SINGAPORE SOUTH-EASTERN ASIA 1683 CANTELLI DA VIGNOLA UNUSUAL ANTIQUE MAP

Penisola dell India di la dal Gange Divisa ne i Regni, che in essa si contengono et accresciuta di varie notizie da Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola e conforme le Relationi d'alcuni Padri della Comp.a di Giesù di Monsù Tavernier, Mandeslo e d'altri Illustri Viaggiatori del nostro Secolo. Data in luce da Gio. Giac. de Rossi in Roma alla pace con Priu. del Sommo. Pont. 1683. 

Description: Striking and highly detailed fine unuual 1683 Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola's copper engraved map focusing on the Southeast Asia region (Indochina and the Malay Peninsula), drawing on the diaries and accounts of Jesuit priests and famous travelers of the time, such as Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and François de La Boullaye-le-Gouz.
 
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia and India between the years 1630 and 1668. In 1675, Tavernier, at the behest of his patron Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, published Les Six Voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (Six Voyages, 1676),
 
François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz (1623 – 1668/1669?), was a French aristocrat and extensive traveller. He published a French-language travelogue, enriched with firsthand accounts of India, Persia, Greece, the Middle East, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, England, Ireland, and Italy. It is considered one of the first true travel books, in that it contains useful information for actual travellers. In 1647, he visited Viterbo and met with Italian nobleman, Federico Capponi. When he returned to Italy in 1650, Federico had died so La Boullaye met with his relative, Cardinal Luigi Capponi and dedicated the first printed edition of his work to the Cardinal. The preface includes an illustration of the adventurer presented the work to Capponi. He died in Ispahan, Iran.
 
Decorative Cartouche: In the lower right corner, an elegant baroque cartouche stands out, supported by two figures in oriental dress and flanked by a leopard, a distinctive element typical of Roman engraving craftsmanship of the period.
 
Engraver: The original plate was engraved by the engraver Francesco Donia Messis (usually indicated at the lower right with the signature Franc.us Donia Messis Sculp.).
 
Composition and Medium:
 
The map is an atlas map, crafted with engraved outlines that are hand-colored, which was a common practice in the 17th century to enhance visual appeal and indicate political boundaries. The decorative elements, including a title cartouche, are intricately designed, showcasing the artistic style of the period.
 
Style and Subject Matter:
 
The map exemplifies the Italian style of cartography, characterized by bold engraving and detailed illustrations. This style was pioneered by cartographers like Cantelli da Vignola and later expanded by others such as Vincenzo Coronelli. The map portrays Southeast Asia, particularly the regions that are now Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
 
Notable Features:
 
- Decorative Title Cartouche: The cartouche is embellished with figures and motifs that reflect the artistic tendencies of the time. It includes allegorical representations, possibly symbolizing exploration or trade.
 
- Geographical Details: The map includes rivers, mountains, and coastlines, with relief shown pictorially. Cities and towns are marked, providing insights into the political and administrative divisions of the era.
 
- Hand Coloring: The use of outline hand coloring helps differentiate various political regions, enhancing the map's utility for understanding territorial extents and boundaries.
 
Cultural and Historical Context:
 
The map reflects the European exploration and understanding of Southeast Asia in the late 17th century. It incorporates information from Jesuit missionaries and travelers like Tavernier and Mandeslo, indicating the reliance on firsthand accounts for geographical knowledge at the time. This period was marked by increased European interest in Asia for trade and colonization, and maps like these were crucial for navigation and territorial claims.
 
Publication and Significance:
 
Published in Rome, this map was part of a comprehensive atlas that included 150 engraved maps, showcasing the breadth of geographical knowledge during the period. The atlas, published by the Rossi family, was significant for its detailed and artistic representation of the known world. Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi was a prominent figure in the printing and publishing industry, and his collaboration with cartographers like Cantelli da Vignola helped disseminate geographical knowledge across Europe.
 
