Antique Plan of Parma with the Castello and a Panoramic View, 1847
US$809
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1847
Mapmaker / artist
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
Publisher
Charles Knight and Co., 22 Ludgate Street, London
Technique
Steel Engraving
Coloring
Original hand color
Sheet size
35 × 43 cm (13.8 × 16.9 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14487-1-35
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
Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom and left edges. All four corners complete.
About this sheet
This is an original antique city plan of Parma, steel engraved and published in the atlas of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. The plan shows the small ducal capital astride the Parma torrent, with the Giardino Ducale and its formal parterres hand colored green to the northwest, the five pointed Castello in pink to the southeast and the Duomo and the Teatro Farnese marked in the old streets. The population is given as thirty thousand and a panoramic view of Parma from the Gate of Santa Barnaba runs along the foot. The outline and water coloring is original hand color, applied by the publisher before the sheet was bound into the volume.
It is plate number 199 of the third volume of the Society's atlas, published by Charles Knight and Company, 22 Ludgate Street, London, in 1847. Lord Brougham's Society set out to supply accurate maps at a price a clerk could afford, and the steel engraved city plans it produced between 1830 and 1847 remain the best series of town plans of their generation.
Parma was ruled at this date by Marie Louise, Napoleon's widow, who made it one of the most cultivated small courts in Europe, and the plan shows the city she left behind. It is one of the quieter sheets in the volume and all the more attractive for the clean green and pink of the garden and the citadel. Framed simply in dark wood or a plain gilt frame it suits a study, a hallway or a dining room, and it is a natural gift for anyone with a tie to the place.
Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom and left edges. All four corners complete.
This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
