1740 MAP OF THE EXODUS AND WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES

Description

UP FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION- AUTHENTIC ORIGINAL 1740 MAP OF THE EXODUS AND 40 YEARS WANDERINGS OF THE ISAREALITES IN THE WIDERNESS

TITLE: Voyages des Enfants d’Israel Dans le Desert depuis leur sortie d’Egypte Par le Mare Rouges Iusques au Pays de Canaan. Nombres XXXIII. === Veertig Innrige Reys tagt her Kinderen Israels fyt Ægypten door de Roode-zee ende Woestyne tot in ‘t Beloosde Lanst Canaan. Num. XXXIII. I. 
SUBJECT: The Exodus
YEAR: Undated but 1740
PUBLISHER: Covens and Mortier
PLACE: Amsterdam
SHEET SIZE: 19 1/2 x 17 inches
IMAGE SIZE: 18 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches

FRAME SIZE: 28 X 25 inches, vintage solid wood fairy circle pattern glazed with acrylic.

FEATURES: The path of the Israelites from leaving Egypt through the Red Sea to Mount Saini arriving in Canaan
ENGRAVING METHOD: copper plate
COLOR: black and white
VERSO: blank
CENTERFOLD: yes
CONDITION: A+
NOTABLE BLEMISHES : None

REFERENCES: Laor #507

DESCRIPTION: Striking and highly detailed fine unusual 1740 Covens & Mortier’s copper engraved biblical map focusing on the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land and the wandering in the desert. The map describes the flight of the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land including their wanderings in the desert of what is now Arabia.We see the group congregated, ready to leave from Remeses in the land of Goshen. From there they moved in a southerly direction toward the Red Sea, camping at Etham, described as being at the edge of the wilderness. From Etham they made their way to Pihachiroth. It was from this encampment that they crossed the Red Sea.Once across the sea, the route of their wanderings and their numerous encampments are drawn, some in fine detail. At the center of the map is a prominent Mount Sinai, with the Jordan River and the Dead Sea in the upper left quadrant. The lower right quadrant features a graphic depiction of the closing of the Dead Sea over the pursuing Egyptians, with the Israelites safe on the opposite shore, looking down on the gruesome spectacle as soldiers, Pharaoh and all his charioteers drown when the waters close over them. Embellishing the upper right quadrant is a detailed figural title cartouche featuring the Israelites sowing and harvesting, as they must have done during the long years of their wandering.

 Covens & Mortier 1721-1866.

During almost two centuries, the largest and most important Dutch publishing house in commercial cartography was the Amsterdam firm of Covens & Mortier. Concerning quantity, it was possibly even the biggest contemporary map-trading house worldwide. They distributed innumerable maps, atlases, globes, and books. Nothing is known about the youth of Pieter Mortier. He studied in Paris from 1681 to approximately 1685. There he must have come into contact with French ‘libraires’ and learned the bookselling trade. Beginning 1685 he returned to Amsterdam where he opened a small bookshop. In the same year, he became a member of the Book, Art Sellers’ and Printers’ guild.  

Pieter sold books in Dutch and foreign languages, but he also published books on his own, usually in the French language. His business flourished such that in 1688 he was already forced to rent another house on the Vijgendam. Pieter Mortier’s first privilege for maps was granted by the States of Holland and West Friesland on September 15 1690. It refers to the maps of Sanson that he ‘is printing and correcting with great pains and care’. Pieter began the large scale publication of maps and atlases. By the beginning of the 18th century, Pieter had become so wealthy that he could purchase three houses in Amsterdam: on the Beurssluis, on the Vijgendam, and the Heremietensteeg. He rebuilt the house on the Vijgendam into a large prestigious house that would serve for over a century as a shop, business, and residential structure for Covens & Mortier’s publishing house. He died on February 13, 1711, after a brief illness. The company continued to exist under Pieter’s widow’s management, Amelia’ s-Gravesande.  

On November 20, 1721, a company was founded by Cornelis Mortier and Johannes Covens I. The latter was married the same year with Cornelis’s sister. From that year on, the name of :Covens & Mortier. Their firm would see a massive expansion in the next 140 years. In 1732 the heirs sold the property to their brother Cornelis and his partner Covens. Their main competitors were Reinier & Josua Ottens and Gerard Valck & Petrus Schenck. After the death of Johannes Covens I (1774), his son Johannes Covens II (1722-1794) entered the business. From 1778, Johannes added a new company name : Covens & Son.  

Johannes Covens II was succeeded by his son Cornelis Covens (1764-1825), who, in turn, brought Peter Mortier IV, the great-grandson of Petrus Mortier I, into the business. The name was from 1794 to 1866: Mortier, Covens & Son. The last Covens in the series was Cornelis Johannes Covens (1806-1880).  

Covens & Mortier had a large stock of atlases and maps, including those of: Delisle, Jaillot, Johannes Janssonius, Sanson, Claes Jansz. Visscher, Nicolaas Visscher, and Frederik de Wit. For decades, an impressive number of atlases came from the press.