Manuscript map of the Austrian-Ottoman border according to the Karlowitz Treaty, 1703

MAPPA / LINEÆ LIMITANEÆ,/ Utriusq. Imperii, Cæsarei et Ottomanici,/ juxta Instrumentum Pacis, statutum in Conventu Carlovizensi:/ Facta ad usum Instructionum pro Executione Pacis, tam cum Turcis,/ quam Moldavis, Valachis et Venetis. Manuscript map by Luigi Ferdinando MARSIGLI and Johann Christoph MÜLLER, s.a. [1703].

59,3-59,5 x 105,5-106,1 cm (map), 59,2-59,4 x 105,3-105,9 cm (map field), 64,5-65 x 111-112 cm (sheet size). Scale 1:1.133.000. Pen-and-ink and watercolour on paper, mounted on linen.

Content: The large-scale manuscript map, oriented to the south, marks the border line established after the Treaty of Karlowitz on January 26th, 1699, as well as the border demarcation at Novi Grad (Novi) between the Austrians and the Ottomans, which ought to be completed on August 12th, 1703.

The southern areas above the red border line belong to the Ottoman Empire and the northern areas below to the Habsburg Monarchy. The line begins at its southernmost point at Terminus A quo near Câmpulung (Campolongo) at about 25.8 degrees east of Greenwich and about 47.5 degrees north latitude, and ends at its northernmost point just 60 kilometres off the Adriatic coast at Terminus AD quem south of Bihać (Bihacz) at a longitude of about 15.9 degrees east and a latitude of more than 44.5 degrees north. The easternmost point of the borderline is at Ghimeș (Gemes) at over 26.1 degrees east longitude, the westernmost point at Slunj (Slun) at about 15.6 degrees east. This corresponds to a west-east extension of about 810 kilometres.

Particularly noteworthy are the 13 pillars crowned with a cross depicted along the border between the Borgo Pass (Burgos) and Dobra. The nine settlements marked with flames indicate fortresses that, according to the treaty, are still to be grind, all of which are marked on the Ottoman side of the border area. Most of the Danube (Danubius, fl.) is depicted as a green band through the parts of the country claimed by the Ottoman Empire (Moldavia, Wallachia, the Temescher Banat, Serbia with Belgrade, Bosnia). Transylvania (Siebenbürgen) with Brașov (Cronstat) and Sibiu (Hermanstat), southern Hungarian Szeged (Segedin), Slavonia and southern Croatia can be identified on the Habsburg side. The topographical reproduction concentrates exclusively on the border area, where the relief is depicted in the manner of molehills. The map was probably intended exclusively for official purposes.

The well-known Hungarian map historian Dr. András Deák attributed the map to the important German cartographer Johann Christoph Müller (1673-1721). Müller worked in his native city of Nuremberg for the astronomer and engraver Georg Christoph Eimmart (1638-1705) before becoming an associate of Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1658-1730), in Austrian service from 1696 to 1703. Marsigli was involved in the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) as a military engineer and envoy, and after peace had been concluded he was appointed head of the imperial commission responsible for the exact demarcation of the borders. Marsigli and Müller recorded the new Austrian-Hungarian-Ottman border at a scale of approximately 1:37,000 from 1699 to 1700. The map presented here is probably due to Müller alone, as Marsigli was ordered to Breisach in 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Provenance: The first owner and dedicatee of the map was Wilhelm Johann Anton von und zu Daun (1621-1706). Daun was field marshal general of the Austrian army in the "Turkish Wars". His successor in this position and second owner of the map was Johann Joseph Philipp Count Harrach (1678-1764). The map remained in the possession of the Harrachs until the 1960s and was subsequently acquired by a now defunct Viennese antiquarian bookshop in the course of a purchase of a larger quantity of prints and books. The current, fourth owner acquired the map from this antiquarian bookshop.

Condition: Carefully restored. Small missing parts in the fold and in the white margin carefully repaired. Old mounting on linen.

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