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GELL, William (Sir)

1834 Map of Rome & Its Environs., from a Trigonometrical Survey

1834 Map of Rome & Its Environs., from a Trigonometrical Survey

London: Saunders & Ogilby., 1834

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Rome & Its Environs., from a Trigonometrical Survey. London: Saunders & Ogilby., 1834. Created by English classical archaeologist and illustrator William Gell.

Large map contained within a black border, sized H71 x W98 cm and dissected into several panels, folding down to 14.5 x 21.5 cm. Mounted on cloth and folded in a case so as to form a separate volume. The map has as its subject the topography of Rome and its environs—their natural, geographical features, as recorded by Gell's trigonometrical survey; and the artificial environment, as it existed in Classical times. 

This subject is further developed in The Topography of Rome and its Vicinity (two volumes), published along with the Map in 1834 (and not included herewith in the listing), which adds, in alphabetical order, brief accounts of each of the places named on the map, including "a portion of their history" (I: v). This large map, measuring 71 x 98cm, details the topography of Rome and its environs, from Lacus Sabatinus [Lago di Bracciano] in the north to Norba in the south, and from Nerola in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. Unlike most modern maps, it is oriented with north to the left, so that one finds the Mediterranean coastline running parallel with its lower margin.

On this broad canvas, highlights of the natural environment, as recorded by Gell's trigonometrical survey in 1822 (I: vi), appear alongside features of the artificial environment, as they existed in Classical times. Both dimensions are elaborated in meticulous detail: the former includes mountains, hills, lakes, ditches, streams, rivers, canals, and parts of the coast; while the latter numbers cities, villages, villas, towers, tombs, roads, ruins, and bridges.

"Rome and its Environs" is significant not just for the light it sheds on the topographical tradition in the early nineteenth-century, but as a vehicle for thinking through the relation, at that time, between art and science, history and cartography, visual imagination and objective description.

Please note the information above has been borrowed from refereed scholarly website Romantic Circles. We are not specialist dealers in rare maps.

Clear and legible, but dusty and grubby, as pictured. The fabric is lightly tanned overall and there is some staining to rear that only mildly shows on the front side. There is fraying to the paper attached to the hinges of the folder (not belonging to the map). The folder is grubby and marked, with darkened panels and a sunned spine. Please note this map has sat for many years in storage and thus has a very light musty smell.

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