Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Maps, prints and letterpress text covering the major battles and sieges of the war
Siege of Hondarribia, 1638
Plan au Vray de Fontarabie et des Lieux Circonuoisins et de Lordre / du Siege Par L’Armee de Sa Majeste Soubs La Conduite de Mr Le Prince
1642 or laterEtching and engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type B); gilt edge, right | Scale: 1:14,500 approx. | RCIN 722113
A high oblique view of the siege of Spanish Fuentarrabía, June-September 1638, by the French army, commanded by Henri de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (1 September 1588-26 December 1646) and Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette d’Épernon (1592-25 July 1661) resulting in the defeat on 9 September 1628 of the French by a Spanish relief army under Juan Alfonso Enríquez de Cabrera, 9th Admiral of Castile (3 March 1599-6 February 1647). Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659). Oriented with west-south-west to top (compass rose).
The key refers to La Valette as ‘Mr le Duc’; Valette did not become Duke until 1642, on the death in that year of his father. The publication date of this print has therefore been placed in 1642 or later.
Anonymous (publisher)
Watermark: Map: bunch of grapes with a stalk; countermark: the initials M A, separated by a quatrefoil, in a rectangular frame. Mount: none.
Condition: one fold line. 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
Scale: 1:14,500 approx. Scale bar: Echelle de 500 Thoisses [sic] [67 mm =].
36.3 x 50.1 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
38.1 x 52.4 cm (mount)
Printed title:
Plan au Vray de Fontarabie et des Lieux Circonuoisins et de Lordre / du Siege Par L’Armee de Sa Majeste Soubs La Conduite de Mr Le Prince [top centre]
Inset:
[top right, in irregularly shaped panel, a high oblique view, in outline, of the fortified wall of Hondarribia:] Plan de Fontarabie
Scale: 1:3,000 approx. Scale bar: Echelle de 50 Thoises [32 mm =]. Size: 11.8 x 14.3 cm (neatline).Additional text:
[left, a key, A-I, K-N, to the town, locations of the quarters of the Prince de Condé and the duc de la Vallette, and the named French regiments and the positions of the mortars and batteries.]
Annotations:
George III heading: Fontarabia besieged by the Prince of Conde in 1637 [sic].
Other annotations: none.
George III catalogue entry:
Fontarabia Plan de Fontarabie et des lieux circonvoisins, et de l’ordre du Siege par l’Armée de Sa Majesté sous la conduite du Prince de Condé en 1637 [sic].
Subject(s)
Hondarribia [Fontarabie, Fuenterrabía], Basque Country, Spain (43°22ʹ07ʺN 01°47ʹ46ʺW)
Bibliographic reference(s)
J. Dunlop, Memoirs of Spain during the reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II. from 1621 to 1700, Edinburgh, 1, 1834, pp. 201-204
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 3013
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
