First editions of exceptionally rare works containing beautifully engraved plates of towns and fortresses in Hungary, Dalmatia, and Greece. Both works was were made in response to two 17th-century wars, in order to give readers a better understanding of these wars and the locations where they took place. Ad 1 was made in the context of the Great Turkish War (1683-1699), while ad 2 was made in response to the Sixth Ottoman-Venetian War (1684-1699). These works are extremely scarce, as we have not been able to find them in any sales records of the past 100 years. They are also only available in a few libraries, but not always in a complete state: the present copy of the description and depiction of Hungary and Dalmatia contains more plates than the one mentioned on the STCV.
Both works in the present binding start with a description of towns, which is then followed by a collection of plates. The first work describes Hungary and Dalmatia (a region historically made up of various countries in the Balkan region, but in this case mostly refers to present-day Croatia). The same plates were likely used for both, which is why some of the plates are captioned in Spanish. The second work contains engravings made by the important Venetian cartographer Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718) and shows towns in Morea, or the Peloponnese Peninsula in Southern Greece.
Gaspar Bouttats (ca. 1640-1695/1696) was an engraver and printmaker from Antwerp, born into a family of engravers. He was a member of the Guild of Saint Luke and primarily made engravings for books.
With a label mounted on the front pastedown, and the round green stamp on the front and back pastedowns and flyleaves, and the verso of some of the plates. The binding shows signs of wear: the edges of the boards are scuffed and the corners are worn, the joints are weakened, but the boards are still attached, some loss of leather at the head and foot of the spine, showing the end bands underneath. The first and final few leaves are somewhat browned, the title-page of ad 1 shows remnants of an erased owner's inscription, and a large tear in the folding plate in ad 2 has been repaired with some old (yellowed) tape on the verso. Otherwise in good condition. Ad 1: STCV 3148797 (1 copy, incomplete), WorldCat 902508444, 901245194 (2 copies, including 1 incomplete); not in Apponyi; Tiele. Ad 2: STCV 3148805 (2 copies, incomplete), WorldCat 64289954, 917188490 (9 copies, including 2 incomplete); cf. Zacharakis 430b (later ed.); not in Tiele.