Napoli di Romania Assediato, e preso dall'Armi della Serenissima Republica di Venezia…20. Ag. 1686

Reference: MS8726
Author Vincenzo CORONELLI
Year: 1690 ca.
Zone: Nafplion
Printed: Venice
Measures: 620 x 460 mm
Not Available

Reference: MS8726
Author Vincenzo CORONELLI
Year: 1690 ca.
Zone: Nafplion
Printed: Venice
Measures: 620 x 460 mm
Not Available

Description

Beautiful historical-geographical map showing the Venetian siege under the leadership of Captain General Francesco Morosini for the reconquest of Nafplio against the Turks, in August 1686.

Published in Corso Geografico Universale, the view shows the Venetian siege of the Castle from Mer ( Bourtzi ) and the fortified town by bombardment from Mount Palamidi, along with the Turkish forces on the far side of the mountain and various other engagements. Nafplion was an important stop on the trade route between Venice and Constantinople.

Sold to the the Venetian Republic in 1388, the city surrendered to the Ottomans in 1540. The Venetians retook Nafplio in 1685, but it was easily retaken by the Ottomans in 1715 until 1822, when he returned to the Greeks and became the capital of the First Hellenic Republic. During the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, under Venetian domination, the town was known in Italian as Napoli di Romania, after the medieval usage of "Romania" to refer to the lands of the Byzantine Empire, and to distinguish it from Napoli in Italy.

The map is surrounded by an elaborate garland, surmounted by a ribbon banner with the title and legend, and low dominatain the Lion of St. Mark.

The map is taken from Corso geografico universale, o sia la terra divisa nelle sue parti e subdistinta ne' suoi gran regni. Esposta in tavole geografiche ricorrette et accresciute di tutte le nuove scoperte, ad uso dell'Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti dal Padre Maestro Vincenzo Coronelli M. C. Cosmografo della Serenissima Republica di Venetia. Dedicata alla Santità di Nostro Signore Innocenzo XII. P. I. In Venetia, a spese dell'autore. MDCXCII.

Coronelli lived a period of extraordinary editorial fecundity starting from 1689, when he had the chair of geography at the University at the Procuratie, with the publication, in 1690, of the first volume of the Atlante Veneto. Under the name of Atlante Veneto goes the entire collection of thirteen works composed over the next decade, from the Isolario to the Specchio del mare. In reality, only some of these works can be defined as atlas, and are of very unequal value, since we go from original and fundamental works such as those mentioned or the Corso Geografico to works of compilation or simple collections of views. The Corso Geografico came out in several editions with different numbers of maps - sixty-eight maps in 1689-92; one hundred and seventy-three maps in 1692; two hundred and sixty maps in 1694-97 - which were also sold separately, at the rate of six a month for two years. The maps were alle engraved between 1688 and 1692 in the well-equipped cartographic workshop of the Frari convent, where foreign engravers also worked. 

Copperplate, in good condition.

Vincenzo CORONELLI (Venezia 1650 - 1718)

Cosmographer, geographer, biographer, encyclopedist, globe maker, inventor, expert of engeneering and hydraulics. Extraordinarily versatile mind and an extremely tireless man, he produced more than 140 pieces in different genres. At the age of 15, he entered the Franciscan Order, which he then guided as Gran Generale from 1699. He became famous as geographer and mathematician, awakening the interest in these subjects in Italy at the end of the XVII century. He travelled a lot, seeking for all that was new, and keeping a correspondance with the most important intellectuals of his time. In 1681 Louis XIV wanted him to go to France, to entrust him with the task of making two terraqueous globes (Marly Globes), with a diameter of 4 metres. Once he came back to Italy, in 1685, he became Cosmographer of the Venetian Republic, where he taught geography and founded the first geographic accademy, called The Argonauts Accademy. In his whole life he produced more that 500 maps; some of them can be found in his most famous works, such as the Venetian Atlas (1690), the Island Book of the Venetian Atlas (1696-97), the Book of Globes (1693). As far as his scientific method, he didn’t elaborate new cartographic systems, but followed the theories that were considered most popular and effective at his time, based on the Copernican system. The main characteristic of his charts is the high quantity of toponymic and historical information. In his most famous and dense work, the Venetian Atlas, we can find about 1100 plates, 200 of which are extremely technical and this is the reason why it is considered the first Italian atlas to describe and illustrate the whole world with charts and maps. It was published in 13 volumes, starting from 1690, and it took nearly ten years to finish it. It is divided in different parts, the most important are the Atlas itself, then the Island Book, the Corso Geografico and the Teatro delle città.

Vincenzo CORONELLI (Venezia 1650 - 1718)

Cosmographer, geographer, biographer, encyclopedist, globe maker, inventor, expert of engeneering and hydraulics. Extraordinarily versatile mind and an extremely tireless man, he produced more than 140 pieces in different genres. At the age of 15, he entered the Franciscan Order, which he then guided as Gran Generale from 1699. He became famous as geographer and mathematician, awakening the interest in these subjects in Italy at the end of the XVII century. He travelled a lot, seeking for all that was new, and keeping a correspondance with the most important intellectuals of his time. In 1681 Louis XIV wanted him to go to France, to entrust him with the task of making two terraqueous globes (Marly Globes), with a diameter of 4 metres. Once he came back to Italy, in 1685, he became Cosmographer of the Venetian Republic, where he taught geography and founded the first geographic accademy, called The Argonauts Accademy. In his whole life he produced more that 500 maps; some of them can be found in his most famous works, such as the Venetian Atlas (1690), the Island Book of the Venetian Atlas (1696-97), the Book of Globes (1693). As far as his scientific method, he didn’t elaborate new cartographic systems, but followed the theories that were considered most popular and effective at his time, based on the Copernican system. The main characteristic of his charts is the high quantity of toponymic and historical information. In his most famous and dense work, the Venetian Atlas, we can find about 1100 plates, 200 of which are extremely technical and this is the reason why it is considered the first Italian atlas to describe and illustrate the whole world with charts and maps. It was published in 13 volumes, starting from 1690, and it took nearly ten years to finish it. It is divided in different parts, the most important are the Atlas itself, then the Island Book, the Corso Geografico and the Teatro delle città.