Italy - Italy / Sicily/ Sardinia/Corsica; Gilles e Didier Robert de Vaugondy - ITALIA ANTIQUA cum Insulis SICILIA, SARDINIA, et CORSICA - 1751-1760

The map represents a brilliant example of historical and retrospective cartography from the Enlightenment era. The Robert de Vaugondy, Geographers to the King of France, reworked on this plate the seventeenth‑century studies of Nicolas Sanson (father of the French cartographic school), updating their geometric surveys according to the new scientific and astronomical measurements coordinated by the Académie des Sciences of Paris.
• Geographical Content: The map describes the topography of Italy in classical times (Roman and pre-Roman). The toponymy is entirely expressed in Latin and identifies the ancient regional subdivisions, the ancient Italic peoples (Etruria, Latium, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania, Bruttii), the great consular roads and the urban centers of antiquity.
• Decorative Apparatus: The upper right corner is dominated by a sumptuous cartouche in full Rococo/Louis XV style, characterized by asymmetrical frames, acanthus leaf scrolls, rocaille motifs and botanical elements symbolizing the abundance of the peninsula. In the lower right there is a refined graduated scale (Scale: Roman Milliaria, Olympica Stadii, Leucae Gallicae).

• Genuine antique map, crisp, with thickness and weave typical of mid-18th-century manufacture. It shows a warm and uniform patina.
• Central Fold: Present the usual central vertical editorial fold of binding, structurally sound and free of tears or coarse restorations on the back.
• Margins: Wide and original on all four sides, not trimmed