Tiefentaller, Joseph de (S.J.)

Paris, Du Perron. 1784

(Gole, 1983: 102 2.1; Sommervogel, Vol VIII, column 21 & 22; Edney p 133) 59x75 cm, black & white as issued, copper plate engraving. Slight, overall browning. Else fine

A rare and fundamental map in the history of cartography of India.

Tieffentaller (born 1710) was a Jesuit who worked and travelled India (1742-1785). He used his knowledge of the higher Ganges area to draw this map, which was published in Paris in 1784 and used by Rennell for his pioneering work on the cartography of that country. Notably but not surprisingly for a Jesuit he used and ...

Bortoli Antonio

Mount Athos, Greece

Copper plate engraving

One sheet of paper: 57x82 cm: image 40x75; text 12x75 cm

Paper watermarks: B Gentile; Double headed Eagle 85x70mm and a shield with a quarter moon with a face (?) inside, 85x70 mm. Distance chainlines 36 mm

Condition: no restorations. Slightly irregular inking especially of the text

Here is an intricate engraving of the Eastern Orthodox Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, printed in 1792 in Venice by Antonio Bortoli. Colloquially known as the 'Holy Mountain,' Mount Athos and Vatopedi specifically have been important religious sites for centuries and Vatopedi remains a home for ascetic monks, ancient religious relics, ornate architecture, intricate frescoes, and an important ...