1588 BRAUN, G. / HOGENBERG, F. - Bolzvardia vetus in Frisia Foederis Anzae teurinicae Op. [on sheet with] Stavria, vulgo Stavere ... [and] Harlinga [and] Hindelop. (Bolsward, Stavoren, Harlingen, Hindelopen)

Four bird's-eye views - plans by Braun and Hogenberg: Bolsward, Stavoren, Harlingen and Hindelopen. The four views are made after Jacob van Deventer.

BOLSWARD CARTOUCHE: Bolsward, an old Hanseatic Frisian town.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Bolsward lies only one mile north of Sneek, and three miles from Leeuwarden. The fact that it is united with other brave and famous cities in the German Hanseatic League is evidence that it was considered to be an old and famous city in earlier times. Thus, in provincial diets and other assemblies in this region, it is considered to be the first after Leeuwarden and ranks second in dignity."

STAVOREN CARTOUCHE: Stavria, commonly known as Stavoren, a Frisian town situated at the narrowest part of the Southern Sea that bears the name Zuiderzee.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Stavoren, two miles from Sloten, lies on the banks of the Southern Sea [...]. It was once such a wealthy and handsome trade city that it was one of the chief cities in the German Hanseatic League. And although it lost its high status altogether many years ago, it still enjoys many privileges abroad."

This is a bird's-eye view of the town from the south. In the north a castle surrounded by a moat and four bastions can be seen, as can the church in the centre of the town. Stavoren is considered to be the oldest town in Friesland. It is a port and salt was exported from here as early as the 10th century; it was granted a municipal charter in 1060. In the 14th century little remained to show that it had once been prosperous; its temporary use as a naval base during the Guelders War did not lead to a lasting revival.

HARLINGEN with COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Harlingen lies at the entrance of the Zuiderzee, far to the north of the other sea towns [...]. It has a fine and well-fortified castle, together with a harbour that is very convenient for seafarers not only because of its width and capacity but also of the location of the town."

This is a bird's-eye view of the town from the south. The most prominent features are the castle surrounded by a moat, and the Romanesque Grote Kerk, which is to the southeast of the town, outside the walls. Harlingen was created from two dwelling mounds that are still distinctly recognizable. It was granted a municipal charter in 1234 and maintained commercial ties with Hamburg, Denmark and the Baltic countries, but it never joined the Hanseatic League. Harlingen became the last Frisian port with access to the North Sea after completion of the dam in 1932.

HINDELOOPEN with COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Hindeloopen is located not far from Stavoren and stretches into the sea like a promontory, exposed to the waves not just at a point but on all sides. The town is thus in perpetual danger of destruction, despite the effort put into the building of sturdy, broad and high embankments (thrown up to restrain the tempestuous sea and to protect the town and the neighbouring fields from its violence). This is a bird's-eye view from the south of the little town projecting into the sea; canals permit small boats to sail into the centre of it. It is known that there was a settlement here in the 8th century AD. The town was granted a municipal charter in 1372 and was one of the 11 Frisian cities. In the 14th century it was an important Hanseatic city, maintaining trade ties mainly with Scandinavia. These trade activities are indicated by the sailing ship anchored before the city. (Taschen)

More about Frans Hogenberg. [+]

More about Braun and Hogenberg, Civitatus [+]

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, 541; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p. 292.

Georg Braun ( 1541 - 1622)

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum (Atlas of Cities of the World) by Hogenberg was the second-oldest printed atlas in world cartography and the first atlas of towns. Its principal creators and authors were the theologian and editor Georg Braun, the most important engraver and publisher Frans Hogenberg, the engraver Simon van den Neuvel, the artist and draftsman Georg (Joris) Hoefnagel, the topographer Jacob van Deventer and others. Although published outside the Netherlands, the Civitates is, nevertheless, one of the best examples of the work of the Antwerp school of cartographers.
Key figures in the school included Abraham Ortelius, Gerardus Mercator, and several other geographers. The Civitates reflects the Flemish engraving style typical of Dutch atlases of the period. In addition, correspondence among Braun, Hogenberg, and Ortelius clearly indicates that they conceived the atlas in Antwerp.

The atlas contains more than 500 maps and represents an entire era in the history of town mapping. The atlas was published in six volumes between 1572 and 1617. To obtain the originals for his work, Braun corresponded extensively with map sellers and scholars in different cities and countries. The authors also conducted their own investigations.
However, these were not true geodetic surveys, but detailed on-location drawings of panoramic views of the towns made from some high point. Georg Hoefnagel made most of the engravings that decorate the Civitates, from its first volume to its last, from such drawings. Hoefnagel drew images of many towns in France, Italy, England, and Spain.
He and his son Jacob subsequently created representations of Austrian and Hungarian towns for the Civitates. In addition to these overview plans, the atlas includes more detailed maps based on topographic surveys, particularly those of Jacob van Deventer (15??-1575). Correspondingly, the maps show the systematic structure of the towns' building up, with perspective representations of various quarters and individual buildings.
The town is usually placed in the background, while the foreground shows its surrounding countryside and detailed depictions of typical town inhabitants.
These visual representations of people not only augmented the maps' content but also served another purpose. Braun and Hogenberg illustrated the pages of the Civitates with figures of local inhabitants to prevent the Turks from using the maps for military purposes, since Islam forbids images of humans.

Of the total number of towns, only a couple of dozen are located outside Europe: in Asia, Africa, and South America. This shows extremely limited cartographic knowledge of the world, due to the insufficient development of science and mapmaking practices in the second half of the sixth century. At the same time, it is impossible not to be astonished at the huge quantity - by the standards of the time - of material included in the atlas.

Braun and Hogenberg's Civitates was an enormous success. It was republished and supplemented by new sections many times. The maps it contained became exemplary; other publishers frequently reproduced them in smaller formats as illustrations for books and maps.

After Franz Hogenberg's death, the atlas's typographic plates remained in Cologne, in Abraham Hogenberg's possession. When Abraham died in 1653, his heirs evidently sold them to Johannes Janssonius, an active and skilled publisher of books and atlases in Amsterdam. In 1657, Janssonius issued the atlas in eight volumes in a completely revised edition, with illustrations arranged by country. A large number of quite new engravings were added to it, while outdated prints were omitted. After Janssonius's death in 1664, his grandson Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge acquired the engravings and used some to compile his own atlas, which appeared in 1682. In 1694, the energetic Amsterdam publisher Frederick de Wit purchased van Waesberge's copper plates and equipment at auction; he was well known for his numerous maps and atlases. De Wit organized a new edition, enriched with new engravings.

After de Wit's time, at the turn of the eighteenth century, the copper plates for the atlas passed to the publisher Pieter van der Aa (1659 - 1733). He acquired them in Leyden and used them for an atlas published in 1729. This publication included a diverse mixture of engravings from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

After van der Aa, ownership of town maps with the publisher's imprint of de Wit passed to the publishing house of Covens and Mortier. The multiple reproductions of these 16th-century perspective views and maps by various publishers over the centuries can be explained by their rich historical and geographical content. At the same time, no atlas of the world's cities in the history of global cartography matches the Civitates Orbis Terrarum in size and fullness.

In addition to its historical, geographical, and cartographic significance, the Civitates is also of great artistic value. That is why, to this day, the town maps in the atlas have adorned the most exquisite interiors and attracted the attention not only of specialists in the field but of all admirers of fine art.