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Striking birdseye view of Vienna, which appeared in Thomas Salmon's Modern History: or, the Present State of all Nations, which provides an illuminating snapshot of the city as it stood in the 18th century.
The view is taken from the south of Vienna, with St. Stephen's Cathedral at the center.
Also visible is the imposing Hofburg Palace, the winter residence of the Habsburgs. In the foreground is expansive Schönbrunn Palace, summer residence of the royal family completed in 1711. The city is encased by fortified walls,
The view itself is set within a printed architectural frame, an artistic touch that adds to the overall presentation. The frame is surmounted by an embossed eagle, wings outstretched, clutching a crown in its talons, likely a reference to the Habsburg monarchy, a central political force of the time.
In sum, this birdseye view from Thomas Salmon's 'Modern History' provides a comprehensive and detailed look at 18th century Vienna, striking a balance between geographical precision and artistic representation.
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.
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