Greece - Icaria, Patmos; Henri de Beauvau - Nicarie, Palmosa - 1615

Technical data

Subject / Title: Nicarie and Palmosa – Maps of the islands of Icaria and Patmos
Author / Cartographer: Henri de Beauvau (1575–1635)
Engraver: traditionally attributed to Jean Appier the Elder
Draftsman: not indicated
Publisher / Printer: Jacob Garnich
Place: Nancy, Duchy of Lorraine
Era / Date: 1615
Technique: copper engravings on copper, executed with etching and chiaroscuro, accompanied by the original typography text
Support: antique laid paper
Dimensions: sheet about 23 × 17.5 cm; each engraving about 15.5 × 10.5 cm
Inscriptions: titles «Nicarie» and «Palmosa» engraved on the respective plates; numbering of locations and typographic legend on the Nicarie map; indication «I. Beau» in the lower right on the Palmosa plate
Composition: a single original sheet printed on both sides, with the Nicarie map on the recto and the Palmosa map on the verso; pages 79–80 of the edition

Description

Rare original sheet taken from the Relation journalière du voyage du Levant by Henri de Beauvau, published in Nancy by Jacob Garnich in 1615, bearing on the two faces maps of the Aegean islands of Nicarie, the present-day Icaria, and Palmosa, the old western name for Patmos.

The Nicarie map presents the island from a bird’s-eye view, the terrain shaped by shaded relief and small urban clusters. The coast, varied and rocky, is surrounded by a few minor islands and accompanied by a wind rose. The principal places are identified by numeric references, explained in the typographic legend below: among them are the island of San Teodoro, the localities of Mary and Doliche, the cape of the caves, Fornelli, and the watchtower.

On the verso is the Palmosa map, corresponding to Patmos. The island is depicted with mountainous relief, fortified settlements, religious buildings, and small populated centers. A particular emphasis is given to the central monastic complex, linked to the tradition of Saint John the Evangelist and to the composition of the Apocalypse. The representation is set within the French text describing the geography, population, and religious traditions of the island.

Both images retain the character of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century isolari, in which geographic description is joined with travel testimony. The fine, incisive line work, the use of hatching to model the reliefs, and the presence of conventional buildings confer on the plates notable historical, cartographic, and documentary value.

Historical-artistic note

Henri de Beauvau, a French military officer, diplomat, and traveler, undertook in 1604 a voyage in the eastern Mediterranean following Jean de Gontaut-Biron, Baron of Salignac and French ambassador to the Sublime Porte. His itinerary crossed the Adriatic, Greece, the Aegean islands, Cyprus, and the Levant.

The first edition of the relation appeared in Toul in 1608, while the edition published in Nancy in 1615 by Jacob Garnich constitutes the first illustrated edition, enriched with numerous maps and views of the places visited. The engravings are traditionally attributed to Jean Appier the Elder and, in keeping with the publishing practices of the time, reproduce models derived from earlier Italian isolari and geographic compilations.

The sheet is particularly interesting because it preserves together, on the two faces, two cartographic testimonies of the early seventeenth century dedicated to the islands of Icaria and Patmos.

Condition Report

Original sheet printed on both sides. Overall good conservation status, consistent with the period. Paper slightly browned and affected by widespread, light oxidations, small stains, and sporadic foxing spots. Moderate transparency of the text and engraving on the opposite side is visible, a characteristic of thin ancient paper. Impressions are sharp and legible, with good contrast. Margins present.