Archiducatus Austriae Inferioris

Title

Archiducatus Austriae Inferioris

Description

Map shows the whole of Lower Austria with a magnificent cartouche and a coat of arms.

ca. 1730

Artist

Seutter (1678-1757)

Matthias Seutter (1678- 1757) Augsburg was the son of a goldsmith in Augsburg. In 1697, Seutter began his studies in Nuremberg and subsequently worked in the publishing house of Jeremias Wolff in Augsburg. In 1710, he established his own publishing house and print shop. The Seutter publishing house produced a great number of maps, atlases, and globes. However, very few original maps were printed there, as Augsburg at that time had no university and no connection to the fields of mathematics or the natural sciences. Seutter therefore copied the work of other cartographers, making his own engravings based on their models. Over 500 maps were produced in his studio. Seutter's most well-known works are the 1725 "Geographical Atlas or an Accurate Depiction of the Whole World" ("Atlas Geographicus oder Accurate Vorstellung der ganzen Welt") with 46 maps, the 1734 "Large Atlas" ("Grosser Atlas") with 131 maps, and the 1744 pocket atlas "Small Atlas" ("Atlas minor") with 64 maps. Matthäus Seutter died in 1757. Seutter's son Albrecht Karl, his son-in-law Conrad Tobias Lotter, and his business partner Johann Michael Probst ran the printing business for five more years.

Historical Description

The name Austria is first handed down in its Old High German form Ostarrichi from the year 996. The Latin form Austria was also used. In 1156 Austria became an independent duchy in the Holy Roman Empire. After the Babenbergs died out in 1246, the House of Habsburg prevailed in the struggle for rule in Austria. The area designated as Austria later included the entire Habsburg Monarchy and later the Austrian Empire, which was constituted in 1804, and the Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy established in 1867. The present republic came into being in 1918.