Pinelli–Walckenaer Atlas
Encyclopedia
The Pinelli–Walckenaer Atlas is a late 14th-century atlas of portolan chart
s, explicitly dated 1384, primarily composed by an anonymous Venetian
cartographer, and held by the British Library
.
cartographer (although some suggest Genoese
), probably the same person who made the similar Corbitis Atlas
. The Pinelli-Walckenaer atlas is explicitly dated 1384 (according to its calendar), but some scholars believe it to have been made a little later (c.1410). Two of the charts in the atlas (the specific charts for the Aegean and the Adriatic) were definitely later additions by someone else and not part of the original atlas. One suggestion is that the latter two charts were made by the Venetian cartographer Francesco de Cesanis around 1434. The calendar itself might date from 1458.
The name of the atlas refers to its previous owners. It was in the possession of the Pinelli family of Venice
, which owned the atlas for many years, until it was purchased in 1790 by the Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer
of Paris.
The Pinelli-Walckenaer atlas is currently held by the British Library
(Add MS, 19510) in London
.
The first calendar sheet explicitly dates the atlas 1384. Sheets 1-5 were made by the same anonymous person in the late 14th-early 15th C., while sheets 6-7 were made by someone else (possibly Cesanis) in the second quarter of the 15th C.
Portolan chart
Portolan charts are navigational maps based on realistic descriptions of harbours and coasts. They were first made in the 14th century in Italy, Portugal and Spain...
s, explicitly dated 1384, primarily composed by an anonymous Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
cartographer, and held by the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
.
Background
The Pinelli-Walckenaer atlas was primarily composed by an anonymous VenetianVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
cartographer (although some suggest Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
), probably the same person who made the similar Corbitis Atlas
Corbitis Atlas
The Corbitis Atlas is a late 14th-century atlas of four portolan charts, composed by an anonymous Venetian cartographer, and currently held by the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, Italy....
. The Pinelli-Walckenaer atlas is explicitly dated 1384 (according to its calendar), but some scholars believe it to have been made a little later (c.1410). Two of the charts in the atlas (the specific charts for the Aegean and the Adriatic) were definitely later additions by someone else and not part of the original atlas. One suggestion is that the latter two charts were made by the Venetian cartographer Francesco de Cesanis around 1434. The calendar itself might date from 1458.
The name of the atlas refers to its previous owners. It was in the possession of the Pinelli family of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, which owned the atlas for many years, until it was purchased in 1790 by the Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer
Charles Athanase Walckenaer
Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer was a French civil servant and scientist.-Biography:Walckenaer was born in Paris and studied at the universities of Oxford and Glasgow. In 1793 he was appointed head of the military transports in the Pyrenees, after which he pursued technical studies at the École...
of Paris.
The Pinelli-Walckenaer atlas is currently held by the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
(Add MS, 19510) in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Features
The Pinelli-Walckenaer atlas is composed of seven sheets:- 1. astronomical calendar
- 2. South Atlantic (Spain and northwest Africa)
- 3. North Atlantic and west Mediterranean (incl. British isles)
- 4. East Mediterranean and Black Sea
- 5. Central Mediterranean
- 6. Adriatic Sea
- 7. Aegean Sea
The first calendar sheet explicitly dates the atlas 1384. Sheets 1-5 were made by the same anonymous person in the late 14th-early 15th C., while sheets 6-7 were made by someone else (possibly Cesanis) in the second quarter of the 15th C.
Sources
- For a zoomable version of sheets 2 & 3, online gallery at the British Library
- Beazley, C.R. (1906) The Dawn of Modern Geography. London. vol. 3
- Campbell, T. (1987) ""Portolan charts from the late thirteenth century to 1500", in J.B. Harley and D. Woodward, editors, The History of Cartography, Vol. 1 - Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 371-63 online (PDF)
- Campbell, T. (2011) "Anonymous works and the question of their attribution to individual chartmakers or to their supposed workshops"(online, accessed July 14, 2011).
- D'Avezac, M.A.C. (1847) Fragment d'une notice sur un atlas manuscrit venitien de la bibliotheque Walckenaer. Paris: Martinet. online
- Pujades i Bataller, Ramon J. (2007) Les cartes portolanes: la representació medieval d'una mar solcada. Barcelona: Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya.