Plan of Paris

The 19th century was only a time of the industrial revolution, scientific and technical progress, and development of the state administration, but also the rise of people travelling the continent and beyond it. In the so-called “Century of Steam”, there was a rapid increase in the population of cities. The first cities with a population of a million appeared in Europe. This resulted in greater demand for detailed city plans. In maps such as the city plan of Paris presented here, the most important locations have been marked – office buildings and hospitals. The plan omits the suburbs of Paris, and focuses mainly on the so-called City Centre. The map was most likely published by a publishing house, which has run bookshops since 1801 – “Galignani” is the name of the back of the city plan. The map is foldable, bound in a hard fabric cover. The Potocki library ex libris and the place of purchase can be found on the back. The Counts Potocki – like most Polish aristocrats – travelled extensively, hence a large collection of plans and maps has survived. Łukasz Chrobak