Antique Plan of Brussels with Environs Inset and Landmarks, 1847
US$754
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-14487-1-8
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. Handling soiling along the bottom edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete.
About this sheet
This is an original antique city plan of Brussels, steel engraved and published in the atlas of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. The plan shows the pentagon of the old boulevards, the Park and the royal quarter on the upper town, the Grand Place in the lower town, and the Senne still running through the center before it was covered over. An inset gives the environs of the city and the foot of the sheet compares the principal buildings in elevation. The outline and water coloring is original hand color, applied by the publisher before the sheet was bound into the volume.
Plate number 169 of the third volume of the Society's atlas, published in London by Charles Knight and Company at 22 Ludgate Street in 1847 and lettered as a new edition corrected to the present time. The Society was founded in 1826 by Lord Brougham to put reliable knowledge within reach of ordinary readers, and its maps were the most accurate cheap maps then available in English. The plate is lettered as drawn by W. B. Clarke and engraved by B. R. Davies.
Brussels had been the capital of an independent Belgium for only sixteen years when this plan was corrected, and the sheet shows the city at the start of the building boom that followed. The upper and lower towns read very clearly against the hand colored park and water, which makes it an easy plan to hang. 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.
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. 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.
