Bohemia, depicted as a Rose

 Iustitia  et Pietate [inuen et delineavit],  ca 1677, by Bohuslav Balbinus, Prague 
 
An exquisitely engraved map of Bohemia depicted as a flowering rose.  The copperplate engraving on laid paper portrays the stem of the rose that begins at Vienna and blossoms into a flower with Prague as its center and with Austria, Moravia, Bavaria, Silesia, and Messina on its leaves.  At the head of the map, which is in color; is a crown, an heraldic lion (the arms of the Emperor Leopold I), a distance scale, and a compass.  The numbers seen of the petals of the rose refer to different regions of Bohemia.  The text, in part, at the bottom of the map reads 'The Rose of Bohemia, bloody for all centuries, where more than 80 great battles have been fought'.  The cartographer, Balbinus was a Jesuit scientist devoted to Bohemia.  The map is rated Excellent with no apparent flaws noted and measures approximately ( 10.8" x 15.4"  - 30 x 41.2 cm). 


Feels kinda strange to think our ancestors lived with such strife, and it's even stranger that anyone considered constant bloody battles as NOBLE.
Found at Cartographic Associates, online.