1572 Braun and Hogenberg View / Map of Paris, France

A handsome example of the Braun and Hogenberg's 1572 map and view of Paris, France. With the Seine flowing at center around the Île de la Cité, this view looks on Paris from the northwest, with the top oriented to the southeast. The city is presented from an equidistant bird's-eye perspective wherein all structures are rendered in view form, but from a uniform height and angle relative to all individual points. Fertile fields surround the city, and the river bustles with boats, suggesting richness and prosperity. In the bottom left corner, a man greets two women, all wearing clothing corresponding to the Spanish-influenced fashion norms of 1560 - 1570. The Bastille, a prison infamous even prior to the French Revolution, appears here at top center, surrounded by a moat. The 1550 bastion, appearing to the left of the main structure of the Bastille is also evident. The map's title 'Lutetia,' is the Latin name for Paris which, by the 16th century, had largely been phased out but still appeared in academic references.

Braun's Description of Paris

Text under the cartouche, below the title, reads

Lutetia, commonly known as Paris, is the largest city in France and has the navigable Seine flowing around it. With the nobility, merchants, an excellent university, the stupendous church of Notre-Dame, the royal palace and other outstanding buildings, with a fair judiciary and most beautiful epitaphs, it is a most flourishing city.

Text on the verso includes Georg Braun's description of Paris:

Paris is the capital of the most highly productive Kingdom of France, on account of its incredible size, the nobility, merchants and burghers, its number of students and its notable buildings. The city that lies between the University and the main town is connected to the University by two bridges and to the town proper by three, lined on both sides with houses. On this spot Philip the Fair built a royal palace, containing a little chapel constructed with wonderful skill. Here also is a magnificent church dedicated to Our Lady, which is considered a wonder of the whole of France on account of its wonderfully beautiful form, size and artistically skillful pictures.

While Braun's description describes Paris in the late 16th century, at a time when the population was nearly 200,000. An era of exceptional prosperity, under Henry IV (1553 - 1610), was about to begin. The map itself is nonetheless representative of an earlier era, c. 1530.

The Source Map: the 'Plan Premier'

This map is derived from a manuscript map of Paris known as the Plan Premier or 'First Plan' of Paris. Compiled between 1523 and 1530, the Plan Premier is said to have measured some 5 x 4 meters and is the source for most 16th century maps of Paris. The Plan Premier was kept in city offices and updated regularly to reflect urban development. Of the 7 city views of Paris issued in the 16th century, including this map and Munster's similar view, all are derived from the Plan Premier. Curiously, the Plan Premier went missing in the late 16th century, so this and the other views are the only surviving record of this great map.

Publication History and Census

This map appeared with few changes in various editions of Braun and Hogenberg's Civitates Orbis Terrarum , volume 1, issued between 1572 and 1623. The engraving is the work of Franz Hogenberg and the descriptive text complied by Georg Braun. The typography of the text on the verso is a variant not catalogued in Boutier: while the pagination and the amount of text (Arabic numerals for the page number, and fifty lines of text) corresponds to either a 1595 or a 1612 edition of the Civitates Orbis Terrarum, the title typography differs from any that Boutier reports.