Add MS 68933

LOMBARDY: 'Stato di Milano e sue provincie tirate dal Censimento o sia perticato di esso stato . . .', by Michel Angelo de Blasco; circa 1750. Scale circa 1:132300 for the central area. 'Scala di miglia dieci italiane' (= 140mm.) 'Presentata alle M. Mta Impli. Rli. ed Appche', i.e. Maria Theresa of Austria and her husband, the Emperor Francis I. Italian. The map is a reduction from the Milanese Censimento of 1720-1723 (at a scale of 1:2000 and 1:8000); the land beyond the duchy of Milan not covered by the Censimento is shown on the basis of older maps in less detail and using different conventional signs. In the central portion of the map, major towns are marked in red ink, with the main streets and fortifications shown in plan. The cartographer makes clear his intentions in an elaborately drawn panel. After the title, this reads 'Il quale fu elevato geometricamente colla Tavoletta Pretoriana, e percio si e distinta la sua delineasione, colle piante geometrice delle citta ville e luoghi principali, e molto piu lavorato e circonstanziato dalli paesi circonvicini o confirmato che vanno semplicemente segnati colla solite marche e segni usate nella geografia o topografia d'un paese o provincia.' In another panel, he explains that the River Po has been represented in accurate detail in the central area of the map, and likewise its tributaries, but these last are only shown in detail where they pass through towns. The upper right-hand corner of the map is occupied by the dedication, which appears on a banderole, and the title, on a recumbent stone slab, in a fantastical setting of ruined masonry and gnarled trees in the style of Piranesi. A printed map of circa 1748 of Genoa and the surrounding area, surveyed by de Blasco, is in the Map Library (K.77.62). On this map de Blasco is described as Lieutenant-Colonel in Sprecher's regiment. Purchased at Sotheby's, 20 Oct. 1988, lot 138.

Ink on paper. Ten sheets, joined, backed with linen; the edges bound with light blue silk, sewn on. 1300 x 2300mm.