Civitates orbis terrarum

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Fair

Confirmed: No

Date Acquired: 30/07/2022

Description: The Civitates orbis terrarum (Cities of the World) is a monumental six-volume series of city views and plans, conceived as a cartographic and cultural companion to Abraham Orteliuss Theatrum orbis terrarum (for the 1584 edition View Record (#252)). The project was initiated by the Cologne cleric and scholar Georg Braun and engraved largely by Frans Hogenberg. The first volume was published in 1572, followed by successive volumes in 1575, 1581, 1588, 1598, and 16171618.nBraun authored the prefaces and descriptive texts for the first five volumes, while Hogenberg and his workshop produced the majority of the engravings. After Hogenbergs death, the project was continued by his son Abraham Hogenberg, in collaboration with the publisher Anton Hierat. The series was widely reprinted into the seventeenth century, often without significant revision, attesting to its enduring popularity and authority.nAlthough best known for its detailed city views, the Civitates is also notable for its allegorical title pages, which frame urban geography within broader moral, religious, and political narratives. They often engage directly with the confessional conflicts and geopolitical tensions of early modern Europe, positioning cities not merely as physical spaces, but as actors within a contested cultural and ideological landscape.nThis title page is from the first edition of Volume 1. It presents the city as the ornament of the world through a tightly structured programme of civic allegory. At the centre, a crowned female personification of Architectura sits enthroned on a plinth inscribed Ornament[a] orb[is] terr[arum] (Ornaments of the world), holding builders instruments (level, dividers, square), linking urban splendour to craft and rational order. She is flanked by two columns bearing globes, inscribed Posteritati (For posterity) and Consultum (Concern for future generations), highlighting the civic virtues and legacy of urban development.nTo her right stands Athena, identified by the owl at her feet and on her helmet. She is armed with a spear and bears a shield with the head of Medusa. Beneath her is the inscription Arcium inventrix (Inventor of fortresses), affirming her role as the mythological founder of cities and protector of civilisation. Opposite her stands Cain, as a symbol of physical strength and courage. He is clothed in a lion's skin and in his hand holds the ass's jawbone with which he killed his brother Abel. At his feet is a burning wheat sheaf signalling he was the inventor of Fire. Beneath him is marked Oppidor[um] auctor (Founder of towns), a reference to Cain who, after slaying Abel, founded the first city, Enoch.nBeneath these mythical figures, a narrative unfolds across three vignettes, corresponding with the first three paragraphs of Brauns foreword. The central scene, Consociat[ionis] humani gen[eris] origo (The origin of human association), depicts people gathering around a burning grovean allusion to Marcus Vitruviuss De architectura, which links the discovery of fire to the birth of communal life. To the right, Domicil[ii] tyrocin[ium] (First appearance of settlements), presents scenes of agriculture and domestic cooperation, visualising the emergence of civil society through labour, communication, and shelter, while to the left, Architect[urae] rudim[entum]m (Rudiments of architecture), depicts the primitive shelters under construction, illustrating how architecture evolved from simple structures to more complex ones as societies developed.nThis title page celebrates the city not only as a geographic entity but as a symbol of human achievementintellectual, architectural, and social.

Engraver: Hogenberg, Frans (1535-1590)

First published: Civitates orbis terrarum Vol. 1, Cologne: Theodor Graminaeus, 1572

Image Size (cm): 36×22.5

Mapmaker: Braun, Georg (1541-1622) and Hogenberg, Frans (1535-1590)

Notes: Purchase details

Other states: Later editions include the words 'Liber primus' on the titlepage

Price: 250

Primary Category: Titlepage

Rarity: R3 Uncommon – dealers can usually obtain a copy

References: On the publication of the Civitates orbis terrarum, see Peter van der Krogt, Koemans Atlantes Neerlandici: The Town Atlases: Braun & Hogenberg, Janssonius, Blaeu, De Wit, Mortier and Others, vol. 4, Parts 1, 21. and 2.2, Koemans Atlantes Neerlandici (Utrecht: Hes & De Graaf, 2010), 35178. nR. A. Skelton, Introduction, in Civitates Orbis Terrarum, 1st ser. vol. 1 (Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1966), viixxiii; Tine Luk Meganck, Erudite Eyes: Artists and Antiquarians in the Circle of Abraham Ortelius (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 133. nPeter van der Krogt, Mapping the Towns of Europe: The European Towns in Braun & Hogenbergs Town Atlas, 1572-1617, Belgeo [Online] 34 (2008): 37198; nMarcus Vitruvius, De Architectura (Strasbourg: Georg Messerschmidt, 1543), 2.1.

Sheet size (cm): 39×26

Shirley ID #: 11 Courtiers and Cannibals

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: First