TRANSLATION OF TEXT IN CARTOUCHE: Delphum, a highly cultivated city in Holland, named after the canal of the same name, in Dutch Delft. 

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Delft is surrounded by thick ring walls and with such a wide moat that even a strong man can barely throw a stone across it. The buildings within are magnificently constructed. If we start with the churches, first mention must go to the main church, called the New Church, a large, magnificent and beautiful church dedicated to St Ursula. There is also a large market in the city." 

The city, criss-crossed by numerous narrow canals, is seen in a bird's-eye from the east. Its main buildings, on other hand, are presented in an impressive fashion in side view: the New Church (Nieuwe Kerck) on the market square with its enormous tower and the Gothic town hall (Das Rath huis). Granted its charter in 1246, Delft became an important centre of trade for the region. In 1618 the town hall burned to the ground and - with the exception of its prison tower Het Steen - thus no longer survives in the form illustrated here. Not far from the central market square rises the Oude Kerk, whose leaning tower, known as the "Lange Jan", has become Delft's landmark. Behind the Oude Kerk lies the convent of Sint-Agatha, today known as the Prinsenhof (Prince's Court), since William I, Prince of Orange, resided here. (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 most excellent 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. Many plates were engraved after the original drawings of a professional artist, a professional artist, Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600). 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 made 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 1612. The subsequent 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. 1561, he obtained his bachelor's degree, and in 1562, he received 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.