In summary, this map is a fine example of 17th-century cartography, illustrating the geographical understanding and artistic style of the period. It serves as a historical document reflecting the exploration, trade, and cultural exchanges between Europe and Southeast Asia.

Source: Mercurio Geografico overo Guida Geografica in tutte le parti del Mondo, conforme le tavole geografiche del Sansone, Baudrand e Cantelli. Data in luce con direttione, e cura di Gio. Giacomo de Rossi nella sua stamperia in Roma alla Pace, all'insegna di Parigi con Priu: del S. Pont. Tomo Primo. (Half title) La guida del Mercurio geografico per tutte le parte del mondo. Mercurio geografico overo Guida geografica in tutte le parti del mondo conforme le tavole di Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola geografo del Sereniss. Signor Duca di Modena intagliate al bulino dà Antonio Barbey. Tomo secondo dato in luce con direttione e cura da Domenico de Rossi erede di Gio. Giacomo de Rossi nella sua stamperia in Roma alla Pace con privilegio del Sommo Pontifice et licenza de superiori l'anno 1692. Roma: Domenico de Rossi, 1692.

Date: 1692 ( undated )

Dimension: Paper size approx.: cm 49,3 x 62,8
 
Condition: Very strong and dark impression on good paper. Paper with chains and wiremarks. Map old original colored. Wide margins. Map browned. Small marginal tears. Map folded. Conditions are as you can see in the images. 

Mapmakers: Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola (February 22, 1643 - November 30, 1695) was an important Italian cartographer and engraver active in 17th century Italy. Cantelli was born in Montorsello, near Vignola Italy to a prominent local family. After studying literature at the University of Bologna, Cantelli took a position as secretary to the Marquis Obizzi de Ferrara. Eventually Cantelli relocated to Venice where developed an interest in cartography. He later traveled to Paris in the company of the French ambassador where became acquainted with the French cartographer Guillaume Sanson, as well as his contemporaries Jacques-Andre Duval and Michel-Antoin Baudrand. It was most likely the influence of these innovative French cartographers that inspired Cantelli's careful and meticulous approach, in which he based his cartography not just on earlier maps, but also very much in the French style upon accounts written by travelers and merchants regarding actual travel to foreign lands. Back in Italy, Cantelli took service Count Rinieri Marescotti, with whom he traveled extensively throughout Italy, becoming in the process acquainted with the Italian publisher Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi. It is with Rossi that Cantelli began officially publishing his maps. The earliest maps to bear the Cantelli-Rossi imprint date to 1672 and detail the Holy Land, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire. Around 1680 the duo also began to publish the Mercurio Geografico, a large format atlas illustrating all parts of the world in a splendid Italian baroque detail defined by elaborate finely engraved cartouche work, high quality paper, and bold Roman lettering, and dark rich inks. Some have compared his style go that of Giovanni Antonio Magini, another Italian cartographer of the previous generation. Cantelli da Vignola in fact pioneered the Italian style of fine bold engraving that would eventually be embraced and expanded upon by Vincenzo Coronelli. His work drew the attention of Pope Innocent XI and Reggio Francesco II d'Este, the Duke of Modena, both of whom offered him a position as court geographer. Cantelli chose to work with the Due of Modena, in the service of whom he produced numerous maps and well as two large globes. He died in Modena in November of 1695.
 
Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi (1627 – 1691) was an Italian engraver and printer, active in Rome in the second half of the 17th century. His father, Giuseppe de Rossi (1570-1639), was the founder of the most important and active printing press of the 17th century in Rome. The printing press begun in 1633, by Giuseppe de Rossi, and it passed firstly to Giovanni Giacomo and to his brother Giandomenico (1619-1653), and then later to Lorenzo Filippo (1682-?); in 1738 it became the Calcografia Camerale, from 1870 until 1945 the Regia Calcografica, and today it is known as the Calcografia Nazionale. Here are conserved, amongst many others, the plates of Giambattista Piranesi (1720-1778). Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi was the most involved of all the various family members who ran the press, and he worked between 1638 and 1691, and was to take the company to the height of its success. The artists that he printed the etchings for included Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-1665), Pietro Testa (1612-1650) and Giovan Francesco Grimaldi (1606–1680).

