Atlas Universel dresse sur les Meilleures Cartes Modernes 1776.

Title

Atlas Universel dresse sur les Meilleures Cartes Modernes 1776.

Description

Title page from "Atlas Universel dresse sur les Meilleures Cartes Modernes 1776." It shows a title curtain with allegorical representations of the world. French edition.

c. 1776

Artist

Santini

Francois (Francesco) Santini was an Italian cartographer and map publisher with his brother Paolo and based in Venice. He re-issued the works of Robert de Vaugondy, Homann’s Heirs and De L’Isle. At this time, cartography in Italy was commercialy very slow, so Santini, essentially a publisher rather than a map-maker modelled his work on two of the leading practitioners of cartography in Europe, the French map-makers Gilles and Didier Robert de Vaugondy. Their “Atlas Universel” was first published in 1758, and was much re-issued there after. The atlas was a commercial and cartographic success, with widespread influence on map-makers throughout Europe, most notably on Santini, who commissioned a new set of plates, published in 1776, being almost exact copies of the original French maps.

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.