Le Gran Duché de Toscane - Van der Aa 1736

📜 Description
Original geographical map by A. Du Bois, engraved and published by Pieter van der Aa in Leiden in 1736, depicting the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the surrounding territories of Central Italy. This antique map documents the administrative and territorial organization of Grand Ducal Tuscany during the early eighteenth century, with particular attention to political boundaries, settlements, major waterways, communication routes, and the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. The composition is organized according to a clear and functional cartographic layout, enriched by an elaborate figurative cartouche in the lower left corner containing the title of the map, a portrait medallion, and allegorical attributes associated with the arts and the territory. Geographical inscriptions and place names, carefully distributed across the entire surface, confirm the documentary function of the work and its intended audience of educated readers interested in the geographical knowledge of early modern Europe. Executed in etching on paper and issued in the work *La Geographie Moderne*, the map constitutes a significant testimony to eighteenth-century Dutch cartographic production and to the international dissemination of geographical knowledge through the great publishing enterprises of Pieter van der Aa.

📚 Historical and Artistic Note
Pieter van der Aa (1659–1733) was one of the most active publishers and cartographers in the Netherlands between the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. His publications contributed significantly to the dissemination of European geographical knowledge through the adaptation and updating of French, Dutch, and German cartographic sources. This map, based on the work of the geographer A. Du Bois and included in the collection *La Geographie Moderne*, reflects the Enlightenment interest in the systematic representation of territory and highlights the role of Leiden as an important center of European cartographic publishing during the period.

🧾 Technical Details
Type: Original geographical map
Author / Cartographer: A. Du Bois
Publisher / Printer: Pieter van der Aa; J. Vanden Kieboom; G. Block
Place: Leiden
Date: 1736
Material: Paper
Technique: Etching
Title / Subject: *Le Grand Duché de Toscane*
Edition: From *La Geographie Moderne*
Dimensions: Sheet 25 × 34 cm; engraved area 22.5 × 29.5 cm

🔍 Condition Report
Sheet in very good overall condition. Well-preserved paper with minor and expected signs of age consistent with the period. Crisp and clearly legible engraved impression. Margins present. Blank verso. Overall preservation is very good.