Atlas Maior - Italia

About this book

Maps of Italy from Joan Blaeus exquisite world atlas of 1665 The finest and most comprehensive baroque atlas was Joan Blaeus exceptional Atlas Maior completed in 1665. The original eleven-volume Latin edition containing 594 maps put Blaeu ahead of his staunch competitor mapmaker Joanes Janssonius whose rivalry inspired Blaeu to produce a grandiose edition of the largest and most complete atlas to date. Covering Arctica Europe Africa Asia and America Blaeus Atlas Maior was a remarkable achievement and remains to this day one of historys finest examples of mapmaking. This reprint including all 60 maps of Italy is made from the National Library of Viennas colored gold-heightened copy thus assuring the best possible detail and quality. Alongside original quotes from Joan Blaeu relating to the individual maps the new text by Peter van der Krogt explains the historical and cultural associations and introduces the reader into the fascinating world of early modern cartography. The text is in Italian English and German. The author: Peter van der Krogt the leading expert in the field of Dutch atlases is a collaborator on the Explokart Research Program for the History of Cartography at the University of Utrechts Faculty of Geosciences. Since 1990 he has been working on Koemans Atlantes Neerlandici the carto-bibliography of atlases published in the Netherlands. His second project is the compilation in co-operation with the Nijmegen University of an illustrated and annotated catalogue of the Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem the most important multi-volume atlas preserved in the Austrian National Library which was added to Unescos ?Memory of the World? register in 2004.