Art

A large and impressive rendering of the island of Madagascar, with numerous place names around the coast. Although the west coast of the island is well defined, the east shows the fictitious concave format of earlier maps. The title is displayed in a classical floral wreath cartouche at the bottom left; at lower right there is a distance table on a draped cloth; the coast line of Mozambique fills the west corner. The lines of latitude are decorated with fleur-de-lis indicating north, and the Tropic of Cancer divides the lower portion of the map. This is one of the finest available maps of the island, produced by arguably Italy's finest cartographer, from his fine Venetian atlas Corso Geografico Universale. Size: 450 x 600 mm. Copper engraving. Hand coloured. Good condition with a small hole in the right hand margin.