Sanderus - Verheerlykt Vlaandre - 1735

IN FOLIO IMPERIAL - THE FIAMING FORTRESSES: SANDERUS ILLUSTRATES WARS, PORTS AND POWER
This volume of the Verheerlykt Vlaandre by Antonius Sanderus represents one of the most fascinating topographical celebrations of the Flanders in the 18th century. More than a simple geographical repertoire, the work is a visual and political construction of the Flemish territory: fortified towns, commercial ports, bastions, canals and urban panoramas are transformed into solemn and almost theatrical images through large, extraordinarily elegant copperplate engravings. The erudite tradition inaugurated by the great Flemish antiquarian Sanderus is here updated and disseminated in Dutch, at a historical moment when the Flemish region was still at the center of military and economic tensions in northern Europe. The views of Dunkirk, Gravelines, Dixmude (La Panne) or Furnes are not mere urban representations: they become symbols of territorial control, maritime trade and regional identity. The work preserves all the magnificence of Nordic Baroque topographic culture, suspended between a military atlas, an antiquarian book and a political celebration of the landscape.
MARKET VALUE
The seven eenth-century illustrated editions of Verheerlykt Vlaandre maintain a steady market among collectors of Flemish topography, historical cartography and northern European vedutism. Complete volumes with large copperplate illustrations typically achieve values between 1,200 and 3,500 euros, with fluctuations mainly linked to the completeness of the engravings, the freshness of the impressions, and the condition. Copies with modern yet elegant bindings and well-preserved plates, as in the present case, retain strong collector interest, especially for the quality of double-page urban views.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Later binding in half calf with a smooth spine and marbleized-paper covers. Title page printed in red and black with an engraved allegorical vignette. Third volume of three, complete with the 9 large copperplate engravings out of text on double pages depicting towns and fortifications of the Flanders: Veurne, map of the Veurne territory, Bergues-Saint-Winoc, Broekburg, two views of Dunkirk, Nieuwpoort, Diksmuide and Gravelines. Small decorative marginal engravings are absent. Some foxing and minor browning. In old books, with a multiyear history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (4); 4nn; 114; 52; (4).
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Verheerlykt Vlaandre, behelzende eene algemeene en nauwkeurige beschryving van dat Graafschap… Derde Deel.
Leyden, Rotterdam & ’s Gravenhage, Jan Vander Deyster, Jan-Daniel Beman, Corn. en Fred. Boucquet, 1735.
Sanderus, Antonius.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Antonius Sanderus was one of the most important historians and topographers of the Spanish Netherlands. His monumental work Flandria Illustrata, originally published in the seventeenth century, constituted one of the great European models of baroque illustrated topography. The Verheerlykt Vlaandre of 1735 represents a continuation and popularizing reworking of that tradition, aimed at an educated but broader audience, interested in history, geography and the urban prestige of the Flemish provinces.
Particularly important are the large double-page copperplate plates, which transform the volume into a true gallery of military urban scenes. The depicted cities appear as perfect fortified organisms: star-shaped bastions, walls, canals and maritime quays reflect the strategic centrality of the Flemish region in European geopolitics between the 17th and 18th centuries. Dunkerque and Gravelines, for example, were crucial nodes of commerce and maritime warfare among France, Spain, England and the United Provinces.
From an iconographic point of view, these engravings belong to the great Nordic vedutism tradition: elevated perspectives, cartographic precision, attention to defensive systems and a strong teatralization of urban space. The work thus sits at the crossroads between a military atlas, a historical book and a luxury decorative object intended for aristocratic and bourgeois libraries of northern Europe.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Antonius Sanderus (Antoon Sanders, 1586-1664) was a Flemish priest, humanist, historian and topographer. Born in Antwerp, he devoted much of his activity to the historical and monumental documentation of the Flemish region. His best-known work, Flandria Illustrata, is one of the absolute masterpieces of European baroque illustrated topography, famed for the wealth of engravings, urban views and antiquarian descriptions.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Flandria Illustrata by Sanderus originally appeared in the 17th century in a sumptuous Latin edition illustrated with hundreds of engravings. During the 18th century the work underwent new editions and Dutch adaptations, including the Verheerlykt Vlaandre of 1735. These editions were intended for an audience interested not only in antiquarian scholarship but also in the political and cultural celebration of historic Flanders. The illustrated volumes circulated mainly in the Southern Netherlands, the United Provinces and European collecting circles specialized in historical geography and urban vedutism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU / OPAC SBN: catalogs of the 18th-century editions of Verheerlykt Vlaandre.
WorldCat: bibliographic records of the 1735 edition.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire, V, sections dedicated to Sanderus.
Graesse, Trésor de livres rares et précieux.
Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici, catalogs of Flemish and Dutch cartography.
Van der Heijden, Oude kaarten der Nederlanden.
Berlin Katalog / Ornamentstichsammlung: catalogs of Flemish urban views.