Blaeu was the first mapmaker to incorporate this revolutionary heliocentric theory into a map of the world." Blaeu's map was copied for the map of the world set into the pavement of the Groote Burger-Zaal of the new Amsterdam Town Hall, designed by the Dutch architect Jacob van Campen (now the Amsterdam Royal Palace), in 1655. Blaeu's Hollandia Nova was also depicted in his Archipelagus Orientalis sive Asiaticus published in 1659 in the Kurfürsten Atlas (Atlas of the Great Elector). and used by Melchisédech Thévenot to produce his map, Hollandia Nova—Terre Australe (1664). As Joan Blaeu, he also published the 12 volume "Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie blaviane, en laquelle est exactement descritte la terre, la mer, et le ciel". One edition is dated 1663. That was folio (540 x 340 mm), and contained 593 engraved maps and plates. In March 2015, a copy was on sale for £750,000. Around 1649 Joan Blaeu published a collection of Dutch city maps named Toonneel der Steeden (Views of Cities). In 1651 he was voted into the Amsterdam council. In 1654 Joan published the first atlas of Scotland, devised by Timothy Pont. In 1662 he reissued the Atlas Novus, also known as Atlas Maior, in 11 volumes, and one for oceans.[citation needed] A cosmology was planned as their next project, but a fire destroyed the studio completely in 1672. (Wikipedia)

Original antique copper engraving in full contemporary handcolor in wash and outline when published. Detailed map of the duchy of Brabant with the neighbouring provinces. Political borders are drawn in outline colors. With many place names, rivers, lakes, mountains, woods, etc. Ornated in the lower right corner with a beautiful figurative allegoric cartouche. Johann Baptist Homann (20 March 1664 – 1 July 1724) was a German geographer and cartographer, who also made maps of the Americas. Homann was born in Oberkammlach near Kammlach in the Electorate of Bavaria. Although educated at a Jesuit school, and preparing for an ecclesiastical career, he eventually converted to Protestantism and from 1687 worked as a civil law notary in Nuremberg. He soon turned to engraving and cartography; in 1702 he founded his own publishing house. Homann acquired renown as a leading German cartographer, and in 1715 was appointed Imperial Geographer by Emperor Charles VI. Giving such privileges to individuals was an added right that the Holy Roman Emperor enjoyed. In the same year he was also named a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Of particular significance to cartography were the imperial printing privileges (Latin: privilegia impressoria). These protected for a time the authors in all scientific fields such as printers, copper engravers, map makers and publishers. They were also very important as a recommendation for potential customers. In 1716 Homann published his masterpiece Grosser Atlas ueber die ganze Welt (Grand Atlas of all the World). Numerous maps were drawn up in cooperation with the engraver Christoph Weigel the Elder, who also published Siebmachers Wappenbuch. Homann died in Nuremberg in 1724. He was succeeded by his son Johann Christoph (1703-1730). The company carried on upon his death as Homann heirs company, managed by Johann Michael Franz and Johann Georg Ebersberger. After subsequent changes in management the company folded in 1852.[1] The company was known as "Homann Erben", "Homanniani Heredes", or "Heritiers de Homann" abroad. (Wikipedia)

Copper engraving, hand colored in outline and wash.