Neuss – Neus.. Novesium, circa annum 1206 (..).; G. Braun & F. Hogenberg – 1588-1617

Description

Details

• Type: carthographic print
• Title: Neuss – Novesium, circa annum 1206. romanorum Rex Phillippus capit..
• Publication: 1588-1617
• Technique: copper engraving, with later coloring
• Carthographer: –
• Engraver: Frans Hogenberg e.a.
• Publiced in: Civitates Orbis Terrarum.. Liber Quartus door Frans Hogenberg en George Braun in Köln
• Printer: Gottfried von Kempen, Bertram Buchholtz, Theodor Graminaeus e.a.
• Size print:  33.2 x 43 cm. (13.1 x 16.9 inches)
• Size paper: 38.8 x 51.5 cm (15.1 x 20.3 inches)
• Verso: French text
• ID: M0330G
• Source: Koeman II B&H 16 [23]/ Taschen p. 170 / Fauser #9804

Condition: A

Sehr gut, dem Alter entsprechend. Mittelfalz wie ausgegeben mit breiten Rändern. Schöne Färbung. Altersbedingte Tonung und/oder vereinzelte kleinere Mängel durch Handhabung. Ränder etwas gebräunt.

Very good, given age. Center fold as issued with wide margins. Beautiful coloring. Age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Margins bit toned.

Neuss

Translation of the title: ‘The Roman king Philip captured Neuss around 1206 and gave it to Archbishop Adolph, who the Pope deposed. In 1474 the city was besieged for almost a year without success by Charles the Bold. In 1496 the main church was set on fire by lightning. In 1573 the upper street was ravaged by a fire. On 10, May 1585 Neuss was conquered by Count Neuwenarius. After being besieged for several days, Neuss was stormed and captured by the Prince of Parma on 26 July 1586. A few hours later, it was almost entirely destroyed by an unfortunate fire.’

This view from the east shows Neuss from across the Rhine, at the river’s confluence with the Erft. The massive city wall was built around 1200. In 1209 building began on the minster of St Quirinus, which rises above the rest of the city on the right. It is the city’s landmark and one of the most important late Romanesque churches on the Lower Rhine. In the 15th century, the city gloriously resisted a one-year siege by Charles the Bold, whereupon Emperor Frederick III granted Neuss customs exemptions, the legal status of a Hanseatic city, a new coat of arms with the imperial eagle and the imperial crown, and the right to mint and issue coins. However, the town lost its wealth and status after the Cologne War and a disastrous fire in 1586. This plate is a bird’s-eye view seen from an angle of the city after being rebuilt. From the east, it gives a compact impression of the fortifications with the closely set towers, the upper and lower gates, the minster of St Quirinus and the tall, stately townhouses.

Commentary by George Braun: ‘The shape of Neuss is long rather than wide, and the Erft runs along the long side before flowing into the Rhine. The city is very well protected by the river and needs no other moats. From the Rhine another sidearm flows up to the city, joining the Erft in front of the city. For this reason, even big ships with their cargoes can sail directly to the city from the Rhine.’

Frans Hogenberg & George Braun

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590) was een belangrijke Vlaamse 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 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, 1596 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.