Marchionatus Sacri Romani Imperii… C.J. Visscher Excudebat.

18 x 21 ¾ inches, Fine original color; bit of edge chipping & toning in margins, else excellent.

Rare, separately published, richly engraved plan of Antwerp--home of the famed mapmaker Ortelius and Europe’s first great center of trade. This beautifully composed engraving has at its center a detailed plan of Antwerp and its surroundings, with an inset map of the Flemish-Dutch border along the Schelde River. The borders contain views of the city's most important buildings, including several structures that survive today, such as the magnificent Our Blessed Lady Cathedral (the city's tallest building even now) and the Statdhuys (City Hall), shown rebuilt after the Spanish sack of the city in 1576. Lost to us now but beautifully depicted on the map are the House of the Hanseatic League (burned in 1891) and the Antwerp Bourse (which exists in replica today). Views of several churches and the gates of the city complete the border of this fine engraving.

Ortelius’ Antwerp stood at the confluence of European trade and profited greatly from the wave of discovery at the turn of the 16^th century. The Portuguese brought pepper and cinnamon; the Spanish brought American silver; and Europe’s textiles all came to be traded through Antwerp. In order to support the foreign trade pouring through the city, Antwerp’s Bourse was constructed in 1531; it was the first structure purpose built to be a stock exchange. It is in this context of active trade and exploration that Ortelius’ atlas was born.