Rare Jansson Edition of Braun & Hogenberg's Views of Toledo and Valladolid

"Toletum [on sheet with] Vallisoletum", Jansson, Jan

This decorative pair of bird's-eye views on a folio sheet is based on Braun & Hogenberg's views of Toledo and Valladolid. Toledo, at the time the capital of the Kingdom of Spain, is shown from the far bank of the Tagus, highlighting the city's position on the plateau overlooking the river. The city is built around the Alcazar and the cathedral and protected by the Tagus River, passable by two Moorish bridges depicted at left and right. The lower view of Valladolid includes scenes of farmers working the cultivated fields.

This view was originally created by Braun & Hogenberg and published in Volume I of their Civitates Orbis Terrarum beginning in 1572. Jansson acquired the plates in 1653 and republished many of them in a series of atlases of town maps and plans, some with alterations. In this view, Jansson removed the descriptive cartouches and the foregrounded figures in the Toledo view. Latin text on verso.

References: cf. Fussel, p. 53.

Condition: B+

A nice impression with light scattered foxing and a printer's crease at top. There are some edge tears and minor soiling in the margins.