Mapa geographica regni Bohemiae in duodecim circulos divisae cum comitatu Glacensi et districtu Egerano adiunctis circumiacentium regionum partibus conterminis ex accurata totius regni perlustratione et geometrica dimensione omnibus, ut par est, numeris absoluta et ad usum commodum nec non omnia et singula distinctius cognospenda XXV sectionibus exhibita a Joh.Christoph Muller, S.C.M. capitan.et ingen A.C.MDCCXX.

Müller’s large map was very inconvenient due to its format, which is why it was also published in a reduced format. The reduction was organised by Müller’s successor Johann Wolfgang Wieland. Müller’s division into 25 sections was preserved, but these were reduced to 4/7 of the original size, so the reduced maps have a scale of 1:231 000. The engraving is again the work of Michal Kauffer and clearly and sensitively depicts Müller’s original large map. The embellishment of the reduced version is not from the Herz workshop – its author is Jeroným Sperling. Müller’s map is considered the most expensive and largest work of old cartography ever created by an individual. Müller received official permission to map Bohemia and Moravia on 4 May 1712 in the form of an imperial patent. Mapping began in 1712 and was completed in November 1717. The maps of individual regions were submitted to the regional governors for revision. In early 1720, a final draft of the entire map was submitted to the guild committee, which immediately organised the creation of an engraving. It was an extensive and demanding job and nobody could be found in Bohemia to take on the task. Therefore, Augspurger engraver Michal Kauffer was invited to Prague to create a cover sheet and 25 sections of the large map. Müller never lived to see the map published. He passed away during preparations to map Silesia on 21 June 1721. Corrections to the prints of the remaining plates were entrusted to military engineer Jan Wolfgang Wieland. The map was completed in 1722. By putting together the 25 parts, an imposing image is created with embellishments in the corners engraved according to patterns by Czech painter Václav Vavřinec Reiner. The embellishments were created by Augspurg engraver Jan Daniel Herz. Thanks to Reiner’s work, Müller’s map is among the most richly and creatively decorated maps of the 18th century. The upper-left-hand corner contains a view of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle, the Old Town Bridge Tower and part of Hradčany Square are also visible. Above is a depiction of the Stará Boleslav palladium of Bohemia and St. Wenceslas in armour and ermine, placing the Czech lands under the protection of the Virgin Mary. There is also an angel holding a standard in its left hand with the Přemysl eagle and a shield in its right hand with the same emblem. The cover sheet for the large map is far more sparsely embellished. In the upper left is the Czech emblem, in the upper right is a view of Prague, in the bottom left is a printed legend and in the bottom right the title of the map. Müller’s map is mounted in a frame using a rectangular grid with a preserved 50th parallel, but the map was placed in this frame at a later date. An important part of the map is the division of the country into 12 regions, which was introduced in 1714. Their approximate areas were obtained cartometrically.
Dimensions: 28.8 x 33.7 cm individual parts.