Rare, Decorative Plan of Amsterdam

"Amstelodamum, Celebre Emporium Forma Plana",

This rare, decorative bird's-eye plan of Amsterdam depicts the city during its Golden Age as one of the leading trading empires of Europe. The plan shows the city center with both the old city walls and the proposed new fortifications prominently depicted at left. This new area is filled with rough sketches of buildings and street blocks to provide the viewer with a general sense of how the land would be developed. The plan is decorated by illustrations in the top corners of the sheet, including City Hall, and a detailed key at both left and right further highlights notable locations within the city. The sheet is further embellished by a vignette at bottom featuring numerous sailing ships and docks in the busy port. This plan was likely produced by the Visscher family. Blank verso. There are no dealer listings or auction records for this version of the map in the last 30 years.

References:

Condition: B

Issued folding and now flattened and backed with heavy tissue to reinforce and repair numerous long fold separations and several edge tears that enter the image. There is light soiling with surface abrasions at lower left resulting in minor loss of image.