Old Copper Engraving of the Siege of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy, Published, ca.1740

Antique Map of the Siege of Syracuse by the Athenians, 1648 – Thucydides This finely engraved plan depicts the Siege of Syracuse, one of the most dramatic episodes of the Peloponnes...

Antique map titled 'Hic Jacent Puteolorum Bajarum (..)'. Old map of the region of Pozzuoli showing the topographic and architectural features of interest. Pozzuoli is a city and comu...

A map of Messina, a harbour city in northeast Sicily. Inscribed with the title in plate to the lower edge, 'Plan of the Works of the City of Messina, one of the strongest and most co...

An original antique engraving entitled "Joppe; in ’t Hebreeusch by ouds Japho; hedendaags Japha, of Jaffa; volgens d’aftekening gedaan 1668", by Nicholas Sanson d'Abbeville (1600 - 1667). This is a view of the city of Joppe (in Hebrew Japho), now called Japha or Jaffa, the harbor portion of modern day Tel Aviv, Israel as it appeared in 1668 . It depicts a very busy harbor with numerous boats. A large ship on the left appears to be firing its canons and a small ship on the right appears to be sitting very low in the water, either heavily loaded with cargo or sinking. The town is seen on the far shore with a fortress on a hill across in the background. The map is printed from the original Sanson copperplate and was published in 1709 by his descendants. The map is presented in an ornate brown wood frame embellished by gold-colored leaves and gold inner trim with a double mat; the outer mat is cream-colored and the inner mat is black. There is a central vertical fold, as issued. There are two small spots in the lower margin and one in the upper margin, as well as two tiny spots adjacent to the central fold. 1717 is written below the date 1668 in the inscription. The map is otherwise in very good condition. Another map of the "Holy Land" (by Claes Visscher in 1663), with an identical style frame and mat is available. This pair of maps would make a wonderful display grouping. Please see Reference #LU117324709892. Artist: Nicholas Sanson d'Abbeville (1600 - 1667) and his descendents were important French cartographer's active through the 17th century. Sanson started his career as a historian and initially utilized cartography to illustrate his historical treatises. His maps came to the attention of Cardinal Richelieu and then King Louis XIII of France, who became a supporter and sponsor. He subsequently appointed Sanson 'Geographe Ordinaire du Roi' the official map maker to the king. Sanson not only created maps for the king, but advised him on geographical issues and curated his map collection...