France - Flanders, Artois, Picardy and Boulogne, Calais, Dunkirk, Boulogne, Saint-Omer, Lille, Arras,; Antonio Zatta - Governi della Fiandra Francese d’Artois di Picardia e del Boulonois 1794 - 1781-1800

Ancient Map

Original antique map: “Li Governi della Fiandra Francese d’Artois di Picardia e del Boulonois”
Antonio Zatta e Figli – Venice, MDCCXCIV (1794)

Rare and valuable copper engraving on laid paper, with hand-colored borders of the era (pink, green and yellow outlines). Full title in the cartouche at the bottom right: Li Governi della Fiandra Francese d’Artois di Picardia e del Boulonois.
At the bottom: Venice MDCCXCIV – Prefso Antonio Zatta e Figli – Con Privilegio dell’Eccmo Senato.

Contents
The map depicts in detail the northern provinces of France (Flanders French, Artois, Picardy and Boulogne) and the adjacent Austrian Flanders (Hainaut, Brabant, Namur), with the political boundaries of the time. The major cities are recognizable (Calais, Dunkerque, Boulogne, Saint-Omer, Lille, Arras, Amiens, Cambrai, Valenciennes, Brussels, Namur, etc.), the coastline of the English Channel, the Strait of Dover with the English coast (England), the rivers (Somme, Scheldt, Sambre) and the road and hydrographic network. It is a typical update of Zatta’s production, highly legible and rich in toponymy.

Antonio Zatta (Venice, 1722-1804) was one of the most important Italian cartographers and publishers of the XVIIIth century. His maps, largely drawn from the Atlante Novissimo, are valued for their accuracy, graphical elegance and contemporary color. The specimen under examination bears the date 1794 and the inscription “e Figli,” thus placing it in a late phase of the shop’s production, during the French Revolutionary period, when the borders and administrations of the depicted regions were about to be radically changed. Original late 18th-century map, not always present on the market in this specific edition.

Map sheet dimensions: 35 × 49 cm
Conditions: as shown in photographs. There is a central tear (binding fold). Paper with the normal signs of time (folds, slight stains, small marginal imperfections), but overall well preserved and with a good impression.

Ideal for collectors of antique cartography, military history and geography of Flanders and northern France.