Brussels Map 1837 SDUK Town Plan Print with Building Views - Environs of Brussels, Street Layout, Facades

This plan of Brussels, also titled Bruxelles, was published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. W. B. Clarke, an architect, drew it, B. R. Davies engraved it, and Baldwin and Cradock published it in Paternoster Row in 1837, with Chapman and Hall reissuing it in the 1844 volume of the Society's maps. The sheet measures about 39 by 34 centimeters at a scale of 1:7,500 and is an engraved map with hand coloring. It includes an inset map titled The environs of Brussels and drawings of the facades of eight buildings, which gives the viewer both the layout of the city and a sense of its architecture. The coloring picks out the sections of the city, and the plan is lettered with both the English and the French name of the capital.

The street plan is drawn with the meticulous engraving typical of the period, and its coloring separates the various sections of the city and its features. The Society was known for inexpensive maps that encouraged wide use in education, and the catalog notes that its city plans are of particular interest, with vignettes and great detail. M. C. Branch's Atlas of Rare City Maps lists the plan on pages 22 and 23, and Phillips lists the atlas under number 794. The two volumes of the Society's maps were issued in parts over several years and later bound as a set, so the sheet circulated as a working reference for students and travelers of the time.

Anyone who likes to compare cities across the centuries, a family with roots in the Belgian capital, or a collector of city plans will find an engaging gift here. TheMapVault's Antwerp plan of 1832 comes from the same Society and the same atlas, whereas this sheet gives Brussels its own inset of the surrounding country. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print.