Map by Merian - 1615

At the bottom of the map, we see two pages of text printed on three columns dated 1615. On top a banner contains the title: LE PLAN DE LA VILLE, CITE, VNIVERSITE ET FAVX-BOVRGS DE PARIS AVEC LA DESCRIPTION DE SON ANTIQVITE ET SINGVLIARITES. To the left, the first page between the Château de Vincennes and the Marets du Temple, is the coat of arms of Paris, in the middle of a crown of laural leaves, and next to the coat of arms of France and Navarre, encircled by the necklace of the order of the Holy Spirit. In the lower left, one can read these four lines of verse:

Cette ville est un autre monde
Dedans, un monde florissant,
En peuples et en biens puissants
Que de toutes choses abonde.

The second page has no particular orement, except for a sort of large compass rose placed in the middle of the River Seine, near the Jardin des Tuileries.

The PLan de Merian was conterfited numerous times, and must have been very well appreciated during its time. It is interesting to note that it is nevertheless one of the less exact maps published between 1600 and 1652, and is in fact more of a "bird's eye view" of the city than a map.