The Cornaro Atlas (Egerton MS 73) is an extensive Venetian collection () of nautical charts and tracts, currently held in the

Egerton Collection The Egerton Collection is a collection of historical manuscripts held in the British Library. The core of the collection comprises 67 manuscripts bequeathed to the British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human ...

of manuscripts of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

Background

The Cornaro Atlas is an 80-page Venetian manuscript volume, estimated to date c. 1489. It is named after the Cornaro family, one of the leading patrician families of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

, who once owned the volume, and whose

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

adorns its frontispiece. The Cornaro Atlas was brought to England in 1832, and is currently held (Egerton MS 73) by the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The first half of the volume contains a large collection of nautical charts, faithful copies of

portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...

s composed earlier in the 15th century. The second half of the volume is dedicated to a myriad of written tracts on matters of nautical interest (e.g. astronomy, sailing directions, tariffs, etc.)

Contents of the Atlas

The Cornaro atlas has around 80 pages, each page at 53 x 41 cm.

Calendars

Three of the pages are calendars: * (p. 1) – a perpetual astronomical

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

of lunar revolutions * (p. 2) – a calendar of

moveable feast A moveable feast is an observance in a Christian liturgical calendar which occurs on different dates in different years. It is the complement of a fixed feast, an annual celebration that is held on the same calendar date every year, such as Chri ...

s from 1489 to 1600 * (p. 79) – a calendar of

Dominical letter Dominical letters or Sunday letters are a method used to determine the day of the week for particular dates. When using this method, each year is assigned a letter (or pair of letters for leap years) depending on which day of the week the year st ...

Nautical charts

Following the opening calendars, there are 38 nautical charts depicted in 35 pages (numbered p. 3 to p. 38). All the maps seem to have been copied around the same time and by the same hand. Several pages can be grouped together to form a single

covering the "normal portolan" range (Black Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic coast up to the British isles). Most

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

s are named, some of them notables, such as Grazioso Benincasa of Ancona and Petrus Rosell of Majorca, others are lesser known. The last few charts are anonymous. Notable in this collection are the final charts on West Africa ("Portuguese Guinea") by an anonymous cartographer (often attributed to Cristoforo Soligo), which seem to be based on a Portuguese nautical chart. It is one of the few indicators of the existence of Portuguese portolans from before the earliest extant specimens. * (3 + 4) – portolan chart of Petrus Rosell ** p. 3 – chart of east Mediterranean and Black Sea ** p. 4 – chart of west Mediterranean and Atlantic coast *(5 + 6) – portolan chart of Giovanni de Napoli (''Zuan de Napoli'') ** p. 5 – east Mediterranean and Black Sea. ** p. 6 – west Mediterranean and Atlantic coast *(7 + 8) – portolan chart of Grazioso Benincasa ** p. 7 – east Mediterranean and Black Sea ** p. 8 – west Mediterranean and Atlantic coast *(p. 9) – two charts on one page: ** the first is a special map of the Black Sea by Grazioso Benincasa (or F. Beccario) ** the second is a special map of the Black Sea by Francesco Beccario. * (10 + 11) – portolan chart of Francesco Beccario ** p. 10 – East Mediterranean and Black Sea ** p. 11 – West Mediterranean and Atlantic Coast. Notable here is the "''ixolla del Brazil''" (mythical

Brasil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) west of Ireland, followed by "''ixolla damam''" (mythical Isle of Mam), then the usual list of

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

names (''corvi marini'', etc.) * (12 + 13 + 14) – portolan chart of

Nicolò Fiorino Nicolò () is an Italian male given name. Another variation is Niccolò, most common in Tuscany. It may refer to: * Nicolò Albertini, statesman * Nicolò Amati, luthier * Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer * Nicolò Barattieri, Italian engineer ...

