Europe - Greece

Technical data Title: Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus. Map of Macedonia, Thessaly and Epirus with ancient toponymy. Author: Christoph Cellarius, Latinized name of Christoph Keller (1638–1707). Publisher: Johann Friedrich Gleditsch Place: Leipzig, Germany. Date: 1732 Technique: copperplate engraving on paper, with burin work and manually colored in an era-uncertain manner. Support: laid paper. Dimensions: imprint 20.5 × 31 cm; sheet 25 × 34.5 cm. Inscription: title in a cartouche at the bottom right; reference “Pag. 1030.” at the top right; indications of the cardinal points in Latin along the frame. Composition: single plate with a central editorial fold, attributable to the cartographic apparatus of Notitia orbis antiqui, sive Geographia plenior. Back: blank, without printed text. Description Historical subject map dedicated to Macedonia, Thessaly and Epirus, designed to illustrate the geography of the ancient world. The depiction covers a broad stretch of the southern Balkan peninsula, from the Adriatic and Ionian coasts to the Aegean Sea, including the Pallke region, the interior of Macedonia and Thessaly, and part of neighboring territories. The dense Latin nomenclature identifies cities, peoples, regions, rivers and reliefs. Settlements are marked with small architectural symbols, while mountain chains are rendered with perspective profiles and hatching. The delineation of the coasts highlights bays and the outlines of the peninsulas; a geographic scale accompanies the side margins. Manual coloring distinguishes regional borders with color fields and bands, emphasizing the coastline and the waters with blue tones. In the bottom right, the title is enclosed in a cartouche on a rocky base, topped by the figure of a horseman with spear and shield, evoking the military context of ancient Macedonia. The plate merges a didactic and documentary function with a decorative Baroque sensibility, in which the figurative ornament accompanies the reading of classical geography. Historical-artistic note Christoph Cellarius was a German philologist, historian and geographer active in studies of antiquity. His geographic production aimed to reconstruct territories, settlements, and regional divisions of the Greek and Roman world by comparing ancient authors’ testimonies. The Notitia orbis antiqui, published in Leipzig at the beginning of the 18th century and reproduced in later editions, constitutes one of his principal works of historical geography. The maps accompanying the text translate scholarly research into representations for the study of history and classical literature. This plate belongs to that tradition, with particular attention to northern Greece and territories connected to Macedonian history. Condition Report Vertical central editorial fold, with a paper die-cut applied on the verso along most of its length. Paper slightly yellowed, with waviness, secondary folds and scattered brown pinpoint stains. Diagonal fold along the lower edge. Coloring with local inconsistencies and pigment showing through on the verso. The engraved part is overall legible. Verso blank.

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