Balkans from Bryars and Bryars

London, 1844. Copper engraving, 55.5 x 75.5 cm, original hand colour, blank verso; published in Wyld's ‘New General Atlas’. Greece had become an independent nation after the war of 1821-30, but most other Balkan states gained their independence between 1878-1912, after our map was printed. The cartouche features a fearsome array of weapons, reflecting the long history of warfare… Read more about this item

Paris, 1719. Copper engraving, 16.3 x 22.2 cm, original hand colour in outline, marginal crease to top right hand corner, blank verso. Our map was published in Chiquet’s ‘Le nouveau et curieux atlas géographique et historique ...’. Chiquet (1673-1721) was a relatively successful Parisian engraver, print and mapseller. He published Antoine Menard’s ‘Le nouveau et curieux atlas’ in… Read more about this item

Paris, c. 1768. Copper engraving, 50 x 58 cm, original hand colour in outline, blank verso. The second state of Robert de Vaugondy’s map of the present day Czech Republic and parts of neighbouring Germany and Poland, first published in 1751. Pedley, Bel et Utile: the Work of the Robert de Vaugondy Family of Mapmakers, 285 (2). … Read more about this item

Paris: Charles François Delamarche, , c. 1780. Copper engraving, 49.5 x 56.5 cm, original hand colour in outline, blank verso. A later state of Robert de Vaugondy’s map of southeastern Europe, first published in 1751. It covers present day Hungary and Slovakia and parts of neighbouring states including Romania, Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. Pedley does not specify a… Read more about this item

Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus, 1595. Copper engraving, 33 x 45 cms, modern hand-colour, Latin text on verso. This is the second version of Ortelius’ map of Transylvania, now central Romania, which follows the cartography of the Hungarian humanist scholar János Zsámboky (or Johannes Sambucus). It was introduced to editions of the ‘Theatrum’ in 1575: van den Broecke speculates that the earlier… Read more about this item

Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus, 1595. Copper engraving, 33 x 46 cms, modern hand-colour, Latin text on verso. Ortelius’ map of the western Balkans drew on the cartography of Augustin Hirschvogel. Van den Broecke 145.3 Map

Basel: Officina Henricpetrina,, 1578. Woodcut, 11.5 x 15.8 cms, black and white, set within descriptive German text, some spotting, sheet size 33.2 x 21.5 cms, old repair to corner, top right. Shows the confluence of the rivers Danube and Sava at Belgrade, Serbia, from Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia. “Griechisch Wyssenburg”, Greek (ie Byzantine) Weissenburg, was the common German name for… Read more about this item

Antwerp, Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601. Copper engraving, 8 x 11 cms, recent hand-colour, waterstaining in upper margin, Latin text on verso. Zara and Sebinico on the Croatian coast, from the second series of maps engraved for the Epitome by Philip Galle. Koeman Ort 58 Map

Frankfurt, c. 1650. Copper engraving, 25 x 35 cms, black and white, blank verso. Bratislava, capital of modern Slovakia, formerly known as Pressburg, for more than two centuries the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary; published by Merian and his heirs in various works, including the Archontologia Cosmica of 1638 and editions of the Theatrum Europaeum. Merian was born… Read more about this item

Antwerp: Plantin-Moretus , 1624. Copper engraving, 36 x 46 cms, modern hand colour, Latin text on verso. Ancient Dacia and Moesia, modern Romania and Bulgaria on the Black Sea. Our example was published by Balthasar Moretus at the Plantin Press, in the final edition of the Parergon. Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is generally considered the first modern atlas of… Read more about this item

Antwerp: Plantin-Moretus , 1624. Copper engraving, 36 x 46 cms, modern hand colour, Latin text on verso. The Dalmatian coast in antiquity. Our example was published by Balthasar Moretus at the Plantin Press, in the final edition of the Parergon. Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is generally considered the first modern atlas of the world, originally published in 1570. Ortelius… Read more about this item

Antwerp, 1595. Copper engraving, 36.5 x 50 cms, recent-hand-colour, Latin text on verso. The Lower Danube region and southeastern Europe, extending to the shores of the Black Sea, first published in a 1584 edition of the ‘Theatrum’. Jacob Gastaldi is credited as the source (his two and four-sheet maps of the region appeared in 1559-60). Map

Amsterdam, c. 1700. Copper engraving, 49 x 59 cms, original hand-colour, blank verso. The Lower Danube region on the western shore of the Black Sea, covering parts of modern Turkey and Bulgria; Romania is here used in its earlier form, referring to the hinterland of Constantinople, the new Rome. Map

Frankfurt, c. 1650. Copper engraving, 20.5 x 30.5 cms, black and white, slight spotting, blank verso. Dubrovnik and Chalcis, published by Merian and his heirs in various works, including the Archontologia Cosmica and Theatrum Europaeum. Map

Paris, 1683. Copper engraving, 15 x 11.5 cms, recent hand-colour, French text on verso, from Mallet’s ‘Description de l’Univers’. Map

Paris, 1683. Copper engraving, 15.5 x 11.5 cms, recent hand-colour, French text on verso, from Mallet’s ‘Description de l’Univers’. Map

Paris, 1683. Copper engraving, 15 x 11.5 cms, recent hand-colour, French text on verso, from Mallet’s ‘Description de l’Univers’. Map

Paris, 1683. Copper engraving, 15 x 10.5 cms, recent hand-colour, French text on verso, from Mallet’s ‘Description de l’Univers’. Map

London, 1894. Lithograph, 60 x 47 cms, colour printed, blank verso; prepared for the London Atlas. Map

Amsterdam, Jodocus Hondius, 1616. Copper engraving, 9.5 x 13.5 cms, recent hand-colour, Latin text on verso. Map