** p. 12 – East Mediterranean and Black Sea ** p. 13 – Central Mediterranean ** p. 14 – West Mediterranean and Atlantic coast. Notable here is a rare mythical island "''Mons Orins''" west of Ireland, as well as the usual mythical ''del brazil'' to the southwest. It also gives the customary Azores list (''deli corbi marini'', ''degli conigli'', ''de S. Zorzi'', etc. including a second ''de bracil'' (

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

)) * (p. 15) – special map of the Adriatic Sea by Francesco de Cesanis ("Cexano"). * (p. 16) – several charts on one page by Zuan Soligo, ** map of Italy, the Adriatic and the Ionian islands ** map of Sicily and Corsica * (17 + 18) – portolan chart of Alvise de Cesanis ("Alvise Cexano") ** p. 17 – Black Sea ** p. 18 – eastern mediterranean, including Aegean up to Morea. *(19 + 20) – special charts of Domenico de Zane ** p. 19 – chart of Mediterranean ** p. 20 – chart of the Aegean Sea * (21 + 22) – special charts of Grazioso Benincasa ** p. 21 – chart of the Mediterranean ** p. 22 – chart of the Aegean Sea, including Greece and Asia Minor. * (p. 23) – chart of the Aegean Sea by Nicolò Pasqualini * (p. 24) – chart of the Aegean Sea by Benedetto Pesina, explicitly dated 1489 (the only dated map in the atlas). * (25 + 26 + 27 + 28 + 29) – portolan chart of Alvise Cesanis (noted as "''compimento''" of earlier Cexano chart). ** p. 25 – central Mediterranean (from where chart on p. 18 left off) until Livorono ** p. 26 – west Mediterranean until the Balearic islands. ** p. 27 – west Mediterranean and south Atlantic coast ** p. 28 – north Atlantic coast, from Lisbon to Texel. * (p. 29) map of Atlantic coast, from northwest Africa to British isles, by an anonymous cartographer. * (p. 30) – South Atlantic chart by Cristoforo Soligo, Portugal down to

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, and including the Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores and mythical

Antillia Antillia (or Antilia) is a phantom island that was reputed, during the 15th-century age of exploration, to lie in the Atlantic Ocean, far to the west of Portugal and Spain. The island also went by the name of Isle of Seven Cities (''Ilha das Se ...

. Notable for including both the "traditional" 14th-century names and the new Portuguese 15th-century names for the

islands, specifically: ** ''y de luovo'' and ''y de santa maria'' ( Santa Maria) ** ''y caprara'' and ''y de san michiel'' ( São Miguel) ** ''y del brazil'' and ''y de jhs xpo'' (

) ** ''y de san zorzi'' and ''y de san piero'' ( São Jorge) ** ''y de colonbi'' and ''y de san dinis'' (

Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...

) ** ''y de la venture'' and ''y de salvis'' ( Faial) ** no traditional name and ''y gracioxa'' (

Graciosa Graciosa Island () (literally "graceful" or "enchanting" in Portuguese), also referred to as the ''White Island'', is a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the northernmost of the Central Group of islands in the Azores archipelago. The o ...

) ** ''y deli Conilgi'' and ''y de san tomas'' (

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

) ** ''y di corbi marini'' and ''ya de santa ana''. ( Corvo) * (31 + 32 + part of 33) – Map of west African coast (noted as "''Ginea Portogalexe''", or

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea (), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a Portuguese overseas province in West Africa from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...

) by an anonymous cartographer (often attributed to Christoforo Soligo)D'Avezac (1850:p.22); Campbell (2010). ** (p. 31) – from the Straits of Gibraltar to Cape Vert (Senegal) ** (p. 32) – from Cape Roxo to Cape Saint-Catherine (Gabon), depicting construction of

Elmina Castle Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or '' Feitoria da Mina''), in present-day Elmina, Ghana, formerly t ...

