Pair of maps relating to Londonderry, including a fine manuscript map.
The first is a beautiful and finely executed watercolour very much in the style of a French military engineer. The large red compass rose indicates the plan is oriented with north pointing west-northwest. It is centered on Londonderry and the river Foyle, but extends to modern Portsalon and Lough Swilly in the upper sheet. Good detail of the towns and villages along Lough Foyle, local roads, hills, mountains and woodland are all highlighted. Soundings are given both for the River Foyle and Port Sully. The large vignette in the upper left corner presents the title as carved on a large stone tablet leaning on a river bank and flanked by two reclining water gods.

The second is an engraved town plan of Londonderry prepared for the “Theatrum Europaeum”, published by Matthaus Merian and his heirs, from around 1690. Londonderry was the first planned fortified city in Ireland, begun in 1613, with the walls completed in 1619. This plan depicts the siege of the city in April 1689, then occupied by Williamite forces, loyal to William of Orange, the Protestant claimant to the throne, when it was besieged by Jacobite forces loyal to the Catholic King James II. The siege lasted for one hundred days, ending when the city was relieved by the Royal Navy. It illustrates various aspects of the siege, fighting, troop movements along the River Foyle and so on, with warships depicted on the river. It also includes a large, decorative compass rose indicating the plan is oriented with north pointing south-southeast.