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ATLAS-Titles
Maps have fascinated me
right from the beginning of my encounter with antique
prints. Maps, especially the earliest printed ones, document
our growing knowledge about the earth we live on. And they
do so, geographically, as well as artistically. The early
mapmakers were among my heroes as a boy, as much almost as
the Greek figures of mythology or the voyagers exploring the
world. Mapmakers were intelligent and educated, venturous,
probing and courageous. And so were the early publishers of
atlases, the compendiums of maps. Some of the Renaissance
and Baroque maps were truly pieces of masterful art,
extraordinarily decorative and adorned with sea monsters,
sailships, windroses and, sometimes, with paraphernalia
indiginous to the inhabitants or the wildlife of the area
shown. While it was easy to show countries like Great
Britain, Italy, Denmark, Spain with their coastlines
defining their contures, thus supporting the decorative
value of a map, it was quite another thing to make Bohemia,
Bavaria or Switzerland, countries without such borderlines,
appear interesting as a map. Just look how the mapmakers
drew in forests and mountains and rivers to overcome an
eye's boredom! And the excellency of their phantsy of
cartouches! And although the early maps I speak of lack the
precision of maps we now have, the inherent inacuracy was
their charm!
Maps were usually published
in atlases. And atlases were books with titles. And, again,
titles were individual pieces of art. A publisher emphazised
the importance of a book he published with a spectacular
entrée. Usually the pictures of an atlas title page
pertained in general to the subject matter: Measuring
instruments, mythologigal, astronomical, religious,
scientific, allegorical hints and facts were united in a
composition which depicted the pride of progress in
knowledge. An atlas title page often is just one superb
artistic and jubilant cartouche! But what are words? Just
have a look at some of them in the following chapter. Can
you feel less than intrigued by them...?
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