Dordrecht; G. Braun & F. Hogenberg – Dordracum vulgo Dortt (..) – 1575-1617

Description

Met titel, legenda, stadswapen en wapen van het Graafschap van Holland in decoratieve cartouches. Diverse schepen op de Merwede.

View with title, legend, city coat of arms and the coat of arms of the counte of Holland. Various ships on the Merwede. 

Details

• Type: carthografische prent
• Title: Dordracum vulgo Dortt. Me Mosa, et Walis, cum Linga, Meruaque, cingunt, Aeternam Bataue virginis, ecce, fidem.
• Publication: 1575-1617
• Technique: kopergravure, oudtijds gekleurd
• Carthographer / Illustrator: –
• Printer: Gottfried von Kempen e.a.
• Engraver: Frans Hogenberg
• Publiced in: Civitates Orbis Terrarum door Frans Hogenberg en George Braun in Köln
• Size print:  34.0 x 48.5 cm. (13.4 x 19.1 inches)
• Size paper: 40.3 x 54.0 cm (15.9 x 21,3 inches)
• Verso: Duitse tekst
• ID: 9840
• Source: Koeman II B&H 8 [24] / Taschen p. 156 / Fauser #3143

Condition: A

Uitstekend, gegeven de leeftijd. Middenvouw als uitgegeven met ruime marges. Scherpe afdruk met fraaie inkleuring.

Excellent, given age. Center fold as published with wide margins. Nice clean print with bright coloring. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. 

Backgrounds

Dordrecht

Dordrecht heeft een lange historie en speelt een belangrijke rol in de Nederlandse geschiedenis. Het prachtige middeleeuwse stadscentrum herbergt meer dan 950 monumenten. In 1572 vond in de Statenzaal van het Hof, het voormalige Augustijnenklooster, de ‘Eerste Vrije Statenvergadering’ plaats. Twaalf steden onder leiding van Dordrecht zwoeren Phillips II af en erkenden alleen Willem van Oranje als hun stadhouder. De bijeenkomst wordt beschouwd als de eerste belangrijke stap op weg naar een vrije en onafhankelijke Nederlandse Republiek.

Dordrecht was granted a municipal charter as far as 1220 and was uncontested as the most important trade city and port of the province from the 13th to the 16th century. In November of 1421 a storm surge flooded Holland. Over 100,000 people died and the floods left an indelible mark on the area around Dordrecht. Behind Dordrecht the water did not flow away, thus the city became an island. The Grote Kerk, built in the Brabant-Gothic style, rises above the city. Another architectural jewel of the city is the Gothic town hall (18). In the building captioned Het groote hoof (13) a meeting took place in July 1572 of representatives of most of the Dutch towns, in order to declare William of Orange as their leader and their independence from Spain: this was the beginning of the Dutch Revolt.

Translation of the text in the cartouche: ‘In Dordracum, in the vernacular Dordrecht, I am surrounded by Meuse, Waal, Lek and Merwede. Behold here the eternal faith in the Batavian Virgin.’

Commentary by George Braun: ‘Dordrecht is an old Dutch city situated on the Merwede, but as waters flow into this river from the Rhine, the Meuse and the Lek and it becomes one river, some claim that the city lies on four rivers. Due to these rivers its position is like an island. The Merwede affords great quantities of good fish, especially sturgeon and other choice fish.’

Frans Hogenberg & George Braun

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590) was een belangrijke Brabantse carthograaf. Hij sympathiseerde met de hervorming en vluchtte van Antwerpen naar Duitsland. In Keulen richtte hij samen met Georg Braun een cartografische drukkerij-uitgeverij op. Georg Braun (1541 – 1622) was redacteur en kanunnik van de Dom van Keulen.

Frans Hogenberg (1535 – 1590) was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. He was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg. By the end of the 1560’s Frans Hogenberg was employed upon Abraham Ortelius’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in 1570; he is named as engraver of numerous maps. In 1568 he was bannend from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. There he immediately embarked on his two most important works, the Civitates published from 1572 and the Geschichtsblätter, which appeared in several series from 1569 until about 1587.

Georg Braun (1541 – 1622) was born in Cologne in 1541. After his studies in Cologne he entered the Jesuit Order as a novice. In 1561 he obtained his bachelor’s degree and in 1562 his Magister Artium. Although he left the Jesuit Order, he studied theology, gaining a licentiate in theology.

Civitates Orbis Terrarum

Braun en Hogenberg stelden in 1572 het stadsgezichtenboek Civitates Orbis Terrarum samen. Dit boek sloeg aan in Duitsland en raakte later overal bekend. Het zesde en laatste deel verscheen in 1617.  Het is de grootste verzameling plattegronden en illustraties die ooit is verschenen. Het boek is ontstaan tussen 1572 en 1617 en bevat 363 kaarten en stadsgezichten van alle belangrijke steden in Europa en steden in Azië, Afrika en Latijns-Amerika. Ruim honderd kunstenaars en cartografen hebben meegewerkt aan deze atlas, die niet alleen plattegronden van steden laat zien maar ook afbeeldingen van mensen in hun landelijke kleding, schepen en topografische afbeeldingen van stad en land. De atlas was bedoeld als gids voor de in 1570 verschenen wereldatlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum van Abraham Ortelius die inderdaad een aantal bladen voor zijn wereldatlas gebruikt heeft.

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum, or the “Braun & Hogenberg”, is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully coloured. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, the sixth volume in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Cornelis Antonisz., Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Following the original publication of Volume 1 of the Civitates in 1572, the next volumes appeared in 1575, 1581, 1588, 1598 and 1617. The German translation of the first volume appeared from 1574 on and the French edition from 1575 on.

Several printers were involved: Theodor Graminaeus, Heinrich von Aich, Gottfried von Kempen, Johannis Sinniger, Bertram Buchholtz and Peter von Brachel, who all worked in Cologne.