Nicholas person

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Nikolaus Person , first name also Nicolaus, Nicolas or Nicolaum, (* before 1648 in Longwy , Lorraine ; † July 15, 1710 in Mainz ) was a Franco-German engraver, architect (master builder), cartographer and publisher who, after starting out in France, for decades worked in Mainz. Not limited to just one area, he dealt extensively with fortress building, civil architecture and cartographic work. Nikolaus Person is one of the most important cartographers of the 17th century in Germany.

Fields of activity

Nikolaus Person worked in France until 1668, mainly in the service of Duke Charles IV of Lorraine as a fortress builder and cartographer.

Rheno Inferiori ab utraque parte Adiacentium Delineatio (1694): Map from the atlas Novae Archiepiscopatus Moguntini Tabulae , which mainly shows the northwestern Palatinate

After 1668 Nikolaus Person worked in Mainz until the end of his life, where he created an extensive work during this time. So he mapped areas of the Archdiocese of Mainz, among others in Hesse and Thuringia ( Erfurt State ). In 1690 he published the atlas Novae Archiepiscopatus Moguntini Tabulae , which contained seventeen maps: Archiepis Copatus Moguntini Typus , Nova et Accurata Eisfeldiae , Territorii Erfurtensis , Ampt Naumburg in Hessen , Ampt Fritzlar in Hessen , Ampt Amoeneburg , Court Katzenberg in Hessen , Ampt Neustatt in Hessen , Locorum Moeno Mogono Adiacentium , Das Ampt Bischoffsheim and Krautheim , Das Ampt Amorbach , Allnfeldt and Neydenaw , Locurum Moeno Mogono , Reliquorum Moeno Mogono Adiacentium , Rheno Superiori ab una parte Adiacentium and Rheno Inferio ab utracentiume . The last sheet that shows Koblenz ( Coblentz ) and the areas adjoining it to the west is unnamed.

Les Environs de Paris (1691): A map from the fortress book Quotidiani Martis Labores cum specialibus Tabellis by Nikolaus Person

Other cartographic works by Nikolaus Person included the maps Exactissima Tabula Electoratuum Moguntini Trevirensis, et Palatina ... (1689), states ahm Rhine and Neckar, all where part of the Bischthumbs Speyer, the Pfaltz, Herzogth. Württemberg ... to be found (1694) and Archiepiscopatus et Electoratus Moguntini una cum adjacentibus Repraesentatio ... (after 1704).

The most extensive work by Nikolaus Person, probably already started in France, is certainly the fortress book Quotidiani Martis Labores cum specialibus Tabellis (1692–1705), which contains over 100 city plans and maps, mainly cities and areas in Germany, but also in France and other European countries such as the fortifications of Oradea in Romania. He had already published the work Ars hodierna Moniendi or Heutliche Fortification in 1690 about the fortress construction itself and its latest status . This was followed by a few smaller works on architecture in various categories up to around 1706 (in addition to the Kurmainzer Atlas).

As an architect, Nikolaus Person designed the Favorite Pleasure Palace in Mainz together with Maximilian von Welsch (1671–1745) and started its construction. This extensive complex, which also included lavish gardens and water features, was built by the Elector of Mainz Lothar Franz von Schönborn (1655–1729). Construction began in 1700 and was largely completed in 1722. - Nikolaus Person was also involved in the renovation of the Count's Schönborn Castle in Gaibach (1693–1710), another project of the Elector, and wrote a pamphlet ( Hortus, et castrum Geibach ). - Nikolaus Person also engraved a number of portraits in copper, such as one by the Italian doctor Paulus Zacchias (1584–1659).

(Nikolaus person, of whose details nothing seems to have been communicated, rests in the cemetery of the Quintinskirche in Mainz.)

reception

In their catalog Maps of the Palatinate on the Rhine 1513–1803 Hellwig / Reiniger / Stopp say that Nikolaus person went his own way in the scientific as well as in the technical accomplishment of cartographic tasks. As an introduction, the authors state that the success of the work of Johann Baptist Homann (1664–1724) and Matthäus Seutter (1678–1757) has almost led to the name of Nikolaus Person in the Rhineland being forgotten. And her final consideration about person reads: A person who knew how to give his maps and plans an unmistakable personal touch, found [...] hardly any imitators unless you want to recognize person's influence in Bodenehr's war theater volumes with interspersed small maps of the area.

The German cartographer and geographer Ruthardt Oehme (1901–1987) explains that Nikolaus Person's maps are characterized by strong, clear lines and a certain artistic design. And his final assessment of Person is: Person is one of the more important cartographers of the 17th century. Its large-scale maps, with their road network and diverse topographical information (on the Mainz maps: folding rules, watchtowers, glassworks, brickworks, mills, iron and copper works, salt sods, hot baths, Sauerbrunnen, forest names) are among the best historical-geographical sources of various German sources Landscapes.

Works (selection)

  • Ars hodierna Moniendi or Heutliche Fortification , Mainz 1690 (56 pages)
  • The five pillars of architecture , Mainz 1691 (10 pages)
  • Novae Archiepiscopatus Mogutini Tabulae , Mainz 1690/94 (48 pages)
  • Quotidiani Martis Labores cum specialibus Tabellis , Mainz 1692–1704
  • Novi Architecturae Speculi Hortensia , Mainz 1697 (28 pages)
  • Hortus, et castrum Geibach , Mainz 1697 (? Pages)
  • Novi Architecturae Speculi Mechanica , Mainz 1702 (28 pages)
  • Novum architecturae speculum , Mainz around 1706 (23 pages)

literature

  • Wolfgang Adam, Siegrid Westphal (ed.): Handbook of cultural centers of the early modern age: Cities and residences in the old German-speaking area , Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-020703-3
  • Fritz Hellwig, Wolfgang Reiniger, Klaus Stopp: Maps of the Palatinate on the Rhine 1513–1803: Catalog of the printed maps with an introduction to map history , W. Reiniger, Bad Kreuznach 1984, ISBN 3-923714-01-7
  • Peter H. Meurer (Ed.): Das Festungsbuch des Nicolas Person , Verlag Pfaehler, Bad Neustadt an der Saale 1984, ISBN 978-3-922923-29-9 , ISBN 3-922923-29-1
  • Ruthardt Oehme: The history of the cartography of the German southwest: With 16 color plates and 42 black and white maps , Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Konstanz and Stuttgart 1961

Web links

Commons : Nikolaus Person  - Collection of Images

Remarks

  1. Wolfgang Adam, Siegrid Westphal (ed.): Handbook of cultural centers of the early modern period: Cities and Residences in the old German-speaking area (2012), page 1429
  2. ^ Fritz Hellwig, Wolfgang Reiniger, Klaus Stopp: Maps of the Palatinate on the Rhine 1513–1803 (1984), page 34
  3. Ruthardt Oehme: The history of the cartography of the German Southwest (1961), page 115