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Description

Nice example of Coronelli's 2-sheet map of Europe.

The map extends from Iceland (Volcanoes shown) and the coast of North America to is embellished Russia, Ukraine and the Caspian Sea, and includes 2 decorative cartouches, a sea monster being attacked by two native rown boats and a scale of miles.

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli was among the most important and influential map makers of the late 17th Century. After starting his career in Venice, he was invited by Louis XIV to Paris to construct a monumental set of globes, which are among the most famous cartographic works of the 17th Century. During his time in Paris, he collaborated extensively with JB Nolin, which provided him with access to the best available French maps, at a time when France was asserting its pre-eminence in the field of map making. As a result of this access, Coronelli's maps are among the most accurate of their time, combining the best available geographical information with Coronelli's remarkable engraving style.

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli Biography

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718) was one of the most influential Italian mapmakers and was known especially for his globes and atlases. The son of a tailor, Vincenzo was apprenticed to a xylographer (a wood block engraver) at a young age. At fifteen he became a novice in a Franciscan monastery. At sixteen he published his first book, the first of 140 publications he would write in his lifetime. The order recognized his intellectual ability and saw him educated in Venice and Rome. He earned a doctorate in theology, but also studied astronomy. By the late 1670s, he was working on geography and was commissioned to create a set of globes for the Duke of Parma. These globes were five feet in diameter. The Parma globes led to Coronelli being named theologian to the Duke and receiving a bigger commission, this one from Louis XIV of France. Coronelli moved to Paris for two years to construct the King’s huge globes, which are 12.5 feet in diameter and weigh 2 tons.

The globes for the French King led to a craze for Coronelli’s work and he traveled Europe making globes for the ultra-elite. By 1705, he had returned to Venice. There, he founded the first geographical society, the Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti and was named Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice. He died in 1718.