The Queen Mary Atlas. [ 2 volumes, atlas and commentary, in publisher's box ] by Homem, D. ; Barber, P. ;The Folio Society ; British Library - 2005

The Folio Society, London, limited edition, 2005. Limited edition of 1000 numbered copies. 2 volumes, Atlas bound in full red calf with an armorial design of the conjoined armsof England and Spain in black and gold by David Eccles, folio, 53 cm, Commentary in full dark red buckram, cover-label, 8vo,. Atlas:12 leaves of colour plates, 61 cm, Commentary : vii, 87 pp, 8 pp of colour plates, 31 cm,. A splendidly produced boxed facsimile of the Queen Mary Atlas (British Library Add. MSS 5415A) with an accompanying commentary by Peter Barber. The Atlas was commissioned by Mary Tudor for Philip II from Diogo Homem in the mid 1550s. . The facsimile reproduces the12 double-page maps of the atlas (British Library, Cotton Mss Add. 5415A) both recto and verso (the latter to show the discoloration and age-marks of the vellum), with the maps mounted on guards so that they open flat. The commentary includes introductions to contemporary cartography in England and Portugal. Text contents: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT: I The Cartographic Background: Medieval Antecedents; II The Cartographic Background: Portuguese cartography; III Mapmaking in England to 1558; IV Diego Homem; V Philip II and Maps; THE QUEEN MARY ATLAS: I A Royal Commission ? Imagery Content and Creation; II Provenance and Past Scholarship; III Physical Format; THE COMMENTARY: I Lunar and Solar Calendars; II Zonal Map of the World; III Tables of Solar Declination; IV World Map; V The Western Coasts of Europe; VI The Western Mediterranean; VII The Southern Atlantic; VIII East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean; IX The East Indies; X Thc Northern Atlantic; XI The Eastern Pacific and the Western Coastlines of the Americas; XII South America; Further Reading. Copy No. 554. Fine set in publisher's box.