Books and Manuscripts

Merian, M(athaus).
Constantinopolis
(Frankfurt, ca. 1650). Engraved hand-colored panoramic view, 12 7/8 x 28 3/4 in. (327 x 730 mm). Creasing from old folds; creasing and light spotting in margins. In mat and in frame, 21 1/4 x 40 in. (540 x 1016 mm).

A handsome panoramic view of Constantinople, oriented south showing Pera in the foreground and, across the Golden Horn, Istanbul proper. Twenty-nine structures are identified, with key at bottom. First published in Merian's 1638 Archontologia Cosmica. This is a later impression with the 1635 date removed from the top right.