Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Maps, prints and letterpress text covering the major battles and sieges of the war
Siege of Breisach, 1638
PLAN DE LA VILLE / DE BRISAC, ASSIEGEE PAR / les Armes de sa Majesté, sous la conduite du / Duc Bernard de Saxe Vveimar
published 1638Etching and engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edges right and bottom | 35.7 x 46.4 cm (image and sheet) | RCIN 722121.a
A low-middle oblique view of the siege of Breisach 18 August-17 December 1638 in which Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (16 August 1604-18 July 1639), joined by French forces commanded by Jean-Baptiste Guébriant 1602-17 November 1643) and Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne (11 September 1611-27 July 1675), forced the commander of Breisach, Baron Hans Heinrich von Rheinach, to capitulate. Thirty Years War (1618-1648).
A later state of this view, with a profile of the lines of communication and an engraved key, and showing the scene at the end of the siege with the French and German armies entering the town while the commanding officers look on from the surrounding heights is in an untitled volume of fifteen prints and maps of the campaigns of Louis XIII between 1629 and 1640. See Main entry for RCIN 722039. Another example of the later state is at RCIN 722122.
The accompanying letterpress text, giving the key to the map is at RCIN 722121.b.
Abraham Bosse (1604-76) (printmaker)
Melchior Tavernier (1594-1665) (publisher)
Watermark: Map: bunch of grapes; countermark: indistinct initials in small rectangular frame, fleur-de-lys above
Condition: seven fold lines; folded size: 13.2 x 8.3 cm; some brown stains; bottom left corner of the mount is cut diagonally. Verso: remains of old guard along top edge. Pressure marks from the mounts of items which were kept above and below this print in a different collection are present on the recto and verso
35.7 x 46.4 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
40.6 x 52.5 cm (mount)
Printed title:
PLAN DE LA VILLE / DE BRISAC, ASSIEGEE PAR / les Armes de sa Majesté, sous la conduite du / Duc Bernard de Saxe Vveimar. [no title on view; title on accompanying letterpress text (RCIN 722121.b)]
Annotations:
George III heading: Brisach besieged by the Duke of Weimar in 1638. Other annotations: (Recto) [top right, black pencil, erased:] Brisach. (Verso) [bottom right, black pencil, very faint:] B[?]on.
George III catalogue entry:
Brisach Plan de la Ville de Brisac assiegée par les Armes de Sa Majesté sous la conduite du Duc Bernard de Saxe Weimar en 1638: chez Tavernier, 1638.
Subject(s)
Breisach am Rhein, [Vieux-Brisach] Baden-Württemburg, Germany (48°01'58"N 07°34'58"E)
Bibliographic reference(s)
Stanley Leathes, et al. The Cambridge Modern History, Cambridge, 1907, vol.4, pp.376-7.
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 3023
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
