A New Map of the Provinces of Hainault, Namur, and Cambray.

Title

A New Map of the Provinces of Hainault, Namur, and Cambray.

Description

The map shows the area around Mons, Namur and Brussels, extending as far as Cambrai in France. It also features a title cartouche and a mileage indicator cartouche in the top left and right corners. In the cartouche at the bottom right dedication: "To the right Honorable John Richmond Webb Livetenant General of Her Majties Forces, and Member of the Honorable the House of Commons. This Map is Humbly Dedicated and Presented by his Obedient Serv. J. Senex."

c. 1710

Artist

Senex (1678-1740)

John Senex (1678, London – died 1740, London) was an English cartographer, engraver and explorer. He was also an astrologer, geologist, and geographer to Queen Anne of Great Britain, editor and seller of antique maps and most importantly creator of the pocket-size map of the world. He owned a business on Fleet Street, where he sold maps. A map of Rome by John Senex (1721). He was in particular, one of the principal cartographers of the 18th century. He started his apprenticeship with Robert Clavell, at the Stationers Company, in 1692. Senex is famous for his maps of the world, some of which have added elevations, and which feature minuscule detailed engravings. Many of these maps can be found in museum collections; rarely, copies are available for private sale. Some copies are held in the National Maritime Museum; many of his maps are now in the possession of Trinity College Dublin. Having worked and collaborated with Charles Price, Senex created a series of engravings for the London Almanacs and in 1714 he published together with Maxwell an English Atlas. In 1719 he published a miniature edition of Brittania by Ogilby. He became particularly interested in depicting California as an island instead of part of mainland North America, a trait which makes many of his maps appealing to collectors. In 1721 he published a new general atlas. He used the work of cartographer Guillaume de L’Isle as an influence. In 1728 Senex was elected into the Fellowship of the Royal Society of London.

Historical Description

As the province of Belgica - a name introduced by Caesar - what is now Belgium experienced many rulers. From the High Middle Ages to the early modern period, the cities of Flanders with their cloth industries represented one of the two centers of the European economy. Politically, the individual territories came under the House of Burgundy, which was inherited by the Habsburgs in 1477. In 1579 the Catholic Union of Arras and the Calvinist-Protestant Union of Utrecht were formed. The provinces of the Union of Utrecht broke away from Spain in 1581 and founded the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, whose independence was recognized in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 after the end of the Eighty Years War. The provinces of the Union of Arras, Flanders and Brabant were administered as the Spanish Netherlands by a Spanish governor. After the extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs (1700) and the resulting War of the Spanish Succession, the Austrian Netherlands came under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs in 1714. As a result of the absolutist-centralistic efforts of the Austrian ruler Joseph II, the Brabant Revolution came in 1789 and the short-lived United Belgian States. Revolutionary France annexed the Austrian Netherlands between 1792 and 1794, followed by incorporation into the French Republic in 1795. At the Congress of Vienna (1815) the provinces were awarded to the Netherlands. After the Belgian Revolution, the country gained independence in 1830.