WOLFF, J. heirs / WERNER, F. B. - Hamburg.

A spectacular panoramic view of Hamburg, with legends numbered 1-19 and A-Z in German. With the title in a banderol.

After a design by Friedrich Bernhard Werner (1690-1776) who was born in Silesia. During his youth he led a life of adventure, working as a military engineer and cartographer, travelling about as a quack doctor, working as an operator with a theatre in Prague and translating librettos for a group of wandering comedians. But after his marriage in 1718 he began a new life and concentrated on developing his undeniable artistic and cartographic talents.
These skills brought him into contact with several leading art dealers and map publishers in Augsburg, most importantly the heirs of Jeremias Wolff (1663-1724).
He began his series of large city views for Wolff's heirs in 1729, when he returned to Augsburg after a European tour, and they commissioned further European tours in the 1730's to make delineations of the important cities and the architecture of the surrounding countryside.
These designs and impressions were published in series by several partners of the Wolff firm, primarily by Johann Friedrich Probst (1719 or 1721-1781), and later by his brother Georg Balthasar Probst (1732-1801).