1575 Published, Hand-Colored Engraved Map titled, "Cantebrigia, Opulentissimi Angliae Regni Urbs Celeberrimi Nominis," from Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg's "Civitates Orbis Terrarum," Cologne, Engraved by Richard Lyne after William Smith, Very Fine.
This hand-colored engraved map, measuring about 20.5 x 16 inches, presents a bird's-eye view of Cambridge, England, seen from the west, with an ornate title cartouche reading CANTEBRIGIA, OPULENTISSIMI ANGLIAE REGNI URBS CELEBERRIMI NOMINIS, a coat of arms, and a numbered key box captioned HOSPITIA ACADEMIAE listing the university's colleges. Named landmarks within the view include Trinity College, King's College, Jesus College, Christ's College, Corpus Christi ("Bennett") College, Queens' College, St. John's College, and Pembroke Hall, along with named streets, churches, and the River Cam winding through the town. This rare map presents in nice condition, with its standard old centerfold, teven age tone, and the original hand-coloring bright throughout. The verso also carries a Latin descriptive text.

This Map comes from "Civitates Orbis Terrarum," edited by the Cologne cleric Georg Braun and chiefly engraved by Frans Hogenberg, issued in six volumes between 1572 and 1617 and widely regarded as the most important and influential atlas of town views ever published, ultimately comprising 546 plates of cities across Europe and beyond. This plate first appeared in the atlas's second volume in 1575, engraved by Richard Lyne after a drawing by William Smith, and continued to be reprinted in subsequent editions of the atlas through 1612. The accompanying Latin text on the verso is not by Braun himself but by William Soone, an English graduate of Cambridge then living in exile in Cologne as a Catholic refugee; addressed to Braun and dated the eve of Pentecost, 1575, Soone's letter describes the university's history, colleges, and academic customs firsthand, material Braun incorporated directly into the atlas.