Carte chorographique des Pays-Bas autrichiens dédiée à leurs Majestés Impériales et Royales [...] gravée par L. A. Dupuis [...] en 1777.

Large folio (52 x 64 cm); 25 engr., some folding, some with hand-coloured borders (very few sm. spots throughout, sm. marg. wormtrack).

Contemp. mottled calf, gilt-orn. spine with raised bands, red edges (head and tail sl. damaged, front joint starting to split at the end, weak front hinge, some rubbing to boards, sm. white stain on back board).

"Carte marchande", the commercial edition on a reduced scale of Ferraris's impressive Cabinet map of the Austrian Netherlands, a large-scaled manuscript map for imperial use only. The presentation of this last map to emperor Joseph II on December 10, 1777, is the subject of pl. 16, drawn by Eisen and engraved by Patas, and here bound as first pl. The atlas comprises: 1. An explicative table (3rd st.). - 2. Bruges (3rd st.: "Fort Isabelle ruiné"). - 3. Antwerp. - 4. Roermond. - 5. Geldern. - 6. Ypres. - 7. Ghent. - 8. Brussels. - 9. Maastricht. - 10. Jülich. - 11. title (2nd st.), by M.A. Stagnon, after C.N. Cochin Fils. - 12. Mons. - 13. Namur. - 14. Liège. - 15. Cronenbourg. - 16. Presentation. - 17. Bavay. - 18. Chimay. - 19. Bastogne. - 20. Bitburg. - 21. Brussels (bound after pl. 6). - 22. Carte générale (3rd st., bound after explicative table). - 23. Sedan. - 24. Arlon. - 25. Luxembourg. All maps have the engraver listed as "gravé par L. A. Dupuis". The map of Brussels, in the 4th st., with the statue of Charles-Alexander of Lorraine on the Place Royale. The rich amount of information makes it an excellent source for the topography and history of the country (relief, hydrography, transport, parishes, border issues, vegetation, agriculture, industries etc.). The copperplates of this map fell into French hands in 1794.
Ref. Lemoine-Isabeau, Cl. - Les militaires et la cartographie des Pays-Bas méridionaux (Brussels, 1984), pp. 71, 207 sqq. - BnF.
Prov. Baron Reille (collector's stamp). - Unidentified arm. bookpl. - Traces of another bookpl.