Dell'Arcano del Mare

Sir Robert Dudley's Dell'Arcano del Mare is the earliest printed sea atlas to cover the entire world, and the first made by an Englishman, and the first to use the Mercator projection. It collects all the naval knowledge of its time. It was first published in Italian at Florence in 1645, then again in 1646 in three folio volumes, and which is remarkable for its inclusion of a proposal for the construction of a navy in five rates which Dudley designed and described. It was reprinted in Florence in a two volume folio edition in 1661 without the charts of the first edition.

Related Topics:
Robert Dudley - Atlas - World - Mercator projection - Naval - Italian - Florence - 1645 - 1646 - Folio - Navy - 1661

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The distinctive Baroque style of Dudley's charts, is attributable to the elegant engraving of Antonio Francesco Lucini.

Related Topics:
Baroque - Antonio Francesco Lucini

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Dell'Arcano Del Mare covers the southern and western coasts of the Isthmus of Panama from Nicaragua south to the Colombian coast at Cape Francesco. To the westwards the Cocos Island is shown and "Las Gualapagus e. vicino del Equinozio": an early reference to the Galápagos Islands.

Related Topics:
Isthmus - Panama - Nicaragua - Colombia - Cape Francesco - Cocos Island - Galápagos Islands

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The six-volume work covered navigation, shipbuilding and astronomy, with 130 maps in two volumes (nos. 2 and 6) . Unlike the vast majority of his contemporaries, Dudley's maps are all his own and were not copied from other mapmakers. They have an instantly recognizable style, closer to the pre-17th-century manuscriptportolan charts than the richly decorated maps of Mercator, Hondius and Blaeu.

Related Topics:
Navigation - Shipbuilding - Astronomy - Map - Portolan chart - Mercator - Hondius - Blaeu

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Later map-makers chose not to copy Dudley's style and so it remains unique in the annals of cartography. The engraving by Antonio Francesco Lucini, who stated that he spent 12 years and used 5,000 pounds of copper to produce the plates, is of exceptional quality, as is the calligraphy.

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