Domenico de' Rossi (1659–1730) was an Italian sculptor and engraver. In 1709 Domenico inherited the printshop of Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, by the church of Santa Maria della Pace, the largest and most long-lived publisher of the Roman baroque. Several generations of the de' Rossi participated in the family publishing firm established in the 17th century, which continued to produce engravings for the use of designers. He is especially remembered for the three folio volumes of architectural engravings of elevations and frontal views of Baroque palazzi and churches in Rome, which included among them some unexecuted designs of Bernini and Borromini, and which were titled "Studio d'architettura civile di Roma 1702, 1711, and 1721. The first volume, showing a wide variety of designs of windows, doors and gates, porticos and porches, chimney pieces and stairs, and dedicated to Pope Clement XI, was engraved for Rossi by quite a large team: Alessandro Specchi, Filippo Vasoni, Carlo Fontana, Vinzendo Francischini, and others. De' Rossi also produced a book of designs for altars and chapels, Disegni di Vari Altari e Cappelle, 1685. The series of engravings were some of the first to present the contemporary baroque decoration of 17th-century Rome, thus they are of interest to architectural historians and were reprinted with an introductory essay by Anthony Blunt, 1972.
 
When he published a collection of engravings of ancient and modern Roman sculpture, Raccolta di statue antiche e moderne (Rome, 1704), he turned to the well-known antiquarian Paolo Alessandro Maffei for suitably learned descriptive text, for what was in effect the first eighteenth-century art book, whose refined engravings by French artists were designed to appeal to the cognoscenti.

Nicolas Sanson (December 20, 1600 - July 7, 1667) and his descendants were the most influential French cartographers of the 17th century and laid the groundwork for the Golden Age of French Cartography. Sanson was born in Picardy, but his family was of Scottish Descent. He studied with the Jesuit Fathers at Amiens. Sanson started his career as a historian where, it is said, he turned to cartography as a way to illustrate his historical studies. In the course of his research some of his fine maps came to the attention of King Louis XIII who, admiring the quality of his work, appointed Sanson Geographe Ordinaire du Roi. Sanson's duties in this coveted position included advising the king on matters of geography and compiling the royal cartographic archive. In 1644, he partnered with Pierre Mariette, an established print dealer and engraver, whose business savvy and ready capital enabled Sanson to publish an enormous quantity of maps. Sanson's corpus of some three hundred maps initiated the golden age of French mapmaking and he is considered the 'Father of French Cartography.' His work is distinguished as being the first of the 'Positivist Cartographers,' a primarily French school of cartography that valued scientific observation over historical cartographic conventions. The practice result of the is less embellishment of geographical imagery, as was common in the Dutch Golden Age maps of the 16th century, in favor of conventionalized cartographic representational modes. Sanson is most admired for his construction of the magnificent atlas Cartes Generales de Toutes les Parties du Monde. Sanson's maps of North America, Amerique Septentrionale (1650), Le Nouveau Mexique et La Floride (1656), and La Canada ou Nouvelle France (1656) are exceptionally notable for their important contributions to the cartographic perceptions of the New World. Both maps utilize the discoveries of important French missionaries and are among the first published maps to show the Great Lakes in recognizable form. Sanson was also an active proponent of the insular California theory, wherein it was speculated that California was an island rather than a peninsula. After his death, Sanson's maps were frequently republished, without updates, by his sons, Guillaume (1633 - 1703) and Adrien Sanson (1639 - 1718). Even so, Sanson's true cartographic legacy as a 'positivist geographer' was carried on by others, including Alexis-Hubert Jaillot, Guillaume De L'Isle, Gilles Robert de Vaugondy, and Pierre Duval.