Italy - Lucca

Old Map Ancient Geographical Chart: "The Republic of Lucca with the Dukedoms of Massa and Carrara, Garfagnana and Lunigiana with the Duchy of Fivizzano. Newly Projected" Venice, 1781 – Antonio Zatta Format: cm 46.5 x 36.5 (approximately, per sheet). Splendid copper-engraved map from the late eighteenth century, hand-colored at the time with delicate tones of green, pink, blue and ochre. Published in Venice in 1781 by Antonio Zatta, one of the most refined and prolific cartographers and editors of the Serenissima in the second half of the 18th century. The title is enclosed in a rich architectural Rococo cartouche at the top right, highly adorned with floral garlands (roses, cornflowers and leaves), bearing the complete wording: LA REPUBBLICA DI LUCCA Con li Ducati di MASSA E CARRARA la Garfagnana, e Lunigiana col Ducato di Fivizzano. Di nuova Projezione — VENEZIA 1781 PRESSO ANTONIO ZATTA Con Privilegio dell’Eccmo Senato. The map represents, with great detail and topographic precision, the territory of the Republic of Lucca and the historical boundaries related to it: • the Duchy of Massa and Carrara (with Massa and Carrara highlighted); • Garfagnana; • Lunigiana; • the Duchy of Fivizzano. Hundreds of toponyms of cities, towns, castles, rivers (Serchio, Magra, Versilia, etc.), lakes (Massaciuccoli, Bientina) and the Apennine Mountains are clearly legible. Lucca is marked with a red star, Carrara with a red dot. The Tyrrhenian coast, from Viareggio to the mouth of the Magra, is rendered with particular care. At the bottom left is the scale in “Common Italian Miles of 60 to a Degree.” Orientation with North on top. Importance and rarity This map belongs to the famous Atlante Novissimo (or to the collections of “new projection” maps) by Antonio Zatta, a reference work of Venetian cartography of the period. Zatta is distinguished by the quality of the engraving, the elegance of the cartouches, and the accuracy of the updated topographic information. The map of the Republic of Lucca is particularly sought after because: • it precisely documents the borders and administrative divisions of one of the last independent Italian states before the Napoleonic reforms; • it unites Lucca, Massa-Carrara, Garfagnana and Lunigiana in a single plate, historically contested regions of great interest to collectors of Tuscan and Ligurian cartography; • it is printed and hand-colored in 1781, thus of its era, not a later reprint. Copies in good condition, with fresh colors and intact margins, are rather rare on the antique market, especially when the flowered cartouche is well preserved and legible. A piece of undeniable interest for collectors of antique cartography, the history of Tuscany and the Republic of Lucca, as well as for scholars of 18th-century historical geography.

Estimate:£125.37

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