The Palatinate of Rhene/ Palatinatus Rheni

Title

The Palatinate of Rhene/ Palatinatus Rheni

Description

Map shows the course of the Rhine with title cartouche.

ca. 1620

Artist

Hondius/Sparke (1563-1612)

Jodocus Hondius (1563 –1612) was a Dutch engraver, and cartographer. He is best known for his early maps of the New World and Europe, for re-establishing the reputation of the work of Gerard Mercator, and for his portraits of Francis Drake. He helped establish Amsterdam as the center of cartography in Europe in the 17th century. He was born in Wakken and grew up in Ghent. In his early years he established himself as an engraver, instrument maker and globe maker. In 1584 he moved to London to escape religious difficulties in Flanders. While in England, Hondius was instrumental in publicizing the work of Francis Drake, who had made a circumnavigation of the world in the late 1570s. In particular, in 1589 Hondius produced a now famous map of the bay of New Albion, where Drake briefly established a settlement on the west coast of North America. Hondius' map was based on journal and eyewitness accounts of the trip and has long fueled speculation about the precise location of Drake's landing, which has not yet been firmly established by historians. Hondius is also thought to be the artist of several well-known portraits of Drake that are now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 1593 he moved to Amsterdam, where he remained until the end of his life. In co-operation with the Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz. in 1604 he purchased the plates of Gerard Mercator's Atlas from Mercator's grandson. Mercator's work had languished in comparison to the rival Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius. Hondius republished Mercator's work with 36 additional maps, including several which he himself had produced. Despite the addition of his own contributions, Hondius gave Mercator full credit as the author of the work, listing himself as the publisher. Hondius' new edition of Mercator's work was a great success, selling out after a year. Hondius later published a second edition, as well as a pocket version Atlas Minor. The maps have since become known as the ""Mercator/Hondius series"" . In the French edition of the Atlas Minor we find one of the first instances of a thematic map using map symbols. This is a map entitled Designatio orbis christiani (1607) showing the dispersion of major religions. Between 1605 and 1610 he was employed by John Speed to engrave the plates for Speed's The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. Hondius died, aged 48, in Amsterdam. After his death, his publishing work in Amsterdam was continued by his widow, two sons, Jodocus II and Henricus, and son-in-law Johannes Janssonius, whose name appears on the Atlas as co-publisher after 1633. Eventually, starting with the first 1606 edition in Latin, about 50 editions of the Atlas were released in the main European languages. In the Islamic world, the atlas was partially translated by the Turkish scholar Katip Çelebi. The series is sometimes called the ""Mercator/Hondius/Janssonius"" series because of Janssonius's later contributions.

Historical Description

The headwaters of the Rhine lie predominantly in the Swiss canton of Graubünden; its estuary arms reach the North Sea in the Netherlands, where it is the most water-rich tributary. The Rhine bears its name without distinguishing additions only from the confluence of the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein at Tamins-Reichenau. Traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass near Sedrun in the Gotthard region is considered the source of the Vorderrhein and the Rhine as a whole. The Hinterrhein rises in the high valley Rheinwald below the Rheinwaldhorn. At Tamins-Reichenau the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein join to form the Alpenrhein.Hochrhein: The Hochrhein begins at Stein am Rhein at the western end of the Untersee. In contrast to the Alpine Rhine and the Upper Rhine, it flows mainly to the west, dropping from 395 m to 252 m. The Rhine is the first major river in the world. In the center of Basel, the first large city on the course of the stream, lies the "Rhine bend"; here the High Rhine ends. Upper Rhine: At Mainz, the Rhine leaves the Upper Rhine Graben and flows through the Mainz Basin. The section of the Upper Rhine from Mainz down through the Rheingau and Rheinhessen is also known as the Inselrhein. The Upper Rhine Valley was already an important cultural landscape in Europe in ancient times and the Middle Ages. Today, the Upper Rhine is the location of numerous important industrial and service companies with the centers in Basel, Strasbourg and Mannheim-Ludwigshafen. Middle Rhine: The Mainz Basin ends at Bingen. The largest tributaries of the Middle Rhine are the Lahn and Moselle, which flow in from the right and left at Koblenz. Almost the entire length of the Middle Rhine runs through the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The valley area between Rüdesheim and Koblenz is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley. At Sankt Goarshausen, the Rhine encloses the famous Loreley Rock with a sharp river bend, where it reaches a depth of 25 meters. With its high-ranking architectural monuments, vine-covered slopes, towns crowded together on narrow banks and hilltop castles strung on rocky outcrops, the Middle Rhine Valley is considered the epitome of Rhine Romanticism. Lower Rhine: Near Bonn, north of the Siebengebirge, the Rhine changes from the low mountain region to the North German lowlands and becomes the Lower Rhine at the mouth of the Sieg. The Lower Rhine lies entirely in North Rhine-Westphalia. Its banks are mostly heavily populated and industrialized, especially in the agglomerations of Cologne, Düsseldorf and the Ruhr area. Delta Rhine: At the Dutch-German state border, the Rhine-Meuse delta, the most important natural unit of the Netherlands, begins with the Rhine division, and thus the Delta Rhine.