MEXICO BESCHREIBUNG DER STATT MEXICO
£350
RARE COPPER ENGRAVED PLAN OF MEXICO CITY
1655 Folio edition
A striking, detailed, and unusual copperplate map of Mexico City published by Johann Ludwig Gottfried. It is often titled "Beschreibung der Statt Mexico / so die hauptstatt ist im Konigreich New Spanien" (Description of the City of Mexico / which is the capital city in the Kingdom of New Spain).
The city laid out within Lake Texcoco, highlighting bridges, causeways, and the central ceremonial area.
Beautifully engraved with each building distinctly visible. Stippling of water on lake .
Very good strong impression
Mint condition for this collectors item museum quality
From GOTFRIED J.L., Newe Welt und Americanische Historien.
code : M5606
Cartographer : Johann Ludwig Gottfried
Date : 1655 Frankfurt
Size : 15.5*18 cms sheet 37*24 cms
availability : Available
Price : £350
Johann Ludwig Gottfried studied theology in Heidelberg. As of 1603, he was active as a deacon and, afterward, as a reformed priest in villages in the Electoral Palatinate's left side of the Rhine. Between 1625 and 1633 he was active in Offenbach. Owed to his talent for languages and his education in general, he became a highly esteemed assistant of Frankfurt publishers like Johann Theodor de Bry, de Bry's nephew Lucas Jennis and de Bry's son-in-law Matthäus Merian the Elder as of 1619.
Between 1590 and 1634, de Bry and his sons issued thirteen volumes containing illustrated accounts of the expeditions of Magellan, Columbus, Vespucci, Cortes, Balboa, Raleigh, Drake, Smith, and many others. In most cases, theirs were the first images ever made of the Americas by Europeans.
In 1631, Gottfried, who had worked on the volumes and inherited the de Bry family publishing firm, issued together with Matthaeus Merian (publisher, artist & engraver) a one-volume condensation "Newe Welt Vnd Americanische Historien/ Jnhaltende Warhafftige vnd volkommene Beschreibungen Aller West-Jndianischen Landschafften..." that used many of the original copper plates and supplemented them with new ones of more recent voyages.
The book was published by Matthaeus Merian. The work was reprinted in Folio form 1655 / 1657
