Map of the Kingdom of Love

"Landkarte von dem Reiche der Liebe", Von Reilly, Franz

This fantastic map of the Kingdom of Love was first published in von Reilly's Bibliothek der Scherze mit einem Satyrisch-Allegorischen Atlasse (1801) and again in Atlas von der Moralischen Welt (1802). Both atlases included ten allegorical maps of various imaginary worlds and moral concepts. The Kingdom of Love depicts all facets of love and courtship that exist between the River of Indifference (Strom der Gleichgültigkeit) and the River of Affection (Strom der Zärtlichkeit). One begins in the Fluren der Jugend (meadow of youth) and must avoid crossing the Bach des Leichsinnes (brook of recklessness). The ideal path is to make your way to Schönheim (beautiful home), Gegenliebe (love in return), and Schwürheim (vow home) without traveling through Korbgebe (getting dumped) or getting lost in Gärten des Flattersinns (the gardens of fickleness). One must make their way past the hills of complaints (Hügel der Beschwerden) and through Schmerzenreich (city of pain) to reach Selbstverjüngung (self rejuvenation) and the River of Affection on the way to the Land of Peace, which was depicted in another map in the atlas. The title cartouche features Cupid, who chuckles at two snakes falling in love. The map is accompanied by a page of German text describing each location on the map. This map is quite rare, especially with the accompanying text.

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Condition: A

The map is clean and bright, and the accompanying page of text has very light foxing.