Magini’s map of the eastern Ligurian coast is among the earliest dedicated treatments of the region, extending from Sestri Levante through the Gulf of La Spezia to the valley of the Magra, and inland across the Apennine watershed. Published in Bologna in 1597, the map was engraved, likely by Arnoldo di Arnoldi, as part of Magini’s long-developing project to produce a scientifically accurate atlas of Italy based on contemporary surveys. In 1922, Almagià made a big deal of the fact that this map had been produced in the 16th century and was not included in the Magini atlases. This seems to have overstated the case a bit; the map is scarce, but it was posthumously published in copies of the Italia of 1620, in addition to circulating separately for years beforehand.
The map emphasizes both coastal cities and mountainous terrain, with fortressed ports such as Genoa, Portofino, Lerici, and Sarzana depicted, and a network of winding rivers and hilltowns labeled with remarkable density. Stylized mountain ranges characterize the interior, and the courses of the Magra and other rivers are carefully plotted. The visual texture of the sea is animated by rhythmic wave patterns and calligraphic lettering so indicative of Magini's maps. Mermaids and winged putti flank the title cartouche and reflect the late Mannerist style of ornament favored in Italian engraving at the end of the sixteenth century.
Rarity and State
Though the map was incorporated into copies of the 1620 Italia, it remains scarce.
Giovanni Magini's Maps of Italy
Giovanni Antonio Magini (1555–1617), a Bolognese mathematician and astronomer, is remembered today for producing the first printed atlas devoted entirely to Italy. He began work in 1594, assembling the best available regional surveys and correcting them with the aid of local knowledge and patronage. Financing the project required years of persistence: Magini taught the son of the Duke of Mantua and secured contributions from the peninsula’s ruling families, who were eager to see their territories mapped with precision.
The atlas plates were engraved primarily in Bologna, first by the Arnoldi brothers and later, after their departure, by the English engraver Benjamin Wright, who completed eleven sheets. Although Magini died before publication, his son, Fabio, oversaw the final stages, and the completed atlas appeared in 1620 under the title Italia, printed by Sebastiano Bononi. It includes a general map of Italy followed by sixty detailed copper-engraved maps covering the provinces from Piedmont to Sicily, with an extraordinary density of toponyms.
Magini’s Italia marked a turning point in Italian cartography. It displaced the composite Lafreri-style sheets of the sixteenth century, provided a model for later mapmakers such as Hondius and Blaeu, and stood as the most detailed printed survey of the peninsula for much of the seventeenth century.
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