Umbriae Antiquae Descriptio auctore Phil. Cluverio

Rare French edition, engraved by Henri le Roy.

Historical geographic map taken from Italia Antiqua by Philipp Cluver (1580-1623) - also known by his Latinized name in Cluverius and his Italian name Cluverius - German geographer and founder of historical geography. Between 1607 and 1610 he traveled through various European regions, touching on England, Germany, France and Italy, where he made a further journey between 1616 and 1618. The celebrated work knew a first edition in 1624 in Leiden, with maps engraved by Nicolas van Geelkercken (1585-1656).

Numerous reprints of Cluver's work are known both in Leiden and in other European cities; all include maps based on Geelkercken's originals, but engraved by other artists.

The maps were reprinted, in a reduced form, primarily by Hendrick Hondius.  The rarest reprint was published in Paris in 1659 with the plates redone by the French engraver Henri le Roy as noted in the left corner of our map.

Henri Le Roy (1579-1652) was an engraver and publisher born in Rotterdam and married in Paris in 1604. He produced a series of drawings inspired by the natural world, incorporating birds, insects and plants into his work. Such is the case with this series of seven frieze drawings, which may have been used as designs for architectural ornaments, textiles or other objects. A number of maps are known in the cartographic field, including a map of the world, derived from Hendrick Hondius.

Etching, with coeval coloring of the outlines, in excellent condition.