Urbano Tosetti (attribuito a) - Compendio di geografia moderna - 1794

Urbano Tosetti (attributed) – Compendium of Modern Geography – Color Armillary Sphere and 2 Folded Maps – 1794

Interesting Neapolitan edition of 1794 of the Compendio di geografia moderna for use by the Nazarene College of Rome, a work linked to the Italian geographical and scientific tradition of the eighteenth century, attributed to Urbano Tosetti.

A significant testimony of encyclopedic culture and geographic teaching in the late eighteenth century, a period in which geography, cosmography, astronomy and cartography formed closely connected disciplines in scientific training.

The reference to the Nazarene College of Rome, a historic educational institution founded in the seventeenth century, gives the work a particular interest within the history of education and the diffusion of geographic knowledge in preunitarian Italy.

Of particular charm is the illustrative and cartographic apparatus, consisting of three plates:

* A splendid color armillary sphere, of notable decorative effect, depicting the traditional astronomical model used to represent the principal circles of the celestial sphere. The vivid coloration and richness of details make it the most striking iconographic element of the exemplar.
* Two interesting folded plates, evidence of eighteenth-century geographic and scientific representation, particularly valued for their documentary value and for the etching characteristics of the period.

The work offers an interesting panorama of the geographic knowledge of the time, with territorial descriptions, historical references, ancient and modern denominations, elements of political geography and observations on the world's main regions known.

Particularly evocative is the comparison between eighteenth-century geography and that of the contemporary era, through a narrative that interweaves territorial knowledge, classical history and European cultural tradition.

Bibliographic characteristics

Edition: Naples, 1794 (MDCCXCIV).

Author: attributed to Urbano Tosetti.

Language: Italian.

Format: about 12 × 20 cm.

Pagination: 275 pages.

Plates: three, including a color armillary sphere and two folded plates.

A specimen of agreeable antiquarian appearance, with a natural patina of time and conservation characteristics compatible with its over two centuries of history.

The binding shows signs of use; the papers preserve the characteristic tone of antique paper, with widespread but ordinary foxing, light browning and occasional halos. The plates show folds and signs of time, as visible in the photographs.

Overall, it preserves a noticeable historical and collecting charm, particularly enhanced by the presence of the three plates, among which the scenographic color armillary sphere stands out.

First volume of the Neapolitan edition of 1794, with complete pagination up to page 275; title page not preserved.

An interesting testimony of eighteenth-century Italian geographic publishing, capable of combining documentary value, bibliographic interest and iconographic appeal. An exemplar suited for collectors of old books, historical cartography, cosmography and tools of the scientific tradition.