Jan 22: Books & Manuscripts at Il Ponte Casa d'Aste features a previously unknown Portolan chart
- by Thomas C. McKinney
A previously unknown Portolan chart is coming to auction at Il Ponte Casa d'Aste on Jan 22
Milan-based auction house Il Ponte Casa d’Astewill be hosting a sale of Books and Manuscriptsthis month on January 22. Headlining the 216-lot event is a previously unknown Portolan chart, supported by other interesting material with an Italian focus. Below is Il Ponte’s (far more expert than my own) description of the c.1550 chart, with comments from me on other items following.
A previously unknown extraordinary portolan chart on vellum, decorated and illuminated. The chart is attributed to the circle of Vesconte Maggiolo, the most important 16th-century cartographer from Genoa. The chart depicts Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic Ocean with the Canary Islands and the northern lands of Island, Sweden and Norway; the Red Sea is at the southeastern border and the coastal cities on the Mediterranean Sea are represented in great details. The chart is decorated with 8 compass roses, a Madonna with Child, 8 tents and 28 vignettes of the cities among which the grand cities of Venice and Genoa, each with its flag.
This portolan chart is extremely similar to the one at the Beinecke Library at Yale University (Art Object 1980.156) but it presents some minor differences in the position of some of the borders and objects (some are moved by just a few mm and the place names are written in a different hand). The Yale chart is attributed to Vesconte Maggiolo although it is the only unsigned chart by the renowned cartographer. Recent studies have demonstrated and are demonstrating, that the illustrations of the cities, in the workshop of the Maggiolo family, were often applied using stamps. It is thanks to these details in this and in other of the Maggiolo charts that we can definitely attribute the chart to the Maggiolo circle, workshop and family.
The word portolano is Italian and it means a description of ports along a coastline. The first portolan charts date from the late 13th century and represent an important change in the use of maps and charts. Until this point, most maps had held a religious significance and purpose, such as the medieval mappa-mundi which was based on theological beliefs. The portolan chart contrasts with this tradition as they are based on direct observation and first-hand experience and have a practical purpose. As charts like this were for use by sailors they emphasize only coastal locations, omitting most of the internal detail of the land. Place names are written at right angles to the coast, the more important ports in red ink. The lines which cover this and all other portolan charts are lines of constant bearing known as rhumb lines.
Manuscript on vellum (798 x 1006mm) pasted on wood and surrounded by a modern brocade “all’antica”. The portolan chart was pasted on wood in the 1970s (the chart is very lightly rubbed in some parts, it has some light soiling causing some light smearing of the colours and few light creases). Of the Yale copy a digital reproduction can be found here.
Maggiolo’s chart is estimated €50,000 to €80,000.
Though the chart is certainly the jewel of the sale, there is some other great material on offer. Lot 10 is a first edition of Voyage de la Pérouse au tour du monde, authored by ill-fated Jean-François la Pérouse, who disappeared in the Pacific in 1788. Il Ponte notes this particular voyage was the first French expedition to reach Alaska, the first non-Spanish Europeans to stay at Spanish settlements in California, and it is “especially celebrated for its superb mapping of the Alaskan and Californian coasts.” La Pérouse’s Voyageis estimated €6,000 to €9,000.
Lots 58, 59, and 60 make for an impressive set of works by Giovanni Battista Falda (1648-78), the 17thcentury Italian architect, engraver, and artist. Known for his engravings of Rome’s architecture, these three lots, all oblong folios, include nearly 300 engravings of Rome in all its splendor. Estimates for individual lots begin at €2,000 and top out at €6,000.
Continuing in the vein of illustrated works, lot 82 is De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diverse parti del mondoby Cesare Vecellio (1530-1601), a first edition early costume book. Vecellio was a relative of Titian, and costumes from all Europe, Asia, and Africa are depicted. Vecellio’s work is estimated €3,000 to €5,000.
Bound watercolors are also included in the sale, with two notable offerings. Daniel Perea y Rojas’ Acquerelli preparatori del celbre album A Los Toroscomprises 31 preparatory watercolors for the famous album A Los Toros.And Joseph Franz von Jacquin’s Eclogae graminum rariorumincludes 44 botanical watercolored plates. Rojas’ work is estimated €4,000 to €6,000 as lot 74, and Von Jacquin as lot 83 for €2,000 to €3,000.
Il Ponte Casa d’Aste’s sale of Books and Manuscripts is scheduled for 3pm Central European Std Time on January 22 at their location in Milan. Viewings of the material will take place January 18 - 20. Browse the full online catalogue here.
Sotheby’s Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone 25 June – July 7
Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
