Have you seen this ‘spy map’ of Goa?

If you’re a cartophile and you also love Goa, you’ll love the ‘Braun-Hogenberg Map of Goa’, dated 1509.

Believed to be a 'spy map,' this 1509 depiction of the City of Goa predates the Portuguese capture by one year. While the depiction may appear rudimentary, the landscapes and buildings shown are generally factually accurate.

The structures depicted in the map include the fortifications around the City of Goa (today’s Old Goa) and the city itself, the strategic town of Benastery (Banastarim) to its left, and, on its right, the Adil Shah’s palace, which still exists, in Pangura (today’s Panjim, the capital city of Goa). A shipyard is also visible near the city walls.

The inscription on the map reads ‘Goa Fortissima Indiae Urbs in Christianorum Potestatem Anno Salutis 1509 Devenit’. Although marked as having been ‘drawn’ in 1509, the map appeared only in 1572, in the first volume of the Civitates Orbis Terrarum (Cities of the World), published in Cologne, Germany, by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg.

This masterwork of urban mapping offers a comprehensive view of city life at the turn of the 17^th century, showcasing plans, bird’s-eye views, and maps of major cities across Europe, as well as important urban centers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

It was edited and annotated by theologian and publisher, Georg Braun, and largely engraved by Franz Hogenberg.

It also involved over a hundred different artists and cartographers who contributed not only town views, but additional elements, such as figures in local dress, courtroom scenes, and topographical details, to help convey the situation, commercial power, and political influence of each city.

Braun, a cleric of Cologne, was the principal editor of the work. Franz Hogenberg was the son of a Munich engraver who settled in Malines.

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Georg Braun (1541-1622) was born and died in Cologne. His primary vocation was as a Catholic cleric, serving for thirty-seven years as canon and dean at St Maria ad Gradus Church in Cologne.

Braun was the chief editor of the Civitates orbis terrarum, the greatest book of town views ever published. His job entailed hiring artists, acquiring source material for the maps and views, and writing the text. In this role, he was assisted by Abraham Ortelius, a renowned mapmaker.

Frans Hogenberg (ca. 1540-ca. 1590) was a Flemish and German engraver, and a mapmaker who also painted. The son of wood engraver and etcher, he was born in Mechelen, south of Antwerp.

Together with his father Nicolas, his brother Remigius, uncle and cousins, Frans was one member of a prominent artistic family in the Netherlands.

In the 1550s, Frans worked alongside the renowned mapmaker Abraham Ortelius in Antwerp. There, he engraved the maps for Ortelius' groundbreaking first atlas, published in Antwerp in 1570, along with Johannes van Deotecum and Ambrosius and Ferdinand Arsenius.

Later, Ortelius recommended Hogenberg for a different project, the Civitates orbis terrarium (edited by Georg Braun, engraved by Hogenberg, published in six volumes, Cologne, 1572-1617). Hogenberg engraved the majority of the work’s 546 prospects and views.

He passed away in Cologne around 1590. In addition to his maps, he is known for his historical allegories and portraits. His brother, Remigius, also went on to achieve fame as an engraver, and died at around the same time as his brother.

DETAILS

WHAT: Braun-Hogenberg Map of Goa, 1509

PRICE: Rs 3,000

WHERE TO BUY IT: The Dogears Bookshop

LOCATION: Ground Floor, Adolfo Mansion, Rua Bernardo da Costa, Margao

TIMINGS: Week days (10 am - 7pm)  & Sundays (10 am – 1 pm)

CONTACT: +91 9922 974 479 or +91 98503 98530