Perche & Blasois, France.

Schenk, Petri & Valk Gerardi The County of Blaisois. The County of Perche. "Comitatus Blesensis, Auctore Joanne Temporio. Blaisois." & " Perchensis Comitatus. La Perche Comte". Amsterdam Schenk, Petri & Valk Gerardi c1700
Copper engraved maps, 2 on 1 plate of of the region of Blaisois and Perche in France from Schenk And Valk's " Atlas Contractus." Original full wash colour; verso blank.
The map shows the region of Blaisois with the capital Blois on the Loire in the Loir-et-Cher department and Perche former province of western France extending over the départements of Orne, Eure, Eure-et-Loir and Sarthe,from which many emigrated to Canada in the 17th century leading to most French Canadians being able to trace their ancestry back to this region,
Each map with decorative title cartouche. Dark impression; clean and bright; green lines slightly oxidised/browned, small cracking near centre of centrefold. along the Loire on map of Blaisois; 1 wormhole to map of Blaisois, by town of St Laurent with another in the blank margin above; 2 old ink numbers to upper right corner, and one to verso.

SCHENCK, Pieter 1660-1718/9

Dutch mapmaker and publisher. Born in Elberfeld, Germany in 1660. Moved to Amsterdam in 1683 where he became a pupil of Gerard Valck, later in 1687 he married Agatha Valck, sister of his associate., thus uniting two great families.

In 1686 he is noted in a privilege granted to Petrus Schenck and Gerardus Valck for the printing & sale of their prints.
The Valck and Schenk families where active as print sellers, publishers and printers of maps, atlases and architectural drawings as well globes. They accquired plates from the stock of Johannes Janssonius and also of Visscher reissuing several maps of Janssonius' "Atlas Novus "from 1683-94 and published an Atlas titled" Nova totius Geographia" in 1702.

The best known of the joint Pieter Schenk & Gerard Valck publications were the second edition of Andreas Cellarius's " Celestial Atlas Harmonia Macrocosmica'" 1708 and an edition of Jan Jansson's "Novus Atlas" entitled the "Atlas Anglois" published in London by David Mortier in 1715.

Pieter Schenck the Elder's earliest cartographic productions were a number of maps after Nicolas Sanson published in a composite Atlas, "Atlas Contractus or Atlas Minor" c.1696. He also published a further composite Atlas, "Atlantis sylloge compendiosa," c.1702.


Other works included his famous Atlas of one hundred town views," Hecatompolis" [1702];" Le Theatre de Mars "[1706]; and the "Schouwburg van der Oorlog"[1706].
Koeman III,page 113, map 280. 402 by 510mm (15¾ by 20 inches) full plate.   ref: 2545  €200