Inhoudsopgave voor het eerst deel van het prentwerk: Le Theatre de la Guerre, dans les Pays-Bas, 1696 1696

This is the title page to the first section of Nicolas de Fer’s “Le Theatre de la Guerre, dans les Pays-Bas,” printed in 1696. It’s made from paper, with ink applied to the surface through the intaglio printmaking process. In this technique, a metal plate is incised with an image; ink is then forced into the recesses, and the surface is wiped clean. Finally, a sheet of paper is pressed firmly against the plate, transferring the ink. The character of intaglio prints is very distinctive. Look closely, and you can discern a slight physical texture, an artifact of the press forcing the paper into the engraved lines. Beyond its graphic qualities, this print provides insight into 17th-century European geopolitics. Consider the amount of work involved in surveying the cities and fortifications listed here, and then translating them into printed form for dissemination. This was a significant deployment of labor and intellectual capital, undertaken to inform military strategy. The print is a reminder that maps are never neutral; they are tools of power.