Leeuwarden, Franeker; G. Braun & F. Hogenberg – Lewardum (..), Franicher (..) – 1572-1617

Description

Met decoratieve cartouches.

With decorative cartouches.

Details

• Type: carthografische prent
• Title: Lewardum. Occidentalis Frisiae Opp: 1580 / Franicher, Nobiliu hominum, in Frisia Occidentali, ut plurimum saedes. Plate 36
• Publication years: 1581-1617
• Technique: kopergravure, oudtijds gekleurd, op gelegd papier
• Carthographer: Jacob van Deventer
• Publicer: Gottfried von Kempen e.a.
• Engraver: Frans Hogenberg e.a.
• Publiced in: Civitates Orbis Terrarum door Frans Hogenberg en George Braun in Köln
• Size print:  31.0 x 48.8 cm (12.2 x 19.2 inches)
• Size paper: 41.5 x 54,2 cm (16.3 x 21.3 inches)
• Verso: Latijnse tekst
• ID: 8030 O
• Source: Koeman II B&H 3 [36] / Taschen p. 242 / Fauser #7384

Condition

Zeer goed, gegeven de leeftijd. Middenvouw als uitgegeven, met ruime marges. Fris papier met heldere kleuring en een enkel vlekje

Very good, 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

Leeuwarden

Translation of the text in the cartouche: ‘Leeuwarden, a West Frisian town. 1580.’

Commentary by George Braun: ‘Leeuwarden lies in West Friesland. Within this county it is a special town that can boast well-appointed town houses, but that is also completely surrounded by the river and with its moats and fortified castle can therefore withstand all enemy attacks.’

This bird’s-eye plan from the year 1580 depicts Leeuwarden, once the seat of the powerful governor of Friesland. On the left-hand edge of the town, a large church is accompanied by a freestanding late Gothic tower, the unfinished ‘Oldehove’, still standing today. The Gothic ‘Grote Kerk’ or ‘Jacobijnerkerk’ is located in the upper half of the town, while the weigh house on the ‘Waagplein’ is clearly visible in the lower half. In the 15th century Leeuwarden enjoyed supraregional importance as a river port, a position it lost in the late 16th and 17th century, however, as its access to the sea silted up.

Franeker

Translation of the text in the cartouche: ‘Franeker in West Friesland, the seat of many noble men.’

Commentary by George Braun: ‘Two miles from Leeuwarden lies Franeker, where many self-assured men live, since they valiantly resisted a siege by those staging a revolt against their then sovereign, the Duke of Saxony, and were consequently rewarded with stately privileges and freedoms. It has numerous grazing pastures for cattle as is usual in Friesland, but the land is interspersed with many lakes, pools and marshes.’

Franeker, a former university town whose students included René Descartes, lies between Harlingen and Leeuwarden. It is seen here in a bird’s-eye view, surrounded by a ring canal and crossed by a number of other canals. Founded around AD 800 as a Carolingian fortress, in the Middle Ages and the early modern era Franeker developed into an impressive city; in the 15th century it was chosen by Albert of Saxony as his primary residence. Rising from the centre of the main market square is the late ‘Gothic Martinikerk’. Bottom left, on the longest of the canals, is the town hall.’

Frans Hogenberg & George Braun

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590) was een belangrijke Vlaamse etser, carthograaf en uitgever. 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.