Antique Plan of the City of Damietta on the Nile, Niebuhr, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, a plan of the town of Damietta on the Nile. The caption reads in Dutch Grondtékening der Stad Damiât. and in French Plan de la Ville de Damiât., meaning plan of the city of Damietta.

The Nile, lettered Nilus Fl. with arrows marking its course, enters at the lower left, bends sharply and runs north toward the top left of the sheet. The town lies on the east bank at the bend, a dense pattern of stippled blocks and streets inside a curving edge, with numbered sites such as 1, 4, 5, 8, 11 and 12. Across the river to the west lies the place lettered Sennanie, and fields, palm groves and lanes fill the country all around. At the upper right a scroll unrolls to show the plan of a round building, lettered A, with a ring of chambers around a central court. A scale at the upper left is lettered Passus Géometrici. from 100 to 600, and a compass rose with a fleur de lis pointing north sits at the lower right.

The credit Th. Koning, fec. is lettered under the lower right corner, and the plate number Tab. VII. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate comes from the first volume of Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the French translation of Carsten Niebuhr's account, its title page reading TOME PREMIER. Traduit de l'Allemand. A AMSTERDAM, chez S. J. BAALDE. A UTRECHT, chez J. VAN SCHOONHOVEN & COMP. MDCCLXXVI. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.