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Description

Four-sheet wall map of the region southwest of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, published by Pierre Mortier in Amsterdam during the 1690s. 

The map covers Mainz and several other major cities in modern-day southwest Germany.

This is a "theater of war" map, featuring the areas of operations during a particular part of the Nine Years' War, which lasted from 1688 to 1697, and involved France fighting with most other European powers at one point or another.

The main fighting took place around France's borders in the Spanish Netherlands, the Rhineland, the Duchy of Savoy, and Catalonia. The fighting generally favored Louis XIV's armies, but by 1696 his country was in the grip of an economic crisis. The Maritime Powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the Alliance, all parties were keen to negotiate a settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick, Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace but in exchange had to return Lorraine to its ruler and give up any gains on the right bank of the Rhine. Louis XIV also recognized William III as the rightful king of England, while the Dutch acquired a barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their borders.

The peace would be short-lived. With the ailing and childless Charles II of Spain's death approaching, a new dispute over the inheritance of the Spanish Empire was soon to embroil Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Condition Description
Four sheets, unjoined. Spectacular original hand-color in full. A truly superb example of the map.
Pierre Mortier Biography

Pierre, or Pieter, Mortier (1661-1711) was a Dutch engraver, son of a French refugee. He was born in Leiden. In 1690 he was granted a privilege to publish French maps in Dutch lands. In 1693 he released the first and accompanying volume of the Neptune Francois. The third followed in 1700. His son, Cornelis (1699-1783), would partner with Johannes Covens I, creating one of the most important map publishing companies of the eighteenth century.