Der Königlichen Republik Polen Woiwodschaften Krakow u. Sandomir

Original antique map of the voivodeships (palatinates) of Kraków and Sandomierz, in the south of the Republic of Poland, engraved by Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly and published in Vienna in 1791. The map depicts two of the principal administrative divisions of Poland in the late 18th century, located in the central region of the country. The Voivodeship of Kraków included the city of Kraków, the former royal capital and a political and cultural centre. The Voivodeship of Sandomierz extended to the east, along the course of the Vistula. In 1791 Poland was passing through a critical period of its history: that same year the Constitution of 3 May was promulgated, an attempt at reform to save the country’s independence, which would be divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria two years later in the Second Partition. Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly was an Austrian cartographer and publisher active in Vienna between 1760 and 1820. He published a large geographical atlas in several volumes covering all the regions of Europe. Copperplate engraving.