About this Item
Technic: Copper print, colorit: original colored, condition: Binding in cowhide, gold embossed, size (in cm): 63,5 x 49 cm, Atlas maritimo de España. 2 vols. Madrid (1788-)1789. large-format folio (44 p.). Volume I. 30 double-sheet large colored copper maps with engraved title page and and -plans, and in Volume II. 14 double-sheet large copper maps, magnificently colored. Coastal profiles, elevation maps and islands. Inside edges gilt, gold-stamped cover borders. Perfect copy with wide margins. Vol. 1 contains title page and the Atlantic coasts including maps of the Canary Islands and the Azores and the bays of Santander, San Sebastian, Bilbao and Carthagena (loosely enclosed here). Volume.2 contains the coastal maps of the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Rosas including maps of the Balearic Islands with Majora ,Menorca, Ibiza. Tofiño de San Miguel is the most famous Spanish maritime cartographer. His maps are finely engraved, and besides the mention of Tofiño's name in the title, there are usually other signatures that mention the name of the draftsman or engraver. One of the atlases includes 14 double-page maps of the Mediterranean coast - mostly dated 1786 - and 4 coastal profile views, also double-page. Notable among the maps are those of Gibraltar, Algeciras, the Balearic Islands, Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca, Mahon. The second part covers the north and west coasts of Spain, the adjacent islands in the Atlantic Ocean and the north of Africa. It was commissioned by King Carlos III, King of Naples and Sicily (1734-1759) and of Spain (1759-1788) on the advice of Antonio Valdes, Minister of the Navy. The work was entrusted in June 1783 to Tofino, then brigadier general in charge of the Ensign Academy. The first volume appeared in 1787 without a title page and the second in 1789 without text. It was such a success that in the same year a second edition of the entire work, the complete Pilot, was published, this time with the text and two more maps." The marine atlas was the first to be published by the Spanish Crown, which was known for its strict policy of secrecy regarding its maritime and cartographic knowledge. It is probably the most important cartographic production of the 18th century in Spain and a foundation of modern Spanish cartography. One of the most important works of Vicente Tofino de San Miguel, a cartographer and navigator born in Cadiz. Drawn by Rafael Mengs. Engraved frontispiece in vol. 1. Both volumes together contain 44 copper engraved nautical charts, plans and profiles, printed on double or single sheets, dated 1786-1789. Main meridians: Cadiz, Ferrol and Paris. Engraved by Manuel Salvador Carmona. Joseph Varelay Ulloa, Fernando Selma, Felipe Bauza, Bartolome Vazquez, Drouet, Santiago, Joaquin Ballester, Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla, Josef Asensio. Covered are the coasts of Spain, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the coast of Portugal, part of Africa, as well as the Canary Islands, the Azores, the Terceras and Cape Verde. The timing of the publication of this atlas is not accidental, because Spain had always been weary of the publication of maps, fearing that hostile or competing states would learn its cartographic secrets, and had imposed a censorship on the publication of maps since the time of the Hasburgs, which changed with the accession of Charles III. changed, It was he who lifted the censorship, which allowed the publication of the maps of the Malaspina expedition, the Portulano de la America Setentrional and, of course, this magnificent marine atlas, which, in addition to its cartographic accuracy, is also a very beautiful print, decorated with beautiful baroque cartouches and frames. Although they are separate works, they are part of the same cartographic endeavor that aimed at a serious and accurate knowledge of the ports of Spain, the Mediterranean and North Africa. In the European cartographic production, the marine atlases have always occupied a place of honor, their purpose, the practi.
Seller Inventory # B0241
Contact seller
Report this item
