Other 17th-century conflicts
Printed and manuscript maps, prints and views of 22 seventeenth-century wars
View of the siege of Plymouth, 1643 (Plymouth, Devon, UK) 50°22'17"N 04°08'35"W
1644 or laterEtching and engraving; printed on paper | Scale: 1:80,000 approx. | RCIN 723026
A high oblique view of the Royalist siege of Plymouth, which lasted from 1642 to 1646, showing the fortifications and siege works as they were in 1643. First English Civil War (1642-1646).
Hollar's name has been written in pencil to the bottom margin of this print, which appears to be a re-engraved copy of the original by Hollar which was published in 1644 as the frontispiece to A True Narration of the most Observable Passages, in and at the late Seige of Plymouth, from the fifteenth fday of September 1643, untill the twenty fift [sic] of December following 1644 London: Printed by L.N. for Francis Eglesfeild, and are to be sold at the signe of the Marygold in Pauls Church-yard, 1644. A later version of the pamphlet was published, also in London in 1646 by John Macock for Michael Spark senior, 1646.
The inscription 'copy P.554(c)' refers to entry 554 in Pennington who has given two variants, A and B, of the original. RCIN 723026 constitutes a third variant, C.
After Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-77) (etcher)
Watermark: I VILLEDARY
Condition: small piece missing from left edge
Scale: 1:80,000 approx. Scale bar: A Scale of Miles [143 mm =] 3.
26.6 x 35.6 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
29.6 x 44.2 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
A TRVE MAPP AND DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWNE / of Plymouth and the Fortifications thereof, with the workes and / approaches of the Enemy, at the last Seige A.o 1643 [top right, in rectangular panel]
Annotations:
George III heading: Plymouth 1643.
Other annotations: (Recto) [bottom right, black pencil:] Hollar [in a different hand:] copy P.554(c) (Verso) [Along top left edge, ink:] To M.r Barnard Aug. 15th 1777.
George III catalogue entry:
Plymouth A true Mapp and Description of the Towne of Plymouth and the Fortifications thereof, with the Workes and Approaches of the Enemy, at the last Siege, A.o 1643.
Subject(s)
Plymouth, Devon, UK (50°22'17"N 04°08'35"W)
Bibliographic reference(s)
R. Pennington, A descriptive catalogue of the etched work of Wenceslaus Hollar 1607-1677, Cambridge, 1982, no. 554
Page revisions
25 May 2024
Current version