Cartographic analysis of two centuries of map printing using copperplates – examples from the Czech Republic and Malta collections

Josef Chrást; Zdeněk Stachoň; Joseph Schiró

doi:10.2478/mgrsd-2023-0028

Figures & Tables

Overview map of the origin of printing platesSource: own study (Esri. ‘Terrain’ [basemap]. Scale not given. ‘Terrain: Multi-Directional Hillshade’. 25 June 2014. https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=3cedfc19d7b941d89ee15b0e2f454070. (29 January 2022); © EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries.)

Detail from the map printing plate MMSource: Moravian Land Archives in Brno, collection D 22 Sbírka map a plánů (unprocessed amendments)

Dimensions of printing platesSource: own study

Dependence of weight on the surface area of printing platesSource: own study

Dependence of weight on the thickness of printing platesSource: own study

Development of the ratio of surface area and weight of printing plates over timeSource: own study

Distribution of the surface area values per kilogram in the whole setSource: own study

j_mgrsd-2023-0028_apptab_001

Printing plate	Section	Size [mm]	Weight [g]	Surface area/weight [cm²/kg]	Thickness [mm]	Bulk density [g/cm³]
MM	I	518 × 724	6820	550	1.7	10.7
	II	517 × 730	6700	563	1.8	9.9
	III	514 × 725	6470	576	1.6	10.9
	IV	515 × 725	6680	559	1.9	9.4
	Average			562	1.8	10.2
	Standard deviation			9	0.1	0.6
MMr	Register 1	501 × 503	3160	797	1.4	9.0
	Register 2	516 × 503	3230	804	1.9	6.5
	Average			801	1.7	7.8
	Standard deviation			3	0.3	1.2
MCh		699 × 469	5450	602	2.3	7.2
MBl	Sectio I	507 × 597	5050	599	1.9	8.8
	Sectio II	507 × 597	5080	596	1.9	8.8
	Sectio III	510 × 603	5170	595	1.9	8.8
	Sectio IV	507 × 581	5030	586	2.1	8.1
	Sectio V	513 × 602	5340	578	2.4	7.2
	Sectio VI	509 × 595	5390	562	1.8	9.9
	Sectio VII	507 × 596	5130	589	2.0	8.5
	Sectio VIII	511 × 603	4920	626	1.8	8.9
	Sectio IX	504 × 594	5340	561	2.0	8.9
	Sectio X	505 × 596	5160	583	1.9	9.0
	Sectio XI	505 × 596	5120	588	2.1	8.1
	Sectio XII	504 × 595	5370	558	2.0	9.0
	Sectio XIII	510 × 603	4790	642	1.9	8.2
	Sectio XIV	505 × 596	4930	611	2.0	8.2
	Sectio XV	490 × 595	4890	596	2.1	8.0
	Sectio XVI	505 × 594	5160	581	1.8	9.6
	Sectio XVII	503 × 595	5100	587	2.1	8.1
	Sectio XVIII	514 × 604	5410	574	2.2	7.9
	Sectio XIX	508 × 596	4880	620	1.9	8.5
	Sectio XX	508 × 594	4810	627	2.0	8.0
	Sectio XXI	502 × 590	4730	626	2.0	8.0
	Sectio XXII	505 × 594	5040	595	1.9	8.8
	Sectio XXIII	506 × 593	4870	616	1.9	8.5
	Sectio XXIV	506 × 595	4920	612	2.2	7.4
	Sectio XXV	501 × 594	4820	617	1.9	8.5
	Overview	502 × 597	5050	593	2.0	8.4
	Average			597	2.0	8.5
	Standard deviation			22	0.1	0.6
MBs	Sectio I	317 × 364	2220	520	2.0	9.6
	Sectio II	317 × 365	2320	499	2.0	10.0
	Sectio III	317 × 366	2140	542	1.8	10.2
	Sectio IV	317 × 365	2220	521	2.0	9.6
	Sectio V	317 × 364	2320	497	1.8	11.2
	Sectio VI	318 × 366	1990	585	1.7	10.1
	Sectio VII	315 × 366	1860	620	1.5	10.8
	Sectio VIII	314 × 367	2020	570	1.7	10.3
	Sectio IX	316 × 366	1990	581	2.0	8.6
	Sectio X	315 × 364	2320	494	1.9	10.6
	Sectio XI	315 × 364	1880	610	1.6	10.2
	Sectio XII	315 × 364	1570	730	1.5	9.1
	Sectio XIII	317 × 364	1550	744	1.7	7.9
	Sectio XIV	314 × 363	1900	600	1.8	9.3
	Sectio XV	314 × 362	1970	577	2.0	8.7
	Sectio XVI	317 × 365	2250	514	1.8	10.8
	Sectio XVII	315 × 362	2060	554	2.0	9.0
	Sectio XVIII	314 × 362	2130	534	2.0	9.4
	Sectio XIX	316 × 362	1810	632	1.5	10.5
	Sectio XX	315 × 363	1840	621	1.6	10.1
	Sectio XXI	317 × 365	2310	501	1.9	10.5
	Sectio XXII	317 × 365	2230	519	1.9	10.1
	Sectio XXIII	314 × 362	2140	531	2.1	9.0
	Sectio XXIV	315 × 362	1760	648	1.5	10.3
	Sectio XXV	318 × 362	1850	622	1.6	10.0
	Average			575	1.8	9.8
	Standard deviation			66	0.2	0.8
HMd	I	547 × 740	6030	671	1.7	8.8
	II	547 × 745	5930	687	1.7	8.6
	III	522 × 746	5840	667	1.8	8.3
	IV	522 × 745	5700	682	1.6	9.2
	Overview	553 × 749	7120	582	2.0	8.6
	Average			658	1.8	8.7
	Standard deviation			39	0.1	0.3
?Mt		552 × 761	6360	660	1.6	9.5

