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Description

Twenty-five different maps of cities in northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, showing detail focused on their fortifications. The main detail on each of these cities are their walls, both exterior and interior, and well as canals, giving each city a very imposing feel.

Important cities shown include Maastricht, Bruxelles, Gent, Antwerp, Dunkirk, and Luxembourg. Each plan includes a compass rose. These maps were engraved by Reiner and Joshua Ottens in Amsterdam.

This map purports to show the fortresses belonging to the ten Spanish Provinces, however, many of these cities would no longer have been part of the Spanish Netherlands in the late 17th century. Dunkirk, for example, was under English control following the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees. However, this area was still under repeated conflict. The War of the Spanish Succession, which would commence in 1701, would be fought in these areas and would eventually become Austrian.

Condition Description
Soiling in upper centerfold. Otherwise even toning.
Reiner & Joshua Ottens Biography

The Ottens brothers, Reiner and Joshua, operated a successful printing partnership in the mid-eighteenth century (fl. 1726-1765). They began the venture in 1726, publishing maps and other prints as “R & I Ottens.” They specialized in the reprinting of others’ work, especially Guillaume De L’Isle. In 1750, Reiner died; his soon, also Reiner, took his place, but the firm began listing their works as “Joshua & Reiner Ottens.” The firm lasted until Joshua’s death in 1765. Joshua’s widow, Johanna de Lindt, sold their remaining stock of plates in 1784.