Antique map of Leo Belgicus by Visscher C.J. - Gerritsz 1630
Nova XVII Provinciarum Germaniae Inferioris tabula, Leonis effigie, accurate delineata. A Nicolao Ioannis Piscatore
Item Number: 19186 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > Curiosities
Copper engraving.
Size: 44 x 56.5cm (17.2 x 22 inches)
Verso: Blank
Condition: Two small printercreases in the upper left corner retouched, else perfect.
References: Schilder 7, 15.15 4th state; Van der Heijden (Leo Belg), 16.4;.
From: Belgium sive Germania Inferior Amsterdam, C.J. Visscher, 1634. (Koeman, Vis 1 - 3)
Superb copy of this magnificent and very rare Leo Belgicus. There is no known exemplar of the first state, one of the second and one of the third.
Schilder quotes seven loose copies of this fourth state + some inserted in Visschers very rare atlas Belgium sive Germania Inferior, 1634-45 (Less than 10 known copies of this atlas).
There are two types of this Leo Belgicus: the "lion rampant facing right" engraved by Hendrik Floris van Langren; and the "lion passant facing left", which was introduced by the engraver Hessel Gerritsz, who masterfully engraved it in copper. The publication history of the latter is complicated, however, and was only unraveled in the course of Van der Heijden's research. What complicates the story is that Hessel Gerritz engraved two almost identical copperplates in the same period, each of which was subsequently published by a series of publishing houses in Amsterdam.