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Rare separately issued set of town plans on 3 sheets, probably prepared for Eberhard Werner Happel in 1688.
Additional Cities named include Tokay, Simontorna, Verewitiza, Zachmar, S. Nicholaus, Samos=Viwar, Zigeth, Wihitsch, Canischa, Funfkirchen, Stuhl Weissenburg, Waizen, Villeck, Petrinia, Lewenz, Plindenburg, Vice Grad, Sisek, Gran and Serinwar
These views also appeared as separate sheets in Happel's Thesaurus exoticorum oder Eine mit aussländischen Raritäten und Geschichten wohlversehene Schatz-Kammer fürstellend die Asiatische, Africanische und Americanische Nationes, published in Hamburg.
Happel's Thesaurus, is very rare. The work was intended as a general history and description of the world, with special reference to the Turkish and Austrian dominions, and including a German version of the Koran. Sabin calls it "a sort of German Coryat" filled with a history of the wars between Hungary and Turkey. Particularly interesting are the notices of America (New France, Virginia, Florida, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, etc.), with a long report on the discoveries made by Drake in California. It has a series of curious representations of American natives, with detailed descriptions of their manners, customs, religion, etc. The work is heavily illustrated with some woodcuts nearly full page. A detailed description of Hungary is richly illustrated with engraved plates. It is not clear if this work has any connection to mineralogy, but it is listed in Gatterer's bibliography.
The present example is quite unusual, combining multiple plates on a single large sheet, with no text on the verso.
This is the first time we have ever seen this set of plans offered for sale.
Eberhard Werner Happel (1647–1690) was a German author of scientific and historical works. The son of a reformist Lutheran minister, he studied law, mathematics, and natural sciences in Marburg, Germany, from the 1660s to 1680s, though due to financial issues he never finished his formal education. He also tutored aristocratic families in Hessen and Hamburg during this time. Around 1680 he devoted himself to writing, publishing several works of historical fiction. He also published several historical and scientific almanacs, the most famous of which was Historia Moderna Europae, which covered recent European political history and included detailed maps and engravings. His most famous scientific work was Gröste Denkwürdigkeiten der Welt: Oder, So genannte “relationes curiosae”, which contained one of the most important early discussions of oceanographic phenomena. In later years Happel continued to be a successful and widely read author. He died in Hamburg at age 42, survived by his wife, Margarita, and four children.
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