![[ The Retreat of the Ten Thousand ] Retraite Des Dix Mille Tabula conspectum exhibens Regionum omnium quas Cyrus Junior . . . MDCCXXIII By Guillaume Delisle](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/82001.jpg)
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Detailed map of the region from Greece, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean to Armenia and the Caspian Sea.
The map shows region through which the Greek general Xenophon lead his troops in retreat from Babylon. The map shows Turkey and Asia Minor, naming all the great cities of the region including Bagdad, Babylon, Aleppo, and Constantinople. The Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and the Mediterranean can all be seen.
Xenophon led the Ten Thousand, a force of mainly Greek mercenary units who were hired to capture the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Younger. While their coup was successful militarily, Cyrus the Younger died and the troops were left in Assyria without employment. Following the assassination of Greek senior officers, the military genius Xenophon was elected to lead the troops home, which he helped do through numerous ruses, as recounted in his Anabasis.
Covens & Mortier was one of the largest and most successful publishing firms in Dutch history and continued in business for over a century. Pierre Mortier the Elder (1661-1711) had obtained a privilege in 1690 to distribute the works of French geographers in the Netherlands. After his widow continued the business for several years, Cornelis (1699-1783) took over in 1719.
In 1721, Mortier forged a partnership with Johannes Covens (1697-1774), who had recently married Cornelis’ sister. They published under the joint name of Covens & Mortier. In 1774, upon the death of his father, Johannes Covens II (1722-1794) took over his father’s share. In 1778, the company changed its name to J. Covens & Zoon, or J. Covens & Son.
Covens II’s son, Cornelis (1764-1825), later inherited the business and brought Petrus Mortier IV back into the fold. Petrus was the great-grandson of Petrus Mortier I. From 1794, the business was called Mortier, Covens & Zoon, or Mortier, Covens, & Son.
The business specialized in publishing French geographers including Deslisle, Jaillot, Janssonius, and Sanson. They also published atlases, for example a 1725 reissue of Frederik de Wit’s Atlas Major and an atlas, with additions, from the works of Guillaume Delisle. There were also Covens & Mortier pocket atlases and town atlases. The company profited from acquiring plates from other geographers as well. For example, the purchased Pieter van der Aa’s plates in 1730. Finally, they also compiled a few maps in house. At their height, they had the largest collection of geographic prints ever assembled in Amsterdam.
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