Plan of Ancient Syracuse with Ortygia and Galleys, Rollin Atlas, 1818
€ 285
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1818
Mapmaker / artist
Not named on the sheet
Publisher
Ledoux et Tenré, Paris
Technique
Copper Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14399-21
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
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the top right corner. Several larger brown marks. Center fold as issued.
About this sheet
An original copper engraved plan, uncolored, of the ancient city of Syracuse, drawn in bird's eye view with the hills, trees and buildings shown pictorially and the sea in engraved wave lines. The walled quarters are lettered Achradine, Neapolis and Tyque, with Ortygie Ile and the Aréthuse Fontaine between the Grand Port and the Petit Port. The walls climb to Epipole and the forts of Labdale and Euryele; the Latomiæ ou Carrières, the Hexapyle gate, Léon, Trogile with its port and the Tour Galeagra are named. Across the Anape the walled Olympie stands above the Golfe de Dascon, with Dascon and Plemmyrie on the far shore and the Presqu'île de Tapsos at right. Two ancient vessels are engraved in the sea below, a galley under sail and a low oared ship.
The title in the upper left corner reads Plan / de la Ville / de / Syracuse. The plate number Pl. 21 is engraved above the upper right corner of the neatline. The plate carries no scale bar and no author or engraver line.
The plate belongs to the Atlas de Géographie Ancienne, published in Paris in 1818 by Ledoux et Tenré and printed by Didot le jeune to accompany the works of Charles Rollin (1661 to 1741), author of the Histoire ancienne and the Histoire romaine. Its maps were engraved after the originals of Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (1697 to 1782). In the signed foreword Ambroise Tardieu, géographe-graveur, states that the maps were copied with religious fidelity and that, charged with revising the proofs, he had only to correct negligences and faults of execution. Syracuse was the chief Greek city of Sicily, founded from Corinth on the island of Ortygia.
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.
