North Africa – Zatta, Antonio. (1722 – 1804).

Le Coste Di Barbaria Ovvero I Regni di Marocco di Fez di Algers di Tunisi di Tipoli coi Paesi Circonvicini.

Original hand-coloured engraving. Venezia, Antonio Zatta E Figli, 1784. Plate Size: 41.5 cm x 30.5 cm. Sheet Size: 50.6 cm x 38.8 cm. Original map with generous margins. Very good condition, with the only slightest traces of browning.

[Phillips, 650].
Hand-coloured border with latitudinal and longitudinal lines along margins. Coloured interior map borders. Very interesting and decorative map of the North African coast from Morocco in the west to the Strait of Gibraltar and over to Tripoli in the east. Portugal and Spain, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, southern Italy and Sicily, Malta, the southern Balkans and Greece and the Greek Islands. Constantinople (Istanbul) is squeezed into the top right corner of the map and the Anatolian coast is also included. The Barbary kingdoms and regions such as Fezzn, Tripoli, Billed-Ul Jeri, Tunis, Algeria Fez, Morocco, ‘Paese Berberes’ and ‘Tafilet are delineated, and the towns and cities across the map’s region are identified. Interestingly the map-maker manages to squeeze Siu-wah (Siwa) into the map as part of the kingdom of Tripoli: The Berber-dominated Siwa Oasis has been historically ruled by Egypt – part of Egypt rather than Tripoli/Libya.
In the lower part of the map the cartographically bare Sahara is shown. Relief shown pictorially.
Beautifully coloured decorative title cartouche in the lower left corner of the map.
From Zatta’s monumental Altante Novissimo, one of the last great decorative atlases of the 18th Century.

Antonio Zatta (1722-1804) was an Italian cartographer and publisher who was based in Venice. One of his major contributions include the Atlante Novissimo, a four-volume atlas of the world. He is also known for his prolific output of prints and books that were both precisely made and aesthetically pleasing. Zatta clearly had a large network from which to draw information; this is how he was able to publish the first glimpse of the islands visited by Captain Cook in the Atlante Novissimo. Zatta also published books of plays and architecture.

• Keywords: 18th Century · 18th Century Maps · Africa · Barbary States · Berbers · Cartography · Catalogue No.5 – Maps of the World · Catalogue Summer 2020 · Fez · Italian · Library & Collection Building · Map · Map, African · Mediterranean · North Africa · Original Engraving · Original Map · Original Maps · Rare Map – Morocco · Rare Map – Tunisia · Rare Map Africa · Rare Maps Collection – Africa · Sahara · Tripoli · Vintage Map
• Inventory Number: 200043AG