Dell'arcano del mare (Secrets of the Sea)

by Dudley, Sir Robert (1574-1649)

[30 Day Return Guarantee] Price: $900,000.00

Book Description

Florence: Francesco Onofri, 1646 THE FIRST PRINTED ENGLISH NAUTICAL ATLAS AND THE FIRST MARITIME ATLAS TO USE THE MERCATOR PROJECTION. First edition, 6 parts in 3 volumes, folio, 4 half-titles, 4 printed title-pages with engraved vignettes, folding engraved plate of the author’s patent of nobility, 220 engraved plates (of which 70 are double-page and 85 half-page, and 72 have volvelles or movable parts), one engraving in the text, 146 engraved charts (of which 88 are double-page), full natural niger morocco, gilt paneled, spine gilt in compartments with Pease crests (replacing as Italian nineteenth-century half calf binding), gilt edges Provenance: Nico Israel, Amsterdam, 11 June 1975; the Wardington Library References: Lloyd Arnold Brown, The World Encompassed, exh. cat. (Baltimore, 1952), n. 190; Philip D. Burden, The Mapping of North America: A List of Printed Maps 1511-1670 (Rickmansworth, 1996), 338-41, 349; Robert Dudley's splendid Arcano del mare (Secrets of the Sea) is one of the greatest atlases of the world and one of the most complex ever produced. Dudley's monumental work was the only exception to the total dominance of sea-atlas production by the Dutch for nearly a century. The complete work contained nearly 150 sea charts as well as dozens of illustrations and working diagrams. It was superior to any previous work in that the charts illustrated the whole world, the first time any outside of Europe had been included. Arcano del mare was also the first atlas to show the prevailing winds, currents and magnetic deviation. In using the projection developed by Mercator, Dudley improved upon the theory of navigating by the "Great Circle," the shortest distance between two points on a globe. It was not until the eighteenth century that cartographers used the projection consistently, and during the prolonged period when the Dutch dominated cartographic production, not one atlas was produced using it. One of the great marine atlases of all time, this magnificently engraved work is an encyclopedia of seventeenth-century knowledge regarding the seas. Dudley was one of the more colorful and adventurous characters in the history of mapmaking. The illegitimate son of the Earl of Leicester and Lady Douglas Sheffield, but unable to establish his claim to the title of Earl of Leicester, Dudley left England in 1605. Arriving in Florence, Dudley entered the service of the Cosimo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, as an engineer and naval commander. In 1646, Dudley published Arcano del mare, the whole written in Italian by Dudley himself. The atlas was twelve years in the making, and the main innovation lay in its conception of a world atlas of charts, both general ocean charts and detailed surveys, covering all the rival spheres of European dominion: Spanish, English and Dutch. Dudley's sources included the original charts of Henry Hudson, and for the Pacific coast he used the observations of Henry Cavendish, the third circumnavigator of the globe (and Dudley's brother-in-law). Aesthetically, the distinctive character of Dudley's charts was due to the Italian Baroque engraving, executed by Antonio Francesco Lucini. The provenance on this first edition of the "Arcano" is the Wardington sale at Sotheby's London on October 18, 2005, lot number 147. Hammer price was 210,000 pounds plus commission of 33,200 pounds for a total cost of 243,200 pounds. The pound was trading around $1.80. Our $900,000 price is based on a second edition of the Arcano that sold for $824,000 at the Streeter sale on April 16, 2007, lot 166. .

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