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1747 Bowen Map of Northeastern Germany (Saxony, Brandenburg)
GermanyNE-bowen-1747
Title
1747 (dated) 13.5 x 9.5 in (34.29 x 24.13 cm) 1 : 3150000
Description
The title of the map makes reference to the ceding of Silesia to the Kingdom of Prussia by the Treaty of Breslau. Signed by the representatives of Maria Theresa of Austria and King Frederick of Prussia the Treaty officially ended the First Silesian War of 1740-1742. Maria Theresa ceded most of Silesia to Prussia, and a large part of the border demarcations made in 1742 still exists as the borders between the Czech Republic and Poland.
The map includes a beautifully illustrated title cartouche along the right border. This map was prepared by Emanuel Bowen as plate no. 18 for the 1747 issue of A Complete System of Geography.
Cartographer
Emanuel Bowen (1694 - May 8, 1767) had the high distinction to be named Royal Mapmaker to both to King George II of England and Louis XV of France. Bowen was born in Talley, Carmarthen, Wales, to a distinguished but not noble family. He apprenticed to Charles Price, Merchant Taylor, from 1709. He was admitted to the Merchant Taylors Livery Company on October 3, 1716, but had been active in London from about 1714. A early as 1726 he was noted as one of the leading London engravers. Bowen is highly regarded for producing some of the largest, most detailed, most accurate and most attractive maps of his era. He is known to have worked with most British cartographic figures of the period including Herman Moll and John Owen. Among his multiple apprentices, the most notable were Thomas Kitchin, Thomas Jeffreys, and John Lodge. Another apprentice, John Oakman (1748 - 1793) who had an affair with and eventually married, Bowen's daughter. Other Bowen apprentices include Thomas Buss, John Pryer, Samuel Lyne, his son Thomas Bowen, and William Fowler. Despite achieving peer respect, renown, and royal patronage, Bowen, like many cartographers, died in poverty. Upon Emanuel Bowen's death, his cartographic work was taken over by his son, Thomas Bowen (1733 - 1790) who also died in poverty. More by this mapmaker...