An Extremely Rare Cologne School Atlas of Europe.
In Vibrant Original Hand-Color.
This atlas of Europe by Matthias Quad, published by Johann Bussemacher in 1592, contains 40 maps of Europe and is a fantastic presentation of Cologne School cartography.
In the last decades of the 16th century, publishers and mapmakers in Cologne made a concerted effort to compete with the more prolific and successful cartographic output from the Low Countries, namely Antwerp. This effort resulted in Braun & Hogenberg's famous Civitates Orbis Terrarum and many wonderful but smaller and less well-known atlases such as the present work.
Maps
The maps in this atlas are densely and attractively engraved; some bear dates between 1589 and '92; some were engraved and signed by Henricus Nagel; Bussemacher's name is on many. A list of the maps follows.
- Europa
- Germaniae Nonvera Minus Quam Compendiosa Descriptio Teutschalndt.
- Angliae regni florenissimi nova descripio, auctore Humeredo Lhuyd Denbygiense
- Scotiae Tabula
- Regni Hispaniae post omium editiones locupletissima descriptio
- Portugalliae que olim Lusitania, novissima et exactissima description Auctore Vernando Alvaro Secco, Johann bussmecher excudit Col.
- Franciae accurata description. Franckreich mit seinen orentzen.
- Burgundiae Inferioris Quae Ducatus Nomine Censetur Desc.
- Flandia Galliae Belgicae provincia celeberrima continent in longitudine militaria flandrica 31, in latitudine vero 20...
- Brabantiae Belgarum provinciae recens exactaque descriptio.
- Namurcum cum Adiacentibus Regionibus Descr.
- Lutzenbergesis Montuosissimi ac Saltuosissimi Ducatus vera et compendiosa descriptio nunquam antehac visa
- Trier
- Lotharingiae Ducatus Superioris vera delineatio
- Zelandicarum insularum exactissima et nova descriptio, auctore D. jacobo a Daventria
- Hollandiae quae olim Batavia antiqua Catthorum sedes, undique fere cingitur Mari, praeterquam qua Rheno et Mosa fluminibus ad Orientem et Meridiem a continenti seiunqitur...
- En tibi, amice Lector, nobilis ille clarusque Ducatus Geldraie cum omnibus eius limitibus,...
- Elsatia Superior. Ober Elsas.
- Alsatia Inferior Under Elsas
- Frisiae antiquissimae trans rhenu provinc. et adiacentium regionum nova et exacta descriptio
- Groningensis Agri Vera Descriptio
- Habes hic candide lector exactam Westphaliae descriptionem, ...
- Waldeck Comitatus
- Thietmarsiae Holsaticae regionis partis typus Auctore Petro Boeckel
- Daniae Regni Typus
- Saxonum regionis quatenus eius gentis imperium olim patebat, recens germanaque delineatio, ...
- Mansfeldiae Comitatus descriptio Auctore Tilemanno Stella Sig.
- Misniae et Lusatiae Tabula Descripta a M. Bartholomeo Sculteto Gorlitz
- Bohemie longitudo latitudoque pene par, nam totudam facie ex circumiacentibus motibus accipit, ...
- Francia Orientalis, Vulgo Franconia, A Franco Quodam Eorum Duce Orta Crediut Gens...
- Florentissimus Rheni Palatinatus
- Saliburgensis jurisdictionis locorumque vicinorum vera descriptio Auctore Marco. Secznagel Saliburgense
- Bavaria Ducatus
- Sueviae utriusque Germanicae cum Rheticae celebratissimis urbibus, ...
- Hungariae Loca Precipua Recens Emendata, Atque Edita per Ioannem Sambucum Pannonium...
- Italia
- Prussiae Descriptio ante aliquot annos ab Henrico Zellio edita, ...
- Poloniae sinitimarumque locorum descriptio Auctore Wenceslao Godreccio Polono
- Ducatus Oswieczensis & Zatoriensis descriptio. 1592
- Graeciae Universae Secundum Hodiernum Situm Neoterica Descriptio.
Meurer and Bonacker
This would seem to be an example (based on Meurer's comments the only extant example traced) of a rare variant of Quad's 1592 atlas of Europe. This 40-map variant was described as QUA 2 in Meurer's catalog of the Cologne School atlases based on an entry in Bonacker's Quad Catalogue Raisonné:
BONACKER (Matthias Quad, Catalogue Raisonné No. 1a) mentions an edition from 1592 with 40 maps. This copy must be counted among the war losses of the UStB Cologne; more precise information about the volume is no longer accessible. A corresponding additional copy has not yet been found.
Provenance
Library of the Stevenson Lighthouse Engineers