Europe - Belgium, the Netherlands; Verdussen - Comitatus Flandriae - 1725

Technical data

Title: Comitatus Flandriae – County of Flanders.
Author: I. Peeters; indication «I. Peeters exc.» at the bottom right.
Engraver: attributed to Jacobus Harrewijn (1660–1727); indication «Harrewijn f.» under the cartouche, at the top left.
Designer: I. Peeters, according to the proposed attribution.
Publisher: Juan Bautista Verdussen.
Place: Antwerp.
Epoch: 1725.
Technique: copper-engraved intaglio, executed in aquaforte (etching) and burin, with hand-coloring from the period at the borders and on some ornamental elements.
Support: laid paper.
Dimensions: sheet 19 × 20 cm; impression 18.5 × 14.5 cm.
Composition: single horizontal plate with a central vertical fold, figured cartouche, compass rose, and distance scales.

Description

Geographic map of the County of Flanders, including territories today divided between Belgium, northern France and southwestern Netherlands. The representation runs along the North Sea coast, from Calais and Dunkirk toward Ostend and the Scheldt estuary, including Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Lille, Douai and Tournai inland. At the eastern margins appear Antwerp and Brussels, useful to frame the region in the broader context of the Southern Netherlands.

The territory is described through a dense network of settlements, waterways and local subdivisions. The main towns are marked by small urban and fortified symbols, while woods and other landscape elements are rendered by pictorial signs. Thin colored outlines distinguish the territorial partitions, while keeping the minute nomenclature legible.

In the upper left corner, the Latin title is enclosed in a cartouche flanked by allegorical figures, vegetal motifs and the shield with the Lion of Flanders. A compass rose with radiating lines occupies the marine space; in the lower right corner, two distance scales complete the cartographic apparatus.

Historical-artistic note

The plate combines geographic and documentary function with a decorative apparatus characteristic of Flemish cartographic production. The small format preserves a remarkable density of information, with particular attention to the network of settlements and hydrology.

The presence of coastal territories, fortified cities and administrative divisions conveys the image of a region of great commercial and strategic importance. The inscription «Harrewijn f.», placed under the cartouche, documents the involvement of an engraver from the Harrewijn family; the identification with Jacobus Harrewijn is kept in attributive form. The formula «I. Peeters exc.» indicates editorial responsibility in the creation of the plate.

Condition Report

Paper slightly browned, with minor foxing and scattered brown spots of oxidation, more evident at the margins and on the verso. Central vertical fold of editorial origin, with slight darkening and signs of handling along the fold. Margins present on all sides, with small irregularities and a fold at the upper right corner.

Impression is sharp, with good readability of details and nomenclature; coloring preserved. Blank verso, with transparency of the engraving, traces of color corresponding to the painted borders and scattered brown spots.