This is an late 18th-century map by the prominent German engraver and publisher Tobias Conrad Lotter, based in Augsburg.

The map depicts the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (along with the District of Bukovina), a region that was annexed by the Habsburg Monarchy (Austrian Empire) during the First Partition of Poland in 1772.

Here is a detailed breakdown of the historical and cartographic elements visible on this map:

Title Block & Cartouche

Located in the lower-left corner, the French title block reads:

Carte nouvelle des Royaumes DE GALIZIE ET LODOMERIE avec le District de Bukowine. à Augsbourg chez Tobie Conrad Lotter.

Below the title, the Explication des Signes (Legend) defines the cartographic symbols used for infrastructure and settlements:

  • Ville fortifiée: Fortified town

  • Ville ordinaire: Ordinary town

  • Bourg: Market town / Borough

  • Hameau: Hamlet

  • Chemin de Poste: Post road (crucial for imperial communication and travel)

  • Poste: Post station

  • Le Cours de Rivières: Course of rivers

Administrative Divisions (Cercles)

The map colors and borders outline the administrative reorganization under Austrian rule, dividing the territory into numbered Cercles (districts or Kreise).

The two tables at the bottom categorize these divisions. The smaller grid system organizes key regional centers (such as Lemberg / Lviv, Halicz / Halych, Zamosc, Przemysl, and Brody).

The long rectangular table at the very bottom lists the 18 Cercles:

  1. Myslenice

  2. Bochnia

  3. Sandez (Sącz)

  4. Tarnow

  5. Rzeszow

  6. Dukla

  7. Tomaszow

  8. Zamosc

  9. Belz

  10. Lisko (Lesko)

  11. Przemysl

  12. Sambor

  13. Lemberg

  14. Zloczow

  15. Brody

  16. Halicz

  17. Stanislawow

  18. Czernowic (Chernivtsi, representing Bukovina)

Bordering Regions

The map explicitly labels the historical neighboring territories, which helps contextualize the fluid borders of late 18th-century Central Europe:

  • North/West: Sandomirer Palatinat, Lubliner Palatinat, and Krakauer Palatinat (reflecting the former Polish Palatinates/Voivodeships).

  • East: Volchinier Palatinat (Volhynia) and Podolier Palatinat (Podolia).

  • South/Southwest: Comitatus Marmarotiensis and other Latin-labeled Hungarian counties (Com.) along the Carpathian Mountains, marking the border with the Kingdom of Hungary.

  • Southeast: Moldau (Moldavia), bordering the newly acquired Bukovina district.

Historical Context & Rarity

Tobias Conrad Lotter passed away in 1777, and his publishing house was continued by his sons and his son-in-law, G.F. Riecke. Because Bukovina was completely incorporated into Austrian Galicia around 1775, this map captures a very specific, brief window of geopolitical transition in the late 1770s or early 1780s.

The hand-colored regional washes, prominent classical wind rose (compass) in the top right, and detailed post-road networks make this a highly prized piece for collectors of Eastern European and Austro-Hungarian cartography.


ORIGINAL AUTHENTIC MAP


printed circa 1775 in Germany


Metric SIZE: 66.5 cm x 54 cm

Imperial SIZE: 21.25 inch x 26.50 inch