3745 - Braun & Hogenberg, View of Frankfurt

Braun & Hogenberg, View of Frankfurt A bird’s-eye view of the city on the River Main with its fortifications; figures in the foreground; a cartouche typical of the period at the top centre, inscribed here as ‘Civitas Francofordiana ad Moe.", a cartouche in Latin at the bottom right; copperplate engraving on thin handmade paper, 1574; minimal signs of age; framed with a passe-partout and behind glass; image dimensions approx. 33.5 x 47.5 cm. Info: Produced in collaboration between Frans Hogenberg (German copperplate engraver and etcher, 1535 Mechelen to 1590 Cologne) and Georg Braun (German theologian, canon and publisher, 1541 Cologne to 1622 Cologne), the book of city views ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’ (Schefold translated the title as: ‘Description and Contrafactur of the Most Distinguished Cities of the World’). Ultimately comprising 600 realistic city views and maps, the work was published in six volumes between 1572 and 1618; the copperplate engravings for volumes 1-4 were produced by Hogenberg, and following his death, Simon Novellanus provided the engravings for volumes 5 and 6; the printing plates later came into the possession of the Dutch cartographer Jan Jansson, who republished them in Amsterdam in 1657 with various modifications. Source: Thieme-Becker and the internet.