Two adjoining gores from Coronelli's influential three-and-a-half-foot globe of the world, showing most of the continent of Australia, titled 'Het Niew Hollandt | Nuova Hollanda'
[Venice, Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti, circa 1701].
A pair of copper-engraved maps (sheet size 489 × 334 mm and 489 × 333 mm; platemarks approximately 285 mm and 280 mm at the widest point), printed on sturdy laid paper (likely Venetian) with 'tre lune' watermarks, now individually archivally mounted and matted, ready for framing (external dimensions 615 × 445 mm).
Top portion of the right-hand gore a little under-inked; a few unobtrusive spots of foxing; a couple of small marks; in excellent condition.
The plates for these gores were engraved in 1688 for Coronelli's large 110 cm (42 inch) globe. Engraved vignettes and text show speculative scenes from the unknown interior (including an elephant and numerous deer), drawing on the accounts of Marco Polo. The large cartouche containing the dedication to Francesco Morosini, Doge of Venice, includes a portrait of Coronelli, and makes reference to his 'Atlante Veneto'. These examples would have been prepared for an early re-issue in atlas form. The copper plates, each showing a section of the globe from the equator to the polar calotte, were too large for the folio sheets on which they were printed. In early impressions (as here) the sections of the plates not to be printed were masked (either at the top or bottom edge, or both), resulting in a plate mark visible at only two or three edges of the printed image. In later impressions (circa 1705) the plates were cut in two, resulting in segments smaller than the paper, with a plate mark consequently visible on all sides of the image. Neither of the present plates has a plate mark on all sides, so we are confident in attributing it to the earlier edition. A third gore (not present), showing the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula and part of the coasts of Tasmania, completed the known coastline of Australia. 'Vincenzo Coronelli was one of Italy's most illustrious cartographers and globe-makers. A member of the Franciscan order, Coronelli rose to be its General before being deposed following charges of irregularity. A great deal of his time must have been spent in cartographical research as he drew, engraved, and printed over 400 maps; he also founded the learned society Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti. In the early 1680s he constructed two vast globes - terrestrial and celestial - over fifteen feet in diameter for Louis XIV; these were large and strong enough for people to enter by a special door. These globes were drawn and painted by hand, whereas Coronelli's globes of 1688 were based on printed gores ... They represent a globe of 110 centimetres in diameter; one of the largest based on printed gores hitherto ... Some of the half-gores from the 1688 plates were reprinted in the 1696-97 edition of his "Isolario" and later in his "Libro dei Globi" ...' (Shirley 537).
Item #139288
Price (AUD):
$15,000.00