Letrone - Corso elementare di geografia antica e moderna - 1840

Elementary Course of Ancient and Modern Geography, presented with a new method by the celebrated French archaeologist and historian Antoine-Jean Letronne, appears in this refined eighth edition (and second of 1840), printed in Livorno by the renowned Typographia dei Fratelli Vignozzi e Nipote. It is a school and encyclopedic manual of exceptional documentary value, updated “again” to reflect “the latest policies and transactions up to 1839.” splendid and solid contemporary binding in full dark green leather, recalling the romantic taste and the elegance of early 19th-century publishing. The plates are entirely engraved in offset with a rich architectural-like neogothic motif: a suggestive façade of multiple ogival arches, topped by a gallery of shamrocks and supported by slender columns, framed along the margins by a refined gold border with stylized vegetal motifs.

The spine, smooth-to-the-touch, is finely decorated in gold with geometric and floral symmetric friezes; it bears the inscriptions “LETRONNE” and “GEOGRAPHY” in gilded uppercase letters, separated by braided lines. The edges are natural, showing the genuineness of antique paper. The text block shows the typical signs of the time, with foxing and some marginal damp stains that, however, do not compromise legibility or the volume’s structural integrity.

attachment of plates and folded maps out of text, printed on heavy paper by Calcografia Vignozzi of Livorno and dated on the plate 1837-1840. The large plates include:

Cosmography and Celestial Sphere: A rich folded plate placed at the opening, containing 19 different geometric-astronomical figures illustrating planetary orbits, the solar system, eclipses, and projections of the terrestrial sphere.

The Terrestrial Planisphere: A large folded geographic map in two hemispheres (Eastern and Western) entitled “Geografia Antica e Moderna,” surmounted by representations of the cosmological systems of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe.

Maps of the Continents: Large, detailed, clearly engraved maps, among which stand out the Asia Map, the spectacular map of South and North America entitled America, and the evocative chart of L’Oceanica (showing New Holland, present-day Australia, and Polynesia). In 16°, pp. 220 n. Some maps and some sheets detached, but a decent specimen.