• Title : Ducatus Silesiae Grotganus cum Districtu Episcopali Nissensi
• Ref #:  93485
• Size: 23in x 18in (590mm x 460mm)
• Date : 1681
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This original rare (not called for in Koeman) hand coloured copper plate engraved antique map of the Duchy of Grottkau and the Diocese of Nysa (Grottkau, Neisse, Brieg and the surrounding area) in the ancient region of Silesia, now in Western Poland by Jan Jansson was published by Moses Pitt in the 1681 edition of Atlas of the World

Moses Pitt 1639–1697 was a bookseller and printer known for the production of his Atlas of the world, a project supported by the Royal Society, and in particular by Christopher Wren. He is also known as the author of The Cry of the Oppressed (1691), an account of the conditions in which imprisoned debtors lived in debtors jails in England.
His work was characterised by its learned content and included authors such as Robert Boyle and Gilbert Burnet. His Atlas was initially intended to be 12 volumes and he continued to undertake other work for the Royal Society. However rising costs, estimated by Pitt at £1000 per volume, contributed to his eventual bankruptcy and only four volumes were ever produced. The second volume had as frontispiece a noted engraved portrait of Queen Catherine of Braganza, by Edward Le Davis.
In Ireland William Molyneux collaborated with Roderic OFlaherty to collect material for the Atlas. While Pitts financial crisis lead to cancellation of the project, much valuable work on early Irish history was collected. Molyneux and OFlaherty struck a friendship and Molyneux assisted when the latters treatise Ogygia was published in London in 1685.
As a result of the Atlas project, Pitt was declared bankrupt. He was taken to the Fleet Prison, and remained there, or in the Kings Bench Prison, for seven years. In 1691, he published The Cry of the Oppressed: Being a True and Tragical Account of the Unparalleld Sufferings of Multitudes of Poor Imprisond Debtors In Most of the Gaols in England, a moving appeal on behalf of prisoners for debt across the country. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 23in x 18in (590mm x 460mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 15 3/4in (510mm x 385mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately 40,000 km2, and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000 inhabitants. Silesia is split into two main sub-regions of Lower Silesia in the west and Upper Silesia in the east. Silesia has a diverse culture, including architecture, costumes, cuisine, traditions, and the Silesian language.
Silesia is along the Oder River, with the Sudeten Mountains extending across the southern border. The region possesses many historical landmarks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is also rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesias largest city and historical capital is Wrocław. The biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava and the German city of Görlitz fall within the borders of Silesia.
Silesias borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states. The varied history with changing aristocratic possessions resulted in an abundance of castles, especially in the Jelenia Góra valley. The first known states to hold power in Silesia were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century and Bohemia early in the 10th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, and after its division in the 12th century became a Piast duchy. In the 14th century, it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire, which passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. As a result of the Silesian Wars, the region was annexed by Prussia in 1742.
After World War I, the easternmost part of Upper Silesia was granted to Poland by the Entente Powers after insurrections by Poles and the Upper Silesian plebiscite. The remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were partitioned to Czechoslovakia, forming part of Czechoslovakias Sudetenland region, and are today part of the Czech Republic. In 1945, after World War II, the bulk of Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by the Potsdam Agreement between the victorious Allies and became part of Poland, whose Communist government expelled the majority of Silesias previous population. The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder–Neisse line, which had belonged to Silesia since 1815, remained in Germany.