Les Provinces des Pays-Bas Catholiques ou, a most exaxt map of Flanders or Austrian Netherlands und Co.

Title

Les Provinces des Pays-Bas Catholiques ou, a most exaxt map of Flanders or Austrian Netherlands und Co.

Description

Map of the Netherlands with splendid title cartouche, coat of arms and three partial maps with a plan of all types of fortifications with the method of attack; A map of the roads from Paris to Valenciennes; The southern part of Luxembourg. The map refers to the Austrian Netherlands. Austria received the Netherlands in the Treaty of Utrecht (signed in 1712). The map is based on the 21-sheet map of the region by Henri Fricx.

ca. 1720

Artist

Moll (1654-1732)

Hermann Moll (1654- 1732) London was a cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Moll produced his earliest maps from studying cartographers such as John Senex and Emanuel Bowen.‪ In the 1690s, Moll worked mainly as an engraver for Christopher Browne, Robert Morden and Lea, in whose business he was also involved. During this time he also published his first major independent work, the Thesaurus Geographicus. The success of this work likely influenced his decision to start publishing his own maps. For the production of his maps Moll relied on the most accurate geographical information possible from first hand. Moll benefited from his acquaintance with circumnavigator and privateer William Dampier, who returned to London in 1691 from his first circumnavigation of the world. Dampier wrote a report about the experiences of his twelve-year trip, which appeared in London in 1698 and had its fourth edition just a year later. Moll produced most of the maps and illustrations for the story, which was titled A New Voyage round the World. While Moll's cartographic material increased the clarity of Dampier's descriptions for the reader enormously, Dampier's geographical knowledge was extremely important for the accuracy of Moll's maps. At a time when cartographers relied on the local knowledge of merchants and captains, the acquaintance of a man like Dampier was decisive for the economic success of a cartographer like Moll. The growing public interest in travel literature and the enormous success of Dampier in turn stimulated other authors such as Daniel Defoe or Jonathan Swift to write similar works. They too would later fall back on Moll's artistic abilities to illustrate their works.

Historical Description

The area, which later includes the Benelux area, is called de Lage Landen in Dutch, Low Countries in English, consisting of Belgium, the Netherlands (Nederland) and Luxembourg. In the 19th century, three countries were united under the crown of the Dutch king from 1815 to 1830, until Belgium became independent. The forerunners of the Benelux Treaty were the economic union concluded between Luxembourg and Belgium on July 25, 1921.