Nova et Accurata Geographica Tabula Insulae Corfu seu Corcyrae cum Confinis suis ac Portubus ex Adverso in Graecia Iacentibus. Auctore Joachimo Ottens Amstelodami.

1704 / 1729 Joachim Ottens Map of Corfu

Publication Date: 1717

About this Item

Very good. Marginal split not impacting image, else excellent. Size 20.25 x 16 Inches. This is Joachim Ottens' rare, beautiful 1717 map of Corfu. It was published in the wake of the famous 1716 Siege of Corfu; the victory is alluded to with the decorative element of the Venetian Lion of Saint Mark, sword upraised while kicking aside an Ottoman scimitar and turban. Ottens' map proved the canonical mapping of Corfu for the rest of the century. A Closer Look The main map delineates the island of Corfu, with the Greek coastline to the west. Terrain is shown pictorially, as are salt pans, forests, and vineyards. As with most contemporaneous maps, it is derived from the foundational 1672 map by Andrea Marmora, but has been updated in several areas. Notably, the lake in the west of the island, appearing on Marmora's map and most of its derivatives, has here been replaced with vineyards. Historically, swampland had existed there, swelling to the depth of a lake; drainage projects over the course of the 18th century would result in the disappearance of the lake altogether. The depth soundings of the southern approach to Corfu shown on this map do not appear on the 1672 Marmora. A surviving 1716 Gerard Van Keulen chart of Corfu is the likely source for these elements. An inset in the upper left shows Corfu's strategic position, governing the passage between the Gulf of Venice and the Mediterranean Sea, bottlenecked between the Greek coastline and the boot-heel of Italy. The latter is presented based on the mapping of Magini, for better or for worse. While Magini's was the most accepted mapping of Italy throughout the 17th century, it contained a glaring error, reproduced here: the nonexistent island of Monte Sardo in the Gulf of Taranto. The lower left inset focuses on the city and fort of Corfu, on the island's eastern shore. It lays out the old and new forts defending the city and harbor, and mainly follows the model followed by Joan Blaeu, prepared for his town book but not published until 1704 by Pierre Mortier. Ottens' copy includes the descriptive table keyed to the plan. But it includes a detailed depiction of a further stage of improvements to the city's walls, particularly an additional layer of glacises facing the land approaches of both the new fort and the old. This is important, as Venetian forces had been actively upgrading the defenses of the city in preparation for an Ottoman attack. By the time of the Second Ottoman Siege of Corfu in 1716, these defenses were complete. The Venetian victory is largely ascribed to their improvements to the city's defenses in advance of the war. Publication History and Census This map was produced by Joachim Ottens in Amsterdam no earlier than 1716; after Joachim's 1719 death, the map likely remained in the atlases published by his sons Renier and Josue, but it is seldom on the market and appears in fewer than 20 institutional collections. References: OCLC 1062266921. Zacharakis, C. G., A Catalogue of Printed Maps of Greece 1477-1800 #2523.

Seller Inventory # Corfu-ottens-1717

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nova et Accurata Geographica Tabula Insulae Corfu seu Corcyrae cum Confinis suis ac Portubus ex Adverso in Graecia Iacentibus. Auctore Joachimo Ottens Amstelodami.
• Publication Date: 1717
• Seller catalogs:
  • GREECE-BALKANS