France - County of Hainaut: the province of Hainaut (Belgium, Wallonia) and French Hainaut; Jacques Surhon - Comté de Hainaut - Gravure sur cuivre, coloris d'époque - Jacques Surhon - Mons, Valenciennes - 1621-1650

Ancient copper-engraved map, hand-tinted, of the County of Hainaut (Belgium and Northern France) after Jacques Surhon, published in 1633 in the Mercator-Hondius atlas.

There is, in the upper right, an oval title cartouche in a frame of cut leather, signed by the engraver Baptista van Doetecum.
In the upper left, a second cartouche contains two scales (lieues of Hainaut and common German miles) and the motto “Pays de Haynault tenu de Dieu et du Soleil.”
Two coats of arms hang there by ribbons: one chevroned, the other quartered with four lions.

The territory is outlined with colored border lines and covered with forests depicted as small trees, windmills, and city vignettes.
We recognize Mons, Tournai, Valenciennes, Cambrai, Ath, Enghien, Hal, Soignies, Binche, Maubeuge, Avesnes, Landrecies and Chimay.
The Escaut (Scheldt), la Haine, la Sambre, la Scarpe and la Selle are named, as well as the Meuse in the lower right corner.
Mariembourg bears the engraved note of its founding in 1546. The neighboring regions are inscribed in large calligraphic letters.

Descriptive text in French on the verso (pages 393 and 396), including a table of the “Estat politic” of Hainaut and the County of Namur.

- Dimensions: on the sheet: 56 x 47.5 cm; on the plate (map): 46.9 x 35.3 cm
- Condition: Very good overall for a map of this period. Presence of a few marks. See photos for details.

Atlas Mercator-Hondius
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The atlas called “Mercator-Hondius” reproduces the work of Gerard Mercator, whose copper plates were purchased by Jodocus Hondius in 1604. This French edition of 1633 is signed by his son Henricus Hondius and his son-in-law Joannes Janssonius, who added new maps.

Jacques Surhon
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Cartographer originating from Mons (hence the Montanus in the cartouche), active in the mid-16th century. In 1548 he drew a manuscript map of Hainaut, long kept secret for military reasons. It was published by Abraham Ortelius in Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (plate of 1579), then re-engraved by Baptista van Doetecum for the Mercator-Hondius atlas. He is also responsible for other maps of the provinces of the former Netherlands.