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Description

Fine example of this early edition of Nicolas De Fer's rare separately published plan of Venice, first published in Paris in 1695.

The map includes an inset of the Lagoon of Venice near the title, inset vignettes of the Lagoon, two views of the Piazza San Marco and a view of the Pont de la Rialto, a view of the Pont Saint Barnabe, and a scene involving people being thrown off the bridge. The plan also includes seven different keys (each identifying a different Quarter of Venice) identifying nearly 400 different places.

Unlike most plans of Venice of the period, De Fer's plan focuses on the major canals, squares, and public buildings, thereby presenting a much cleaner and more usable model of the city and allowing the reader to quickly identify the major points of interest within the city. The plan was copied on a reduced scale and included in the Atlas Curieux.

Condition Description
Spectacular old hand-coloring in full. Trimmed close to neatline at all edges, with loss of the engraver's credit in the lower right corner ("H. van Loon Sculp:"). Mounted on 18th-century composite atlas sheet. Very small water stains at the center of the map.
Reference
Not listed in Pastoureau. Rumsey 10022.085.
Nicolas de Fer Biography

Nicholas de Fer (1646-1720) was the son of a map seller, Antoine de Fer, and grew to be one of the most well-known mapmakers in France in the seventeenth century. He was apprenticed at twelve years old to Louis Spirinx, an engraver. When his father died in 1673, Nicholas helped his mother run the business until 1687, when he became the sole proprietor.

His earliest known work is a map of the Canal of Languedoc in 1669, while some of his earliest engravings are in the revised edition of Methode pour Apprendre Facilement la Geographie (1685). In 1697, he published his first world atlas. Perhaps his most famous map is his wall map of America, published in 1698, with its celebrated beaver scene (engraved by Hendrick van Loon, designed by Nicolas Guerard). After his death in 1720, the business passed to his sons-in-law, Guillaume Danet and Jacques-Francois Benard.