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Stock# 78210

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Johann Gottlieb Immanuel Breitkopf

Title

(Allegorical Map of Desire) Charte Von dem Quelle der Wunsche und den Landern welche dessen Strome durchfliessen. . . [Chart of the source of desires and the countries which its currents flow through. . .]

Publication Place / Date

Leipzig / 1779

Image Dimensions

6 x 7.5 inches

Color

Hand Colored

Condition

VG+

Stock# 78210

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Description

One of Three Maps Printed by Breitkopf Using Movable Type

Fantastic and uncommon map of the "Source of Wishes," a watershed map showing how fantastical streams from the same source flow to a "quiet, happy country" and through the "land of avarice." This map was printed as part of a project undertaken by Johann Breitkopf between 1777 and 1779 that produced maps using a type-set rather than a copperplate engraving.

The map is a rare example of the short-lived phenomenon of "typometry," a map-printing technique that meshes movable type with movable linework and map symbols. While some typography had been used since the 16th-century to print small letters on otherwise copperplate-engraved maps, the idea of making a map exclusively using this technique had not developed until the late 18th century. Two separate inventors had come up with the concept at nearly the same time. While Breitkopf, a music publisher, had invented the methodology first, he held off printing his maps until 1777 and was beaten by William Haas, a Basle type-founder who published his typeset maps in 1776. This printing method proved more time-consuming than copperplate engraving, and died out quickly, remaining a curiosity into the 19th century.

The map itself is mainly a proof-of-concept work and shows various tools that can be used in mapmaking. It shows a mystical land of mountains, rivers, and cities, all of which relate to the fulfillment of wishes and desires in life.

Condition Description

Full original hand-color. Printer's creases.

Reference

Bigmore & Wyman, I, p. 81.
https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2011/05/breitkopf_and_typometry.html