An original antique map from c.1730 published by Jean Covens & Corneille Mortier, and created by the Geogrpaher to the King,Guillaume de L'Isle.
It covers the Holy Roman Empire, including modern-day Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic (Bohemia), and parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and eastern France.
It acts as an early "road atlas," meticulously tracing the primary postal routes and communication axes connecting the various imperial circles.
The map indexes official towns and staging posts where the imperial mail riders could change horses.
.It features a decorative cartouche and hand-coloured borders that distinguish the complex administrative territories of the Empire.
Covens & Mortier was one of the largest and most successful publishing firms in Dutch history and continued in business for over a century.
Pierre Mortier the Elder had begun the business in 1690 and after his death it passed to his son, who formed a partnership with Covens after he had married into the family.
They published under the joint name of Covens & Mortier. The business specialized in publishing French geographers.
They also published atlases, for example a 1725 reissue of Frederik de Wit’s 'Atlas Major' and an atlas, with additions, from the works of Guillaume Delisle.
There were also Covens & Mortier pocket atlases and town atlases.
The company profited from acquiring plates from other geographers as well. For example, the purchased Pieter van der Aa’s plates in 1730. Finally, they also compiled a few maps in house. At their height, they had the largest collection of geographic prints ever assembled in Amsterdam.