("''Qui se defiando uno altro Castello del Re de portogal''") ** (p. 33, top) – from Cape Fremoxo to Cape Negro, with all the toponyms in Portuguese. * (p. 33 bottom) – map of the Caspian Sea (''Mar de Bacu''), anonymous. * (p. 34) is a blank page. * (p. 35) two maps on one page, both anonymous ** top – map of the Black Sea ** bottom – map of the Aegean Sea * (p. 36) – General portolan chart (Mediterranean, Black Sea, Atlantic coast), possibly to serve as a "summary map" of all the prior charts. Anonymous. * (p. 37) – map of northern Germany ("Sea of Germany") and the Baltic Sea. Anonymous. * (p. 38) – a chorographic map of the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

(entitled: "''Descriptio totius Terre Sancte, quam posiderunt filii Israhel; vocatur etiam Terra Promisionis''"). Similar to the map of the Marino Sanuto atlas.

Tracts

The remaining forty pages of the Cornaro Atlas (pp. 39–78) are various tracts, lists and notes on various subjects, written in the

Venetian language Venetian, also known as wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ), is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in Veneto, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is som ...

. * (pp. 39 to 46) are dedicated to

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

. Discusses matters such as the relation of the stars to parts of the human body, instructions on the course of the sun and moon, eclipses, timing of Easter and feast days, etc. (the content is similar to the

Catalan Atlas The Catalan Atlas (, ) is a medieval world map, or mappa mundi, probably created in the late 1370s or the early 1380s (often conventionally dated 1375), that has been described as the most important map of the Middle Ages in the Catalan language, ...

of 1375 and the

Pinelli–Walckenaer Atlas The Pinelli–Walckenaer Atlas is a late 14th-century atlas of portolan charts, explicitly dated 1384, primarily composed by an anonymous Venetian cartographer, and held by the British Library. Background 250px, Third sheet of the Pinelli-Walck ...

of 1384) * (p. 47) is a chapter entitled ''la raxon del martologio'' relating the

rule of marteloio image:Tondo e quadro (Bianco, 1436).jpg, 300px, The ''tondo e quadro'' (circle and square) from Andrea Bianco (cartographer), Andrea Bianco's Bianco world map, 1436 atlas The rule of marteloio is a Middle Ages, medieval technique of navigational c ...

(similar to Andrea Bianco's 1436 atlas). * (p. 48), there is the replica of a 1428 document Venetian captain-general Andrea Mocenigo listing the captains of the Venetian galleys, followed (p. 49), by an ordered list of armed galleys of the government (''

Signoria A ''signoria'' () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city-states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The word ''signoria'' comes from ''signore'' (), or "lord", an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government", "governi ...

'') of Venice, and (p. 50) a list of the captains of the Flanders galleys. * (p. 52) beginning of a new treatise on astronomy, apparently dated 1388, tracing the movement of the twelve

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

constellations, the seven planets, the moon, etc. * (p. 55) an explanation of how to measure the height of buildings. * (p. 59) a list of

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

s on merchandise in different countries, comparative to the tariffs of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. * (p. 63) is a manual on sailing. * (p. 67 to p. 78) is a detailed

portolan Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portolano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and wh ...

handbook detailing the sailing directions and distances of the various ports of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts, albeit apparently left incomplete. * (p. 79) – the final calendar of

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* Entry on th
Cornaro Atlas
at COPAC, British Library * Campbell, T. (2010) "A Note on the Cornaro Atlas

including a color and attribution table. * D'Avezac, M.A.C. (1850) ''Note sur un Atlas Hydrographique manuscrit, executé à Venise dans le XVe siècle, et conservé aujourd'hui au Musée Britannique'' Paris: Martine
online
* Uzielli, G. and P. Amat di S. Filippo (1882) ''Studi biografici e bibliografici sulla storia della geografia in Italia, Vol. 2 – Mappamondi, carte nautiche, portolani ed altri monumenti cartografici specialmente italiani dei secoli XIII–XVII'', Rome: Società geografica italiana, 2nd ed.
Vol. 2
Atlases Egerton Collection 15th-century maps and globes