Atlas general, civil, ecclesiastique et militaire methodique et elementaire pour l´etude de la geographie et l´Histoire…………

Title

Atlas general, civil, ecclesiastique et militaire methodique et elementaire pour l´etude de la geographie et l´Histoire…………

Description

Titlepage from the atlas " Générale "

dated 1786

Artist

Desnos (1725-1805)

Louis-Charles Desnos (1725 - 1805) was both a globe maker and publisher of maps. In the former capacity he was appointed globe maker to the King of Denmark but spent most of his life working in Paris. Louis Charles Desnos and Claude Buy de Mornas worked together in the same establishments and issued together "La Manniere de Reconnoitre les Principales Etoiles dans le Ciel" (The Manner of Recognizing the Principal Stars in the Sky) in 1761.

Historical Description

The title page is one of the most important parts of an atlas or book. It appears at the beginning of the book and describes the actual title and the context or subject of the book or atlas. The title page often shows the title of the work, the person or institution responsible for its intellectual content, and the imprint, which includes the name and address of the publisher as well as the date of publication. Further information about the publication is often printed on the back of the title page.The first printed books or incunabula had no title pages: the text simply began on the first page, and the book was often identified by its opening words – the incipit. Maps were usually published in atlases, and atlases were books with titles. Even here, title pages were individual works of art. A publisher emphasized the importance of a book by introducing it with a spectacular entrée.Usually, the images on an atlas title page referred to the subject matter: measuring instruments, mythological, astronomical, religious, scientific, and allegorical references and facts were combined in a composition that represented the pride of scientific and intellectual progress. An atlas title page is often no more than an outstanding artistic and expressive cartouche.