Reproductions of Early Manuscript Maps 1: The Portolan Chart of Angellino de Dalorto, MCCCXXV, in the Collection of Prince Corsini at Florence

Abstract

THE Royal Geographical Society has had placed at its disposal a fund for the reproduction of a series of selected manuscript maps, and the first issue of this series is the reproduction of the Portolan Chart of Angellino de Dalorto, which is in the collection of Prince Corsini at Florence. The reproduction is to full size, and is in colour; the work was carried out by the Fratelli Alinari of Florence, by the difficult method of half-tone colour plates—difficult, that is, for the registration of lettering and fine lines. The result is successful, however, and the lettering is, considering the character of such old maps, fairly clear, though it must be confessed that the red names are clearer than the black. It looks as if it would be desirable in future reproductions of this series to modify the process so far as concerns the black names. A comparison might be made with the full-scale reproduction of the Bodleian Map of Great Britain (c. A.D. 1300), which was carried out by the Ordnance Survey in 1870. The general appearance of this reproduction is not nearly so interesting as that of the Portolan Chart which we are discussing, but the brown names are easier to read than the black names on the chart.

Reproductions of Early Manuscript Maps. 1: The Portolan Chart of Angellino de Dalorto, MCCCXXV., in the Collection of Prince Corsini at Florence.

With a Note on the Surviving Charts and Atlases of the Fourteenth Century, by Arthur R. Hinks. Pp. 12, with Chart in 4 Sheets, 24 in. × 16½ in. (London: Royal Geographical Society, 1929.) 42s. net.