The City of Oxford
1. Oxonium / Vindesorium Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg after Georgius Hoefnagle Copper engraving with hand colouring Depingebat Georgius Hoefnagle. Cum Privilegio. [1575 - c. 1617] Image and plate 175 x 477 mm, Sheet 392 x 527 mm A good example of the earliest engraved view of Oxford along with a prospect of Windsor below, from a French edition of Braun and Hogenberg’s ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’, Volume 2. The emergence of the ‘City of dreaming Spires’ is clearly documented with the major landmarks of early - modern Oxford accurately depicted. The panorama is taken from the east of the city, presumably present day South Park. The steeples of Christ Church Cathedral, All Saints and St.Mary’s Chruch project out from the cluster of rooftops. The towers of Merton College Chapel and Magdalen bell tower dominate the skyline. Georgius Hoefnagle’s original ink and chalk study for this view of Oxford is held in the Royal Collection and is presumed to have been drawn from life during his visit to England in 1568. Although strictly speaking this is a representation of Elizabethan Oxford of the late 1500’s, this particular impression is likely to be from an early 17th century printing of Braun and Hogenberg’s atlas. ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’ was a hugely successful publication and as such the plates appear to have been printed a number of times, at some point during the printing life of the Oxford and Windsor plate, the top left corner of the plate split and later issues of the panorama such as this one are printed without the top left corner of the border. Between 1572 and 1617 Georg Braun (1541-1622) and Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590) published six volumes of their Civitates Orbis Terrarum, containing over 500 prospects, views, and maps of mostly European cities, envisioned as a companion to Ortelius’ atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Braun was the editor of the series, with Hogenberg as principle engraver. They relied mainly on existing cartography, but also on drawings made by the Antwerp artist Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who had travelled through most of Western Europe. After Joris Hoefnagel’s death his son Jakob continued the work for the Civitates. Georgius Hoefnagle or Joris Hoefnagel (Antwerp, 1542 – Vienna, 24 July 1601) was a Flemish painter and engraver, the son of a diamond merchant. He is famous for his miniature work, especially on a missal in the imperial library at Vienna. He painted animals and plants to illustrate works on natural history, and his engravings (especially for Braun’s Civitates orbis terrarum, 1572, and Ortelius’s Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1570) earned him a seminal place amongst early topographical draftsmen. Condition: Centre fold as issued, old repairs to bottom of centre fold. Manuscript addition to top left corner of image border after the printing plate split and was printed with the corner missing. [34036] £900