Atlas Maior - Italia [Hardcover]

Joan Blaeu (Author), Peter Van der Krogt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

Maps of Italy from Joan Blaeu's exquisite world atlas of 1665 The finest and most comprehensive baroque atlas was Joan Blaeu's 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, Blaeu's Atlas Maior was a remarkable achievement and remains to this day one of history's finest examples of mapmaking. This reprint, including all 60 maps of Italy, is made from the National Library of Vienna's 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 Utrecht's Faculty of Geosciences. Since 1990 he has been working on Koeman's 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 Unesco's ?Memory of the World? register in 2004.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joan Blaeu (1596 Alkmaar - 1673 Amsterdam) was the son of Willem Blaeu and a leading Dutch cartographer. In 1620 he became a doctor of law and subsequently joined his father's workshop. In 1635 they published the two-volume Novus Atlas (Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus). Joan and his brother Cornelius took over the workshop after their father had died in 1638. Joan became the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Around 1649 he published a collection of Dutch city maps entitled Tooneel der Steeden (Theater of Cities). In 1651 he was voted into the Amsterdam council. In 1654 he published the first atlas of Scotland. In 1662 he reissued the atlas in 11 volumes, known as the Atlas Maior. A cosmology was planned as his next project, but a fire destroyed the workshop in 1672. Joan Blaeu died in the following year. Since 1990, Peter van der Krogt, the leading expert in the field of Dutch atlases, has been working on Koeman's Atlantes Neerlandici, the cartobibliography of atlases published in the Netherlands. His second project is the compilation, in cooperation with the Nijmegen University, of an illustrated and annotated catalogue of the Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem, the most important multivolume atlas preserved in the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; Annotated edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822851078
• ISBN-13: 978-3822851074
• Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 10.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,230,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cartographical Masterpiece Within Reach, April 3, 2007

By 

nnd-la (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlas Maior - Italia (Hardcover)

Atlas Maior, originally published between 1662 and 1665 by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu, was an 11-volume, cartographical masterpiece of the Baroque period. Today, it's still known as one of history's finest examples of commercial mapmaking. Tachen's reprint is made from a well-preserved, hand-colored and gold-leaf copy of the atlas in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna. The maps, originally printed from hand-engraved copperplates, are exquisite, if not inspired.

The Italia book features all 60 color maps and all of Blaeu's original notes (translated). Blaeu's comments provide a glimpse of the 17th-century view of the world; his introduction, while interesting, is a bit dense. Thankfully, the Italia book also includes a generously illustrated introduction from Peter van der Krogt, giving a brief history of Dutch map and atlas production, as well as some details on the making of the Atlas Maior in particular. It's unfortunate that Van der Krogt's commentary does not continue through the book; given the extraordinary qualities of the individual maps, their corresponding captions are far too brief.

However, with its large format and beautifully printed color maps, Taschen's Atlas Maior packs a great deal of value and is a worthy addition to any art or map enthusiast's book collection.

(Multilingual text is in Italian, English, and German)