Antique Print of the city of Groningen by Meisner (1678)

Description: City: 'Groningen in Friesslandt.' (Groningen is a city in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands.); Theme: 'Amicus animae dimidum, vitae medicamentum.' (Friendship is the best medication, as 2 friends stand strong next to a column held by their ties.) Edition: 1678.

This delicate engraving originates from 'Thesauri Philo-Politici' / 'Thesaurus Philopoliticus' / 'Politisches Schatzkastleins'. This work was originally created in the period 1623-1632 and consisted of 16 parts, first published separately and then together in 2 books of 8 parts ea. Altogether it had 830 prints. Later editions were published in 1637-1638 by Paul Furst (titled 'Sciographia Cormica') and in 1678 by his widow (titled:'Sciagraphia Cosmica'). Complete editions are scarse. The primary objective was the poetry and accompanying emblems with a moralising symbolism. The city views were secondary and mainly served for decoration. There is no particular tie between the poetry and the city. The city views were mostly engraved after popular engravings at the time from the works of Guicciardini, Braun/Hogenberg, Munster and others. The Poetry consists of a aphorism or theme in German or Latin at the top, a 2 line relating poem in Latin below the image and a 4 line relating poem in German below. In the engravings there is always a foreground which illustrates the theme and a city view in the background.

Artists and Engravers: The authors of this work are Daniel Meisner (1585-1625) and Eberhart Kieser (1583-1631). Meisner was a Bohemian / German poet. Kieser a German publisher and engraver. Kieser probably engraved some of the plates himself , but he also used other well known engravers: Sebastian Furck, Georg Keller, Johann Eckard Loffler and Matthias Merian the elder.