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Description

Fine decorative map of Brunswick-Lunenburg and environs, dedicated to King George I, of Great Britain, who was also an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, and Ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Luneburg.

At top center is the estuarial northern part of the Elbe River facing Hamburg, while Hanover appears near the center of the map.

Moll's depiction of the royal arms and other embellishments surrounding the cartouche display his considerable engraving talents.

Published shortly after King George I's ascendency to the throne as King of England, in 1714, the map marks one of the more fascinating chapters in British History and a turning point in the history and power structure of the British Monarchy.

The Inset maps show:

  • Part of England
  • Netherlands
  • Part of Germany (showing route of the King from Hannover to Greenwich)
  • Duchy of Saxon Lauwenburg

King George I

George I (1660 - 1727), was King of Great Britain and Ireland from August 1, 1714, until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) in the Holy Roman Empire, from 1698.

George was born in Hanover and inherited the titles and lands of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his father and uncles. A succession of European wars expanded his German domains during his lifetime and in 1708 he was ratified as prince-elector of Hanover.

At the age of 54, after the death of Queen Anne of Great Britain, George ascended the British throne as the first monarch of the House of Hanover. Although over fifty Roman Catholics bore closer blood relationships to Anne, the Act of Settlement 1701 prohibited Catholics from inheriting the British throne.

George was Anne's closest living Protestant relative. In reaction, Jacobites attempted to depose George and replace him with Anne's Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart, but their attempts failed.

During George's reign, the powers of the monarchy diminished and Britain began a transition to the modern system of cabinet government, led by a prime minister. Towards the end of his reign, actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole, now recognized as Britain's first de facto prime minister.

Condition Description
Minor discoloration at centerfold.
Herman Moll Biography

Herman Moll (c. 1654-1732) was one of the most important London mapmakers in the first half of the eighteenth century.  Moll was probably born in Bremen, Germany, around 1654. He moved to London to escape the Scanian Wars. His earliest work was as an engraver for Moses Pitt on the production of the English Atlas, a failed work which landed Pitt in debtor's prison. Moll also engraved for Sir Jonas Moore, Grenville Collins, John Adair, and the Seller & Price firm. He published his first original maps in the early 1680s and had set up his own shop by the 1690s. 

Moll's work quickly helped him become a member of a group which congregated at Jonathan's Coffee House at Number 20 Exchange Alley, Cornhill, where speculators met to trade stock. Moll's circle included the scientist Robert Hooke, the archaeologist William Stuckley, the authors Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe, and the intellectually-gifted pirates William Dampier, Woodes Rogers and William Hacke. From these contacts, Moll gained a great deal of privileged information that was included in his maps. 

Over the course of his career, he published dozens of geographies, atlases, and histories, not to mention numerous sheet maps. His most famous works are Atlas Geographus, a monthly magazine that ran from 1708 to 1717, and The World Described (1715-54). He also frequently made maps for books, including those of Dampier’s publications and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Moll died in 1732. It is likely that his plates passed to another contemporary, Thomas Bowles, after this death.