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Hogenberg, Frans : Original Map - "Cestria Vulgo Chester, Anglia Civitas."

Georg Braun, Cologne, Germany

Original publisher's hand-colored map showing a bird's-eye view of Chester, England. A beautiful map showing the walled city, its various buildings including the Chester Castle and Chester Cathedral, the River Dee, and the surrounding landscape. Local noblemen are shown with a hunting dog in the foreground. Various farm animals appear in the nearby pastures. In the upper-right corner are the city arms, which depict three sheaves of wheat and a sword on a shield, and a key numbered 1-24 that corresponds to numbered points of interest on the map. The lower-right corner shows a compass placed over scales of distance, which are unlabeled, and a general description of Chester in Latin. There are ten coat of arms on the left side with six of them labeled underneath in Latin. At top-center is the title and the bishop's coat of arms. All text is in Latin. No date, circa 1581. Map measures 17 3/4" x 13 1/4." Map is mounted, has age-toning, and shows overall age wear. A tear in lower-left corner affects one of the illustrated coat of arms. There is some chipping at the top and bottom edges and right corners. However, map is very clean and intact overall considering its age. While this particular map is not dated, the first edition of the map was published in Volume III (1581) of the Civitates Orbis Terrarum. Civitates is considered the first worldwide town atlas and was principally edited by Georg Braun (1541-1622), a German cleric and geographer from Cologne. Civitates's first volume was published in 1572 with the remaining ones published in 1575, 1581, 1588, 1596, and 1617, respectively. Eventually, Civitates came to encompass 546 town views from around the world. Braun wrote the texts and hired the artists and mapmakers. Most of the maps in Civitates were made by Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590), a Flemish and German map engraver and painter. Hogenberg had also worked with Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), a Brabantian cartographer and geographer, and engraved maps for Ortelius's acclaimed atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570), which is recognized as the first modern world atlas of the world. All three, Braun, Hogenberg, and Ortelius, are said to have collaborated together on Braun's Civitates as they knew each other well.. Map. Book Condition: Collectible-Very Good. Binding: No Binding

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