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Description

General map of America, which was almost certainly a proof state of the map for Petri's 3 volume L'Orbe Cattolico ossia Atlante Geografico Storico Ecclesiastico Opera del Commendatore Girolamo Petri Officiale minutante della segreteria di Stato.

The map was part of a set of about 100 maps which came to market in 2022, printed on thin paper and mostly uncolored, unlike the typical Petri maps from his 3 volume atlas, which were printed on fine thick paper.

Condition Description
Original hand-color. Printed on thin paper. Discoloration at centerfold.
Girolamo Petri Biography

Petri was responsible for the publication of L'Orbe Cattolico ossia Atlante Geografico Storico Ecclesiastico Opera del Commendatore Girolamo Petri Officiale minutante della segreteria di Stato.

Petri's extremely rare work was by its title suggestive of works in the style of an historical atlas, but was in fact a massive 3 volume work underwritten by Pope Pius IX and intended to be the first great modern atlas to depict the Ecclesiastical regions organized by the Catholic Church at the time.  

Petri's remarkable 3 volume atlas was no doubt part of the Vatican's late efforts to understand and control its vast influence around the world, resurrecting the popular concept of ecclesiastical provinces popularized in works by Nicholas Sanson and others during the 17th Century. The resulting maps are a testament to the artistry of the engravers and the relative indifference of the publisher to the commercial success of work. It is without question one of the most finely engraved and elegant works of the mid-19th Century