j_mgrsd-2023-0028_apptab_002

Printing plate	Size [mm]	Weight [g]	Surface area/weight [cm²/kg]	Thickness [mm]	Bulk density [g/cm³]
AMa	459 × 317	1220	1193	1.0	8.4
PaMa	740 × 310	4465	514	3.1	6.3
IMa	248 × 105	338	770	2.5	5.2
IV	128 × 106	140	969	2.5	4.1
PMa	260 × 411	1850	578	1.6	10.8
PJ	495 × 495	4260	575	1.5	11.6
PR	251 × 400	1630	616	1.6	10.1

The average size of the edges of the printing plates MBl and MBs

Map		Edge – height [mm]	Edge – width [mm]
MBl	*Average*	26	30
MBl	*Standard deviation*	10	10
MBs	*Average*	28	25
MBs	*Standard deviation*	5	6

j_mgrsd-2023-0028_apptab_003

Owner	Copperplate	City	Country
Moravian Land Archives	MM, MMr	Brno	CZ
State District Archive Cheb	MCh	Cheb	CZ
National Technical Museum	MBl, MBs	Prague	CZ
Archdiocesan Museum	HMd, ?Mt	Kroměříž	CZ
Joseph Schirò	Ama	Valletta	MT
MUŻA – Heritage Malta	PaMa, IMa, IV, PMa, PJ, PR	Valletta	MT

Preserved copper printing plates for Johann Christoph Müller’s maps and their derivatives

Area covered	Place of Creation	Date of Creation	Engraver (Publisher)	Abbreviation
Moravia	Brno	1714–1716	Johann Christoph Leidig	MM
Moravia registers	Brno	c.1790	Unknown	MMr
Cheb region	Nuremberg	c.1719	(Christoph Weigel elder)	MCh
Bohemia (large)	Augsburg	1720–1722	Michael Kauffer	MBl
Bohemia (small)	Augsburg	1726	Michael Kauffer	MBs
Olomouc diocese	Nuremberg	1762	(Homann heirs)	HMd
Moravia (‘trial’)	Nuremberg (?)	1762 (?)	(Homann heirs?)	?Mt

Preserved copper printing plates from the Joseph Schirò Collection and MUŻA – Heritage Malta

Area covered	Place of Creation	Date of Creation	Engraver (Publisher)	Abbreviation
Three Cities of Malta	Rome	1582	Natale Bonifacio (Matteo Perez d’Aleccio)	AMa
Malta	Valletta	1771	Filippo Vincenzo Pace	PaMa
Malta	Valletta	1791	Sebastiano Ittar	IMa
Valletta	Valletta	1791	Sebastiano Ittar	IV
Malta	Rome	1733	Giovanni Petroschi (Salvatore and Giandomenico Marescandoli)	PMa
Kingdom of Jerusalem	Rome	1733	Giovanni Petroschi (Salvatore and Giandomenico Marescandoli)	PJ
Rhodes	Rome	1733	Giovanni Petroschi (Salvatore and Giandomenico Marescandoli)	PR

Cartographic analysis of two centuries of map printing using copperplates – examples from the Czech Republic and Malta collections

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

j_mgrsd-2023-0028_apptab_001

j_mgrsd-2023-0028_apptab_002

The average size of the edges of the printing plates MBl and MBs

j_mgrsd-2023-0028_apptab_003

Preserved copper printing plates for Johann Christoph Müller’s maps and their derivatives

Preserved copper printing plates from the Joseph Schirò Collection and MUŻA – Heritage Malta

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