View of Coburg. Coburgum inter Antiquiores Franconiae Ciuitates, hodie Aula illustre et Collegio Gymnastico celebre

FIRST STATE, copper engraving, laid on paper, decorative title cartouche, two coats of arms, with 2 figures in the foreground, 163 x 505mm, slight browning, Amsterdam, 1657

Magnificent long view from the Judenberg with the Veste in the background, with names of the churches, sights and mountains. This view is usually found with Ansbach but was also published on its own by masking the Ansbach view, as here. Jansson published the series after he acquired 500 plates from Abraham Hogenberg.

Wencelaus Hollar was a Bohemian etcher whose work includes some 400 drawings and 3000 etchings. After studying in Frankfurt under engraver and publisher Matthaus Merian, he moved to Strasbourg, and then Cologne. Here he attracted the attention of the collector Thomas, Earl of Arundel, with whom he was associated for most of his life. The range of his work covers, from views and landscapes to portraits, ships and religious figures, provides a rich source of information about the 17th century. Collections of Hollar’s work are kept in the British Museum, Windsor Castle, The Fisher Library in Toronto, and the National Gallery in Prague.

Provenance: A. E. Popham, with his name and first line of address in pencil to upper margin, together with instructions for framing.