Ducatus Meklenburgicus in quo sunt Ducatus Vandaliae et Meklenburgi Comitatus et Episcopatus Swerinensis Rostochiense...

Article description

Original hand-colored copper engraving of the Duchy of Mecklenburg by the Amsterdam publishing house of Reinier and Josua Ottens, 1757. This detailed Baroque map depicts all major principalities and duchies of Mecklenburg, with place names for cities, castles, monasteries, rivers, lakes, forests, and mountains. The upper center is graced with a highly decorative title cartouche displaying the coat of arms of Mecklenburg. Sheet: 510 × 600 mm (20 × 23½ in). A fine and historically important example from one of Amsterdam's most prolific 18th-century cartographic firms. Reinier Ottens (1698–1750) and Josua Ottens (1704–1765) were leading Amsterdam cartographic publishers during the later flourishing of Dutch Golden Age mapmaking. Sons of the copper-engraver and map publisher Joachim Ottens (1663–1719), who founded the family firm in Amsterdam in 1711, the brothers expanded the business through their privileged access to French and European cartographic sources — an advantage derived from their roles as governors of Amsterdam's guild of booksellers. Their most celebrated work, the Atlas van Zeevaert en Koophandel (1745), brought together maps from across Europe in a monumental multi-volume compilation. The Ottens firm produced maps of the highest decorative and geographic quality until Josua's death in 1765. This engraving depicts the Duchy of Mecklenburg in its full territorial complexity, divided into its constituent principalities and duchies (Schwerin, Rostock, Stargard). The topography is richly annotated with place names of cities and smaller settlements, castles, monasteries, rivers, lakes, forests, and mountains — a valuable documentary record of the region in the mid-18th century. The upper center is graced with a highly decorative title cartouche displaying the coat of arms of Mecklenburg. Large format at 510 × 600 mm, with the original hand color in outline well preserved. In excellent condition. Strong, even impression with the original hand color in outline intact. No tears or significant defects.

Reinier & Josua Ottens – Duchy of Mecklenburg · Original Hand-Colored Copper Engraving · Amsterdam 1757