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I am trying to locate all known originals of Martin Helwig's 4-sheet map
of Silesia, first published in 1561.
For a reproduction of what I think is State 7 (1738), see below.
The dedication / title changes over the years -- the one on the first state
begins with the words "Dem Edlen Erenuesten vnd Namhafftigen Herrn
Niclas Rehdinger..." and ends with the words "...Geben inn Bre?slaw den
14. Septemb. jm 1561. Jar."
I believe that 13 states of this map were issued between 1561 and 1778.
They appeared in: 1561, 1605, 1612, 1627, 1642, 1685, 1738, 1745,
1746, 1765, 1776 (twice) and 1778. (A facsimile was published in 1889.)
I have published an article about this map, in Polish (with English and
Russian summaries), in the "Polish Cartographical Review" (vol. 36,
no. 2, 2004, pp. 92–103).
Copies of all states of this map are quite rare because this 4-sheet
woodcut map was issued only as a separate map, never in a regular atlas.
Most of the surviving copies are from composite atlases.
I have not been able to locate any copies of the states dated 1627, 1642,
1746, 1776 (the second issue) and 1778. I know of these states only
from comments in cartographical literature.
If anyone knows of an original of this map, please contact me and I can
supply you with a listing of the copies I already know about, mainly
in Poland and Germany.
Many thanks.
Dr. Kazimierz Kozica
(Research assistant to
Dr. Thomas Niewodniczanski
Bitburg, Germany)