De Wit, Frederick “Regnum Neapolis in quo sunt Aprutium Ulterius et Citerius...” [Kingdom of Naples]

Frederick De Wit (1629-1706).  “Regnum Neapolis in quo sunt Aprutium Ulterius et Citerius, Comitatus Molsisius, Terra Laboris, Capitania Principatus Ulterior et Citerior Terra Bariensis et Hidruntina Basilcata Calabria Citerior et Ulterior.” 

Amsterdam: F. De Wit, ca. 1685.  23 x 19 ¼ (neat lines).  Engraving.  Faded original outline hand color with oxidation and flaking of old hand color on heraldic shields.  Minor spotting in Mediterranean Sea.  Else, good condition. 

A lovely seventeenth century map of the southern Italian peninsula by Frederick de Wit.  De Wit followed in the footsteps of the earlier Dutch cartographic publishers Jansson and Blaeu, and like them, he issued maps known for their beautiful engraving and hand coloring.  Detail is dense and accurate, but it is for the aesthetic features that this map most shines.