Vincenzo Coronelli

(1650-1718)

Coronelli's maps and globe gores represent the most complete geographical knowledge of the world in the late 17th century.

Coronelli was a cleric and encyclopedist with a particular interest in geography and cartography. He was author of more than 140 titles and produced several hundred maps. His globe gores were produced to be assembled into spherical form and sold as complete globes; rare examples were kept aside to be published in sheet form.

As Royal Cartographer to King Louis XIV, Coronelli had complete access to the most current documentation sent from the colonies to the French Academy of Sciences. Accordingly, his maps contain many legends that comment on the most important explorations and discoveries.

After serving Louis XIV, Coronelli returned to Venice in 1684 and founded the Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti, a geographical society with membership drawn from the aristocracy and church hierarchy. One year later he was appointed Cosmographer to the Republic of Venice.