Plan of Lima and View of Potosí – Peru & Bolivia City Plan and Mining View, 1750
€ 340
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1750
Sheet size
41.7 × 25 cm (16.4 × 9.8 in)
Condition
Fair
Reference
BG-14215-4
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Overall age-related toning and light surface wear. Original folds as issued. Some edge wear and small handling marks, consistent with use in a bound volume.
About this sheet
A plan of Lima above a view of Potosí, an original copper engraving on a single sheet. The upper plan is headed "A Plan of Lima" with "Vol. I, p. 243," and the lower view is lettered "Potosi" with "page 246."
The plan shows Lima as a regular grid of dark city blocks enclosed by a ring of bastioned walls, with the river crossing the top of the sheet and a bridge leading to the suburb on the far bank. A key of numbered entries below the plan names churches, gates, markets and public buildings. The view of Potosí below shows the great mountain rising behind the town, with a lettered key naming the mountain, the town, the mills for grinding the ore and the water mills for cleaning it. A large mill with sails stands at the left, a palm tree at the right, and small figures with a llama train fill the foreground.
Lima was the capital of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, and Potosí in present-day Bolivia was the center of its silver mining. The page references show that the sheet belongs to a multi-volume English work on the history of the region.
