JANSSONIUS-WAESBURGHER, Jan; PITT, Moses; SWART, Steven. . "Ducatus Luneburgensis Adiacentiumque region num delineation". Oxford: Jansonnius - Pitt - Swart, c.1680.

JANSSONIUS-WAESBURGHER, Jan; PITT, Moses; SWART, Steven. . "Ducatus Luneburgensis Adiacentiumque region num delineation". Oxford: Jansonnius - Pitt - Swart, c.1680.

Single sheet (22 ¼ x 19 ½) Full margins showing the plate mark. (light foxing & browning along margin, light offsetting).

An excellent and beautifully hand-colored map of Lüneburg; taken from Vissher's compiled Atlas Minor siue Geographia Compendiosa, Qua Orbis Terrarum, per paucas attamen novissimas tabulas ostenditu. It was originally authored by J. Van Den Aveele; with this map published by Janssonius, Pitt, and Swart.
The title cartouche bears several figures setting a scene. The top features the Danish King Christian I, who intervened and helped resolved the Lüneburg Prelates' War, a bitter dispute which took place on 1446-62 between the town council and the owners of the town's salt works. The bottom depicts a scene of three figures digging for salt. A facing cartouche contains the scale of miles. The excellent hand-coloring highlights and outlines the borders of the territories.

Though out its history, the town of Lüneburg lived through both great success and total demise. Most well-known as a supplier for salt dating back to the 11th century; the town quickly became a member of the Hanseatic League (initially a union of merchants; later a federation of trading towns). According to tradition, the salt was first discovered by a hunter who observed a wild boar bathing in a pool of water, shot and killed it, and hung the coat up to dry. When it was dry, he discovered white crystals in the bristles - salt. Later he returned to the site of the kill and located the salt pool. It was here that the Lüneburg Saltworks was subsequently established for many centuries.
The town became the head importer of salt in Europe; trading mostly with the Swedish and their herring. The town quickly became one of the wealthiest towns in Germany; however, between the demise of the Hanseatic Leagure and lack of herring in the mid-16th century, the town rapidly declined and suffered greatly.

The Atlas Minor is a fine and comprehensive composite atlas, and one of a series of large atlases compiled and sold by the Visscher family of art dealers and cartographers in the 17th century. Founded by Nicholas Visscher, this work is known for the high quality of engraving, exceptionally fine ornament, and accurate geographical information. No two of the Visscher atlases seem to have been identical in content, and most contain, like this one, a selection of maps by the Visschers themselves as well as other cartographers. In this case the majority of the maps are published by Visscher. In addition to the striking world map by Allard with its black background and numerous projections, and found in the "Atlas Major" from about 1705, there are maps of the continents, regional maps of Europe, ten maps of Asia, and seven maps related to America.
For more information on this map, or a warm welcome to see other maps and books of our collection at 72nd Street NYC, please contact Natalie Zadrozna.