Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Maps, prints and letterpress text covering the major battles and sieges of the war
Battle of Wittstock, 1636
RELATION VERITABLE DE TOVT CE QVI S’EST / PASSE’ EN LA SANGLANTE DEFFAICTE DE L’ARMEE DV DVC DE SAXE ET / de l’Empereur, par la Couronne de Suede, soubs la conduitte du General Banier, prés de Vvitstocq, /...
1636 or laterEtching and engraving; printed on paper; letterpress text printed on a separate piece of paper; view and text mounted on one sheet of paper (Mount Type A); gilt ege, top | 19.1 x 24.9 cm (image and sheet of view) | RCIN 722105
A view of the Battle of Wittstock, fought on 4 October 1636 between the Swedish allied army, commanded by Johan Banér (23 June 1596-10 May 1641) and Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (1582-4 April1661) and the Imperial-Saxon army, under Count Melchior von Hatzfeldt and John George I, Elector of Saxony (5 March 1585-8 October 1656), resulting in a Swedish victory. Thirty Years War (1618-1648).
This image is a reverse of a very similar print which appeared in a contemporary pamphlet, now preserved in the Krigsarkivet, Stockholm. It is possible that Van Lochom had copied the image in the pamphlet and reversed it, a procedure which he followed when he copied the plates by Boëtius a Bolswert in Schola Cordis sive aversi a Deo Cordis ad eumdem reductio, et instructio. (1629) (Mario Praz, E., Studies in Seventeenth-Century Imagery, no.16. Second Edition. Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1975. pp.361-362).
It would appear that the date of 16 October which is given in the letterpress text as the date of the battle is an error.
Michel van Lochom (1601-1647) (publisher) [bottom centre of letterpress:] A Paris, chez Michel Van lochom, Graueur & Imprimeur du Roy pour les Tailles douces, ruë S. Iacques à la Roze blanche Couronnée.
Watermark: View and text: none. Mount: none.
Condition: slight brown discolouration to both sides of view and text. Pressure marks from the mounts of items which were kept below this /print in a different collection are present on the verso
19.1 x 24.9 cm (image and sheet of view)
cropped (platemark)
26.0 x 26.7 cm (sheet)
51.6 x 28.8 cm (mount)
Printed title:
RELATION VERITABLE DE TOVT CE QVI S’EST / PASSE’ EN LA SANGLANTE DEFFAICTE DE L’ARMEE DV DVC DE SAXE ET / de l’Empereur, par la Couronne de Suede, soubs la conduitte du General Banier, prés de Vvitstocq, / le 16. Octobre 1636. Ensemble les noms de tous les Officiers qui ont esté en la Bataille. [on letterpress text, below view]
Additional text:
[below map, an account of the action and a list of the Swedish officers given in order of battle, and a list of the principal officers of the Imperial-Saxon army, also in order of battle.]
Annotations:
George III heading: Battle of Wistock [sic] 16 October 1636.
Other annotations: (Recto) [left centre, black pencil, erased:] Wistock. (Verso) none.
George III catalogue entry:
Wistock [sic] Plan de la Bataille et Relation de tout ce qui s’est passé en la sanglante defaite de l’Armée du Duc de Saxe et de l’Empereur, par la Couronne de Suede sous la conduite du General Banier pres de Witstocq, le 16 Oct.re 1636: chez Michel van Lochom.
Subject(s)
Wittstock, Brandenburg, Germany (53°09ʹ40ʺN 12°28ʹ58ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. nos. 3002, 3003
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
