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Description

Fine large map of the Baltic and Poland, published by the Homann Heirs.

The map illustrates what was then 'Lithuania Minor', the most easterly province of the Kingdom of Prussia, given the name because of the large number of Lithuanian speakers. The map extends to Klaipeda, modern Lithuania, in the north to Goldap in Poland in the south, with the eastern part of the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia.

Under the large pictorial title cartouche is a plan of Gumbinnen (now Gusev, in the Kaliningrad Oblast). This was a new town, built by Frederick William I of Prussia, as he was redeveloping the area after the population had been ravaged by plague in 1711. In 1732 he resettled the area with some of the 20,000 Protestants expelled from the Archbishopric of Salzburg. Compiled by Johann Friedrich Betgen.

Includes a large pictorial cartouche and inset plan of Gumbinnen (Gusev).  

Condition Description
2 sheets, joined as issued.
Homann Heirs Biography

Homann Heirs was a German publishing firm that enjoyed a major place in the European map market throughout the eighteenth century. Founded in 1702 by Johann Baptist Homann, the business passed to his son, Christoph, upon Johann’s death in 1724. Christoph died in 1730, aged only 27, and the firm was inherited by subsequent Homann heirs. This altered the name of the company, which was known as Homann Erben, or Homann heirs. The firm continued in business until 1848.