A Fine, Edge-Bound Copy of the 1649 Second Edition of Montecalerio's Atlas of the Franciscan World.
Delightful and very rare atlas of Western Europe, showing the location of Franciscan Capuchin monasteries.
The maps in the atlas were published by three Capuchin cartographers, J. B. Cassini, Father Michael Angl of Dinant, and Johannes Moriondo à Monte Carlo. The atlas opens with a large fold-out map of Western Europe, showing the many Capuchin provinces. The atlas then continues through Italy, France, Spain, and Germany, with maps of each region followed by a number of provincial maps.
The atlas was first published in 1643, with this edition following shortly after in 1649. Both of these editions are rare, with a more common later edition appearing in 1712 in Milan.
The atlas describes the European world of the Order of the Friars Minor Capuchin. The Order was founded in 1525 and inspired by the teachings of St. Francis Assisi. It initially spread rapidly, but some controversies in the order, including the departure of the third Vicar General to join the Calvinists hindered its expansion. It became an independent order in 1619, separating from the Conventual Franciscans who had nurtured them. By the time the present atlas was published, the Order had spread throughout Western Europe and was beginning missionary outreach in America, Africa, and Asia.
The atlas includes the complete complement of 24 maps of Italy, 6 maps of Spain, 12 maps of France, and 8 maps of Germany, in addition to the folding map of Europe.