City and Harbour of Rhodes – Olfert Dapper, 1688 Hand-Coloured Engraving

Antique map titled 'The City of Cochin (..).' Plan of Cochin, Malabar Coast, India, during the attack by Admiral van Goens in 1663. This map was published in 'The True and Exact Desc...

1687 Engraved View of Rhodes by O. Dapper – Hand-Colored Island of Rhodus This original antique print is a beautifully detailed copper engraving titled "Het Eylant Rhodus" (The Isla...

Antique map titled 'Staveren'. Original antique map of the city of Stavoren, Friesland, The Netherlands. This map originates from 'Novum Ac Magnum Theatrum Urbium Belgicae Liberae Ac...

"Vue du Port de Constantinople, prise du côté du Nord". Contemporary handcolored optical view, Paris, J. Chereau, ±1760. Description: This contemporary handcolored optical view, tit...

Braun G. and Hogenberg F., Corfu, from the collection Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Cologne, T. Graminaeus, 1572-1617. Image dimensions: cm 19 x 48; dimensions: cm 40 x 70. Very lovely ...

This is a 17th century hand-colored map entitled "Insula Gaditana Isla de Cadiz" from Johannes (Joan) Blaeu's Atlas Maior, published in Amsterdam in 1662. The map provides an excellent plan of Cadiz Island on the southwest coast of Spain, with its harbor, fortifications, agricultural fields and several surrounding salt processing areas. Numerous sailing ships of various sizes are included in and around the harbor and bay, including five large sailing ships, as well as twenty-four smaller ships. There is a small compass rose overlying the bay. The bridge to the mainland from the island is shown on the right. There is an extremely ornate and colorful title cartouche in the lower left, with its mythological figures reminiscent of Raphael’s Galatea fresco at the Villa Farnesina in Rome. The vibrant colors are vividly preserved. The master colorist tried to emulate a painting by using various tones to create a three-dimensional effect.
 Blaeu's name is present in the plate in the lower right. Blaeu stated in his description of Cadiz: “The main wealth of the islanders consists of salt, which they harvest, and
 the tuna fisheries.” 
 This 17th century hand-colored map is framed in an ornate, partially textured bronze-colored wood frame and glazed with UV protected conservation glass. There is a vertical center fold, as issued. There is a faint crease in the lower right and faint color offset on the left from the right side of the map, resulting from having been in an atlas for hundreds of years. Small foci of paint are present in the upper portion of the left margin and in the left corner margin. The map is otherwise in very good condition. Due in large part to their powerful trade empire, the Dutch became known for cartography in the seventeenth century. This period is considered the Golden Age of Dutch cartography. Their publishing houses produced the highest quality work in Europe, particularly those maps and charts of foreign lands, and Dutch map-making set the bar for cartographic accuracy and artistry into the early-eighteenth century. Some of the most well-known cartographers worked in Amsterdam during this period. Perhaps the most famous of these was the Blaeu family. Willem Janszoon Blaeu, set up shop in Amsterdam. His son, Johannes (Joan), succeeded him upon his death in 1638, continuing in his father’s position as Hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company and selling maps to the public. The Blaeu map presses, located near Amsterdam’s Dam Square...

This is a 16th century original hand-colored copperplate engraved map of a bird's-eye View of Embden, Germany entitled " Emuda, vulgo Embden vrbs Frisia orientalis primaria" by Georg Braun & Franz Hogenberg, in volume II of their famous city atlas "Civitates Orbis Terrarum", published in Cologne, Germany in 1575. This is a beautifully colored and detailed map of Emden, a seaport in northwestern Germany, along the Ems River and perhaps portions of over Dollart Bay, near the border with the Netherland. The map depicts a bird's-eye view of the city from the southwest, as well as a view of the harbor and an extensive system of canals. Numerous ships of various sizes, as well as two rowboats containing numerous occupants are seen in the main waterway in the foreground and additional boats line two canals in the center of the city. Two men and two women are shown on a hill in the foreground on the right, dressed in the 16th century style of nobility. Two ornate crests are included in each corner. A title strap-work cartouche is in the upper center with the title in Latin. The crest on the right including Engelke up de Muer (The Little Angel on the Wall) was granted by Emperor Maximilian I in 1495. This is an English translation of an excerpt of Braun's description of Embden: "In Emden, the capital of East Frisia, rich merchants live in very fine houses. The city has a broad and well-situated harbour, which in my opinion is unique in Holland. Frisia and the whole of the Netherlands, for the ships can anchor here right under the city walls. They have also extended the harbour as far as the New Town, so that up to 400 ships can now find shelter here when the sea is rough." The emphasis on the harbor and waterways within the city highlights the importance of Emden's place as a seaport at this time. Embden developed from a Dutch/Flemish trading settlement in the 7th-8th centuries into a city as late as late 14th century. In 1494 it was granted staple rights, and in 1536 the harbour was extended. In the mid-16th century Emden's port was thought to have the most ships in Europe. Its population then was about 5,000, rising to 15,000 by the end of the 16th century. The Ems River flowed directly under the city walls, but its course was changed in the 17th century by the construction of a canal. Emden has canals within its city limits, a typical feature of Dutch towns, which also enabled the extension of the harbor. In 1744 Emden was annexed by Prussia and is now part of Germany. It was captured by French forces in 1757 during the Seven Years' War, but recaptured by Anglo-German forces in 1758. During the Napoleonic French era, Emden and the surrounding lands of East Frisia were part of the short-lived Kingdom of Holland. References:Van der Krogt 4, 1230, State 2; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg...

"Roterodami". Seutter (1678-1757) was an important German 18th century map maker. Bird's eye view of the city above with full details, neoclassi...