Coronelli’s rare atlas of the British Isles

A composite atlas of maps and views from Coronelli’s intended series, ​‘Teatro della guerra, diviso in XXXXVIII. parti, in cui sono esattamente delineati … i regni, le provincie, le cittá, le fortezze … descritti fin l’anno 1700 i regni. le provincie, le città … dell’ Europa, Asia, Africa, e dell’una, e l’altra America, in pianta, in veduta, o in elevazione, colle nuove loro fortificationi’, representative of the countries which fought in the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1713), and destined for the members of the ​‘Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti’. In the end, the work did not materialize, however, some parts were published, as here. The current example of the ​‘Isole Britanniche’, parts 4 and 5 of the ​‘Teatro…’ compares with that the British Library, which also has 80 engraved plates. In addition to maps of England, Scotland and Ireland, the current atlas includes maps of Bermuda, Iceland, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Maps and plates:
[England]
​‘Anna…’, oval portrait of Queen Anne
Untitled folding view of Minerva in front of the Palace of Westminster
​’Isole Britanniche Delineate dal Coronelli
​’Inghilterra
​’Guglielmo III re della Gran Bretagna’, large folding portrait of William III, laid down
​’Anna Angliae et c. Regina’, oblong portrait of Queen Anne
​’Equitum Gateriae Angliae’
​‘Parte meridionale del Regno d’Inghilterra’, large folding map of southern England
​’Parte settentrionale del Regno d’Inghilterra’, large folding map of northern England
​’XXXII nome de venti praticati dagl’Inglesi
​’Londra – Edemburgo
​’Londra, Westminster, York, Winsoi (Windsor), Cantorbery (Canterbury), Rochester
​’Dublin, Chester, Edemburgo, Exester, Carlile, Durham
​’Eniskelling, Londonderry, Kinsale, S. Assaph, Galway, Limerick, Flint, Debigh, Harlieg, Radnor, Montgomery, Corke
​’Chiefe, ed alter Fabbriche, che s ofservano nella Strada commune, viaggiando l’Inghiterra’, folding views of castles and churches
​’Ponti cospicui dell’Inghilterra’, folding views of bridges
Untitled folding views of castles and bridges
​’Fiume Tamigi’, folding chart of the River Thames
​’Londra’, folding plan, torn with early repair on verso
​’Ecclesia S. M. le Bour Londini
​’Soesdyck, palazzo di delicie del re
​’Somerset House
​’White Hall’
​‘Cathedralis S. Pauli Londini
​’Westminster Hall
​’Monument
​’Borsa Reale di Londra
​’Maniera di smorzare gl incendi’
Untitled view of a water pump tackling the fire of London ​“T.II.c.iio“ 
​‘Cathedralis Ecclesia Salsbury
​’Prospetto di Windsor
​’Prospello di Windsor — Altro prospetto di Windsor’, folding
​’S. Peters Church abbazia di Westminster
​’Guild Hall
​’Torre di Londra
​’White Hal
​’Prospetto di Windsor’, folding
​’Collegium Regale de Etona prope Winsor’

[Scotland]
​‘Stemma R. Scotiae’, royal arms of Scotland
​’Scotia parte meridionale’, large folding map of southern Scotland
​’Scotia parte settentrionale’, large folding map of northern Scotland
​’La Scozia
​’Edenburgo metropoli della Scozia
​’Edenburgo o Edenburgum, metropoli della Scozia
​’Spiagge d’Irlanda da Corck a Slynhoost
​’Isole Fero o Farre’, folding
​’Sorlinge
​’Foce del Tamigi
​’Bocca del fiume Tamigi’, bound upside-down
​’Nordwich capitale del contado di Norfolk
​’Yorke Eboracum
​’Galwaia, Galvay, e Gallive
​’Collegium B. Mariae Prope’ Winton
​’Stafford…
​‘Ipswich
​’Berwich…
​‘Norwich…
​‘Limerich…
​‘Rochester…
​‘Durham…
​‘Canterbury…
​‘Corchaia…
​‘Cester…
​‘L’Isole Ebridi’, folding
​’I. Jarsey olim Caesarea
​’Piagge dell’Inghilterra da Portland a Lezard
​’Piagge d’Inghilterra da Fierley a Poortland
​’Wight I’
​‘Passo di Cales
​’I. Garnsey
​’Isole Orcadi
​’I. Farne
​’Isola Anglesey
​’D’ Irlanda Mani
​’Coste d’Inghilterra fra Capo Lezard e Portland’

[World]
​‘I. Bermude’, folding

[Ireland]
​‘Stemma antiquum R. Hiberniae — Stemma hodiernum R. Hiberniae
​’Irlanda
​’Dublin
​’Piagge d’Irlanda da Porto Scheeps a Drodagh
​’Coste dell’Irlanda da Capo de Hoorn a Slynehead’

[World]
​‘Isola d’Islanda’, folding
​’Arcipelago del Mexico’, folding

Vincenzo Coronelli (1650–1718) mainly lived and worked in Venice, but an opportunity arose to make his name when an early commission for two globes for the Duke of Parma brought him to the attention of the Cardinal d’Estrées, who summoned him to Paris to create two huge globes for Louis XIV. He was made royal cartographer to Louis XIV in 1681 as a result, and worked in Paris for two years. On his return to Venice, Coronelli was made cosmographer to the Republic, and granted a stipend of 400 florins a year.

In addition to globes and globe gores, he issued the ​‘Atlante Veneto’ in 1691, which was intended to be an extension of Blaeu’s atlas in three parts, covering hydrography and ancient and modern geography. One of the volumes was an isolario.

Coronelli also founded the world’s oldest surviving geographical society, the Accademia degli Argonauti, named for Jason and the Argonauts, the adventurers who set out to find the golden fleece; their symbol was the globe surmounted by a ship in full sail. A list published in the ​‘Epitome cosmografica’ in 1693 reveals that the society counted princes, ambassadors and cardinals amongst its members. They were to receive a minimum of six copper engravings a month, creating a guaranteed market for Coronelli’s productions. Before his death, he had managed to produce six volumes of what he hoped would be a comprehensive encyclopedia, the ​‘Biblioteca universale sacro-profana’.

Rare: only two examples of the ​‘Isole Britanniche’ have sold at auction in available records, with one appearing twice, most recently at Christie’s in 2006, when it was bound with Coronelli’s ​‘Oxoniae, atque Cantabrigiae Universitates’.