Lot 9
  • 9

Magini, Giovanni Antonio.

Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
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Description

  • Italia. Bologna: impensiis ipsius filius auctoris, 1620 (Colophon: Bologna: Clemente Ferroni, 1630 [-1632])
  • paper
Second edition, folio (502 x 365mm.), engraved title-page, engraved portrait of the author (dated 1632), woodcut initials, 61 engraved maps, 58 double-page, 3 full-page, plus an additional double-page map of Italy by Nicolas Sanson (Paris, c.1640, see footnote), old hand colour, maps and text inlaid and margins extended, seventeenth-century speckled calf, spine gilt in compartments, map 15 (Dominio Veneto) supplied from another copy, coloured and re-margined to match, extremities repaired, rebacked retaining original spine

Provenance

Charles Gustavus de Bark, presentation inscription in Latin from Gustavus Adophus Humble, dated Stockholm 1718; armorial bookplate

Literature

Almagia, Bibliographical Note to the Facsimile of Magini's 'Italia'; Shirley, British Library T.MAG-1c

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

The first printed atlas of Italy

Magini first started work on this important atlas in 1594, but publication was beset by a series of problems beyond his control. The initial engraving was entrusted to the Dutchman Arnoldo di Arnoldi, joined in 1600 by his brother Jacobo. However, the same year, Arnoldo was lured away by the promise of higher wages to work for Matteo Florimi in Siena. Jacobo remained in Magini's employ for two more years, but then went to join his brother, only to find Arnoldo had died in the interim. He resumed work for Magini, with his younger brother, but when Jacobo became ill, early in 1603, the two surviving brothers returned to the Netherlands.

Magini might have thought himself lucky to replace them with the gifted English engraver Benjamin Wright, but Wright proved troublesome, more inclined to wine than work, and Magini twice had to redeem copper plates pawned by Wright to finance his drinking.

In between all the drinking, Wright completed the sixty-one plates, signing eleven, as well as engraving Magini's important wall-map of Italy, published in 1608. Sadly, Magini himself was not to live to see publication, with the atlas seen through the press by his son Fabio Magini, in 1620, printed by Sebastian Bonomi.

A second edition was published in 1632, by Clemente Ferroni (this example), and a third published by Niccolò Tebaldini in 1642.

It seems likely that this copy was published circa 1640, the approximate date of the Sanson map of Italy, inserted for use as a general map. It is surprising that the Maginis, having published a wall-map of Italy, did not include a single-sheet general modern map, but only a historical map after Ptolemy. The British Library example collated by Shirley also has a French map inserted, for the same purpose.

Magini's maps formed the basis for regional maps of Italy for the next fifty years.