Pictavia Poictou

Map from the very rare Initerarium Europae Provinciae, published in Cologne between 1579 and 1588. Also known as Itinerarium Orbis Christiani, this atlas was published anonymously due to the political and religious problems that characterized that particular period, i.e., the persecutions suffered by the Protestants who were threatened by the Catholics. The work belongs to the atlases published by the so called Cartographic school of Cologne, whose works were published along fifty years (1570-1620). The school was mainly made of Flemish and Dutch refugees among which Mattheaus Quad and Frans Hogenberg, the founder of the institution. The maps have been ascribed to Jan Matal and Michale von Eitzing. Jan Matal, or Metellus, was born in France and worked in Louvaine and Cologne, where he fled to escape the Catholic persecution and where he died in 1597. He was considered one of the greatest cartographers of his time and one of the most important artists of the school of Cologne, together with Quad and Hogenberg. some of his maps have been afterwards included in some posthumous works with the text on verso. From a cartographic point of view, the maps derive from those published by Abraham Ortelius in Antwerp in 1570; the engravings instead have been ascribed to Frans Hogenberg. The rarity of this work, together with the lack of information on the secret works published in Cologne confer a particular charm to this map, a bench mark for every collector. Copper engravings, magnificent contemporary colours, in very good condition. Extremely rare work, not present in any collection. Example in the first state, before the number was added.
Meurer Atlantes Colonienses Die Kolner Schule der Atlas Kartographie 1570-1610; Meurer IOC 8