Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718) is one of the most influential Italian mapmakers and is known especially for his globes and atlases. The son of a tailor, Vincenzo was apprenticed to a xylographer (a wood block engraver) at a young age. At fifteen he became a novice in a Franciscan monastery. At sixteen he published his first book, the first of 140 publications he would write in his lifetime. The order recognized his intellectual ability and saw him educated in Venice and Rome. He earned a doctorate in theology, but also studied astronomy. By the late 1670s, he was working on geography and was commissioned to create a set of globes for the Duke of Parma. These globes were five feet in diameter. The Parma globes led to Coronelli being named theologian to the Duke and receiving a bigger commission, this one from Louis XIV of France. Coronelli moved to Paris for two years to construct the King’s huge globes, which are 12.5 feet in diameter and weigh 2 tons.
The globes for the French King led to a craze for Coronelli’s work and he traveled Europe making globes for the ultra-elite. By 1705, he had returned to Venice. There, he founded the first geographical society, the Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti and was named Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice. He died in 1718.
![[Persian Gulf, India, Pakistan, Iran]](/map/small/41337.jpg)
Striking example of a Coronelli Globe Gore Section, extending from the Persian Gulf to the Maldives and the west coast of India. The map appeared in Coronelli's Isolario.
Striking example of Coronelli's detailed map of the Indian Peninsula, from Guzarate to the Ganges. Fine large format map, with detailed topographical features. The map shows India below the Tropic of Cancer, with an insets of Ceylon and Trincomalee.
Striking map of the Spice Islands, published in Venice. The map provides detailed topographical image of the Spice Islands, including topography, towns, and fortifications, along with an elaborate cartouche and text below the image.
Decorative example of Coronelli's 2-sheet map of Africa, featuring up to date information from modern reports and recent discoveries regarding the sources of the Nile River. Coronelli's map is full of topographical features and place names, and more...
Detailed engraved antique map of the West African coast showing present-day Senegal, Gambia, and Cape Verde. An inset map shows Île de Gorée (here called "Isola Goree"), which is a large island in the harbor of Dakar, Senegal. The island played an...
![[South Polar Globe Gore] Fernando Magaglianes Poco Contento del Re di Portogallo suo Signore . . .](/map/small/70828.jpg)
A Celebration of Magellan's Circumnavigation for the King of Portugal Finely engraved polar gore, or calotte, created for one of Coronelli's largest globes. Coronelli is well known for making a concerted effort to delineate only verified discoveries...
A pair of Celetsial Hemispheres issued by Coronelli in Venice. The images are trimmed as issued.
