Map, Italy, Pictorial, Imago Italiae, Set of 19 Maps, Milan, 1941

Description

Within the set, Italiae, a map of Italy as a whole, shows 18 regions, each color shaded and named by their capital cities (rather than the region name) beneath the representative coat of arms of the city. Five seas surrounding Italy are named against a black water background. The waters are decorated with ships, a figure of the mythological god of the sea Neptune, and a compass rose. The title appears in a crowned cartouche. Each of the accompanying 18 regional maps has simple geography with names of major cities and landmarks and bold large Art Deco imagery of places and activities associated with the region. For example, the region of Piemonte (Piedmont) includes a mountain climber on Monte Bianco, skiers on Limone Piemonte, a bottle of Italian champagne in Asti, and The Royal Castle of Racconigi, a grand palace and landscape park in Racconigi, province of Cuneo, region of Piedmont. It also has a compass rose, and dividers indicating scale, as well as a simple cartouche with the name of the region. Overall the Piedmont map, like the other 17 regional maps, has a color shaded border.

These maps have a complicated publication history. Various issues, editions, and compilations of the Art Deco maps of Italy and its regions as designed by Nicouline and copyrighted by De Agostini were published. The first issued set was comprised of 19 maps bearing copyrights variously from 1938 and 1939. These folio sized maps were generally published in an atlas titled Imago Italiae, printed by Societa Anonima Editrice (known as Italgeo), in a limited edition of 999 copies. This portfolio included text pages with information on each region. The 19 maps were comprised of a map of Italy, and 18 maps of each of a region in Italy. In many extant examples of this atlas, the maps are folded in half therein, as issued, so the size of the atlas, in one dimension is half what it otherwise would be.

The offered set of 19 loose maps is from this first issue, but they were not issued folded, and some of the outer dimensions of the sheets vary slightly, suggesting that they were separately issued rather than as the Imago Italia portfolio. Additionally, the offered maps do not show an edition number, which is further evidence that they were issued separately. Nonetheless, they are apparently identical to maps of that portfolio, having the advantage of there being no center fold, though there is no text, table of contents, or binding associated with them. The maps if the offered set are titled as follows, in the order presented in Imago Italiae, essentially from north to south: Italia, Piemonte, Lombardia, Veneto, Venezia, Tridentina, Venezia Giulia, Emilia, Liguria, Toscana, Marche e San Marino, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo e Molise, Campania, Puglia, Lucania, Calabria, Sicilia, Sardegna.

There were later versions and compilations of Imago Italia, with additions of other maps. An extant set with 20 maps – having a supplemental map of Corsica – was published with center folding maps in an edition of 100 copies in 1942. A smaller atlas instead named Italia Viva has 21 maps total (adding two regional maps – Corsica and Dalmatia – and with different credits in the lower margin) and was published with an additional decorative cover for tourists, in 1941. The map of Italy as a whole, as titled Italia was variously separately issued in different sizes and versions from the 1940s to the late 1980s, if not later.

The cartographer and publisher, Professor Giovanni De Agostini was a leading figure in modern Italian cartography and the founder of Istituto Geografico De Agostini, established in 1901 in Novara, Italy. His work was instrumental in shaping Italy’s geographic identity during a time of nationalistic fervor and rapid modernization. After his death, the Istituto Geografico De Agostini continued to use his name for years. The offered maps were a part of Professor De Agostini’s final project before his death in 1942. He worked in partnership with the renownedartist Vsevolod Petrovic Nicouline, A Ukrainian born painter, printmaker, ceramicist, designer and illustrator. Nicouline taught for many years at the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg until the Bolshevik Revolution forced him to flee to Constantinople, later settling in Genoa in 1920 where he had his first major exhibition. In 1938, he collaborated with Professor De Agostini to publish the offered pictorial maps of Italy. In 1941 he was inaugurated into the Teatro Carlo Felice and designed opera sets. He also provided the illustrations for numerous children’s books.

Condition: Each generally very good with only light overall toning, handling, wear. No binding, perhaps as issued? Maps are in two different though very similar sizes: 19.5 x 25 inches, and 19.5 x 24 inches, likely as issued.

References:

“Imago Italia” David Rumsey. https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=italia+imago&annotSearch= (28 January 2025).

“Vsevolode Nicouline.” Wikipedia. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vsevolode_Nicouline (28 January 2025).