Groningen – Heirs Homann, 1784

GRONINGEN AND THE OMMELANDEN

“Nova Totius Provinciae Groningo-Omlandiae in Belgio Tabula,” copper engraving made by Franz Ludwig Güssefeld and published by Homann Heirs in Nuremberg, 1784. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 45.5 × 53 cm.

The province is divided into its traditional regions: Hunsingo (pink), Fivelingo (yellow), Westerkwartier (yellow), Oldambt (green), Westerwolde (pink), and the City District of Groningen (green). The city of Groningen lies at the centre.

At the upper right is the coastal area of the Dollart, an inlet of the Wadden Sea that was formed by floods in the late Middle Ages and whose waters were gradually reclaimed during the eighteenth century. Also clearly visible are the peat districts of the Oldambt and the Veenkoloniën, which were rapidly developing in this period through peat extraction and canal construction.

The map is decorated with a title cartouche at lower left and, at lower right, the coat of arms of Groningen, supported by two lions. A compass rose in the northwest indicates the orientation, with north at the top.

Güssefeld, active for the Homann publishing house in Nuremberg, was known for his precise and finely engraved maps. This map forms part of a series of provincial maps of the Dutch Republic, produced after 1770 using the most up-to-date Dutch sources.

The map is, in fact, a faithful reduction of the large wall map by Theodorus Beckeringh, made a few years earlier. Although Beckeringh had been granted a privilege (a form of copyright) by the States of Groningen for a period of fifteen years, it was violated after only three years by the Homann firm. Neither the provincial authorities nor Beckeringh and his associates could do much about it. At best, they could prohibit the sale of these competing maps within their own city and impose fines, but beyond that they had no power.

Price: Euro 495,-