A cartographically highly important, exceptionally rare, south-to-the-top oriented regional map of the area of Bern, created by the Bernese painter, architect, and cartographer, Joseph Plepp. Regarding its topography and nomenclature, he relied on Thomas Schöpf’s monumental, 18-page work of 1578, and used its frame decoration with wind-heads and coats of arms as well as the coat of arms in the upper left corner without any essential modifications. Two significant changes can be found on the sheet: the accurate representation of the region below Bern, more precisely the loops of the Aare River (the area around “Nüw Brück”), and the view of Bern depicted in the cartouche surrounded by putti in the lower right corner. The veduta, which shows the city from the south, is presumably Plepp’s work.
The importance of the sheet is demonstrated by the fact that it is the most accurate and practically usable, folio-sized map of the Bernese Canton in cartographic history. Although, Swiss public collections (in Bern and Zurich) have a few copies, only one has appeared on the market in the last 50 years, making it a real curiosity.
Dimensions: 410 x 585 (420 x 605) mm. Restored copy.