Art

Beautiful view of the Spanish city of Santander. Showing the port and harbour, ships in the bay, mountains beyond and three women, a donkey and a baby in the foreground. Braun and Hogenberg's Civitates Orbis Terrarum was a monumental work completed over 45 years between 1572 and 1617, and was one of the best-selling works of the late sixteenth-century. It was the first systematic city atlas (containing the first printed views of many towns). Ortelius, who travelled with the artist Joris Hoefnagel supplied much of the material, which was then engraved by Novellus and Hogenburg. George Braun wrote the text. There were a number of editions, but it is extremely difficult (and as Koeman says 'of secondary importance') to differentiate between them, as the state of the plates, their number and order does not vary. Copper engraving. Uncoloured. Some showthrough of text from verso on left margin.Very good condition, but very small hole in top border. Size: 355 x 320 mm. (14 x 12 inches).