Antique Maps
Les Frontieres de France et d'Allemagne, dessus et aux Environs du Rhein, de la Meuse, de la Moselle et de la Saare
Les Frontieres de France et d'Allemagne, dessus et aux Environs du Rhein, de la Meuse, de la Moselle et de la Saare
DE FER, Nicolas

Les Frontieres de France et d'Allemagne, dessus et aux Environs du Rhein, de la Meuse, de la Moselle et de la Saare

Paris
1689
Size : 75,5 x 50,5 cm
Color : Colorié à la main
Condition : Satisfaisant
Reference : 454-4-CPVKTHCS
€1,500.00
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Description

Attractive and decorative map of the Netherlands made at the beginning of the Nine Years' War between the France of Louis XIV and the League of Augsburg, a coalition of European powers.

Constructed as a mirror image to illustrate the conflict between them, the map shows on the left side the France of Louis the Great and on the right side the Holy German Empire under Leopold I of Habsburg. In the center and at the heart of the conflict, the United Provinces or Holland. The left side shows the Franco-German border with a large inset of the city of Strasbourg and the tributaries of the Rhine. Underneath is a description of the city and the Fort Louis du Rhein (Fort Louis) whose construction was decided in 1686 and carried out by Vauban. The right side shows the fortified city of Philisbourg (Philippsburg) in Germany and the fort of Schenck, then considered impregnable.

The majestic ornaments are the work of Nicolas Guerard (1648?-1719), engraver, publisher and merchant of prints and maps and ordinary engraver of the King. Restored and lined map.

DE FER, Nicolas

Nicolas de Fer (1646-1720), was an engraver, geographer, titled geographer of the King and active from 1687 to 1720. He began his apprenticeship at the age of 12 with an engraver. In 1687, he took over the map trade from his mother after the death of his father, Antoine de Fer, a print and map merchant who died in 1673, and executed more than 600 maps or plans: frontier maps, maps of the new conquests of Louis XIV, cities fortified by Vauban, voyages and discoveries of new territories. In his main work, the Atlas Curieuse, he published several maps of the Americas and the West Indies. At his death, his sons-in-law, Guillaume Danet and Jacques-François Bénard  also engravers, continued Nicolas de Fer's activity on their own account.