CALLIGRAPHY
CALLIGRAPHY
This post represents a vintage land register of my community Chaudfontaine.
As the railway from Liège to Germany was created in 1843, this date can be considered as a true terminus a quo.
I have enlarged the title block of this drawing. The quality of the characters is amazing. Looking closer, I can see that two same letters are not identical, suggesting that the whole text was hand written.
I still wonder why this title block had to be so perfect for a drawing which is only a land register.
This post represents a vintage land register of my community Chaudfontaine.
As the railway from Liège to Germany was created in 1843, this date can be considered as a true terminus a quo.
I have enlarged the title block of this drawing. The quality of the characters is amazing. Looking closer, I can see that two same letters are not identical, suggesting that the whole text was hand written.
I still wonder why this title block had to be so perfect for a drawing which is only a land register.
You ask a good question and at least in American cartography, elegant maps and bound atlases became very desirable by the mid-19th century. Wealthier landowners hired their own artists, illustrators and calligraphers to be certain that the illustrations would be special. Perhaps the situation was similar in Chaudfontaine. It is a lovely and interesting piece.
ReplyDeleteI would suspicion the calligraphy had to be "perfect" to instill confidence to the land sellers, and buyers, that the map itself was completely accurate?
ReplyDeleteWow, we got everything in this post. Great Map to look at, and great answers to a great question.
ReplyDeleteAnn Kennedy Oshi Shikigami You have been hanging around me and Pam WhimsicalVintage for too long now, you're starting to think and talk like we do. : )
Laurent Truillet it is wonderful that you share these with us. Love seeing the old maps.
A beautiful piece of history Laurent Truillet. Very interesting Ann Kennedy and Oshi Shikigami, both make perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the ping Margaret Siemers, you know how much I love this stuff!