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Fine early plan of 17th-century Paris, complimenting Merian's birdseye view of the same year.
The plan includes 2 coats of arms and gives a fine accounting of the growth of the city by the middle of the 17th Century, centered on the River Seine.
The map is oriented with southwest at the top. At the right, Mont de Parnasse (Montparnasse) is shown in the midst of open fields. At the far left, Sacre Coeur is similarly located outside of urban core.
Mathaus Merian (1593-1650) was the father of engraver Matthäus the Younger, and of the painter, engraver, and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. He was born in Basel, Switzerland and trained in engraving in Zurich. After a time in Nancy, Paris and Strasbourg, he settled in Frankfurt. While there, he worked for Johann Theodor de Bry, the publisher and son of the travel writer. In 1617, he married Maria Magdalena de Bry, Johann Theodor’s daughter. In 1623, Merian took over the de Bry publishing house upon the death of his father-in-law. Merian’s best known works are detailed town views which, due to their accuracy and artistry, form a valuable record of European urban life in the first half of the sixteenth century
![(French Naval Dry Docks) Marine, Plan des Formes Baties a Rochefort pur la Construction des Vaisseaux du Roy [Navy, Plan of Locks Built at Rochefort for the Construction of Royal Vessels]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/88594.jpg)
