Catalog Archive
Auction 178, Lot 313

"[On 2 Sheets] Potentissimo Borussorum Regi Friderico Wilhelmo Majestate, Fortitudine Clementia Augustissimo Hancee Lithuaniam Borussicam...", Homann Heirs

Subject: Baltic

Period: 1735 (dated)

Publication:

Color: Hand Color

Size:
23.1 x 19.3 inches
58.7 x 49 cm
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This large and handsome map covers the area of Lithuania Minor or Prussian Lithuania, spanning from Palanga in present-day Lithuania down to Goldap, Poland. It was published in the aftermath of the Great Northern War plague, which devastated this region. There is fine detail throughout, with towns and cities, political divisions, rivers, lakes, forests, and other topographical features shown. The eastern part of Kaliningrad Oblast appears, and the town of Gusev (here called by its German name, Gumbinnen) is depicted in plan form in an inset beneath the title cartouche. Around the time of the map's publication, Frederick William I of Prussia was rebuilding and repopulating the plague-stricken Gusev with Protestants who had been pushed out of the Archbishopric of Salzburg. The extremely decorative title cartouche at top right presents a scene of reconstruction and abundance.

References:

Condition: B+

Sharp impressions on bright sheets. The northern sheet has light soiling and a small hole in an unengraved area of the map at bottom right. Old manuscript page numbers in blank margins at top right. The first image is a composite image - the map is in two separate sheets.

Estimate: $900 - $1,100

Sold for: $650

Closed on 6/10/2020

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