CARTOUCHE: Rimini, fortified city in the Romagna.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "However, it is universally acknowledged that this city of Rimini was visibly embellished by Octavian with massive buildings, especially since he also had inter alia a beautiful bridge built across the River Ariminus, which we shall come to present and which still stands today, replete with its arches. The very ancient-looking remains of a theatre built of fired brick have also survived; in addition, inscriptions from antiquity are encountered here and there, which indicate how old the city is. Moreover, there are still some handsome palaces there, most of which were built by the noble House of Malatesta, as well as a splendid fountain in the market square." 

The fortified city is seen from the northeast in a bird's-eye view. The Roman grid-like layout of the streets is still recognizable, with the Corse d'Augusto as the decumanus, forming the east-west axis with the triumphal arch of Augustus at the west end and the Ponte Augusto (Ponte di Tiberio) in the east. This bridge across the Marecchia, finished in AD 21 in the reign of Tiberius, is a pioneering achievement of Roman engineering with its breakwater spurs set at an oblique angle to the bridge, offering the least resistance to the river's current. Left of centre is the cathedral, the Tempio Malestiano, built by Leon Mattista Alberti in the 15th century, and, standing tall in the background, the church of San Agostino. To the right is the Castello Sigismondo, the stronghold of the Malatesta, who ruled the city for centuries - not always to its advantage. At the end of the 16th cent., however, Rimini had already been incorporated into the Papal States. (Taschen)

Braun G. & Hogenberg F. and the Civitates Orbis Terrarum.

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum, or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully coloured. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, and the sixth in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographers Daniel Freese and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Following the original publication of Volume 1 of the Civitates in 1572, seven further editions of 1575, 1577, 1582, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1612 can be identified. Vol.2, first issued in 1575, was followed by further editions in 1597 and in 1612. The next volumes appeared in 1581, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1606. The German translation of the first volume appeared from 1574 on, and the French edition from 1575 on.

Several printers were involved: Theodor Graminaeus, Heinrich von Aich, Gottfried von Kempen, Johannis Sinniger, Bertram Buchholtz and Peter von Brachel, who all worked in Cologne.

Georg Braun (1541-1622)

Georg Braun was born in Cologne in 1541. After his studies in Cologne, he entered the Jesuit Order as a novice. In 1561 he obtained his bachelor's degree, and in 1562 his Magister Artium. Although he left the Jesuit Order, he studied theology, gaining a licentiate in theology.

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590)

Frans Hogenberg was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. He was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

By the end of the 1560s, Frans Hogenberg was employed upon Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in 1570; he is named an engraver of numerous maps. In 1568 he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He immediately embarked on his two most important works, the Civitates, published in 1572 and the Geschichtsblätter, which appeared in several series from 1569 until about 1587.

Thanks to large-scale projects like the Geschichtsblätter and the Civitates, Hogenberg's social circumstances improved with each passing year. He died as a wealthy man in Cologne in 1590.