Atlas de Esapana y Susus Posesiones de Ultramar: Isla de Cuba Por El Teniente Coronel Captain de Ingenieros D. Francisco Coello. [Atlas of Spain and its Overseas Possessions].

COELLO, D. Francisco .

$2,500.00

Item Number: 127183

Madrid:, 1851-1853.

First edition of famed cartographer Francisco Coello’s magnum opus, Atlas of Spain and its Overseas Possessions, containing two large engraved broadside maps of the Island of Cuba. Housed in the publisher’s original small octavo stiff paper boards, the first map displays the Island of Cuba with fine hand-colored borders. The second shows detailed views of the historical districts of Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Typography by D. Cailo Alaberand, Desbuissons, and Estruch. Outlines by Leroux, Raynaud, Leelereq, and Bacot. In near fine condition.

After marching to Algeria as a military attaché to the French army, Spanish cartographer Francisco Coello began production, in collaboration with fellow cartographer Pascual Madoz, on what would become his masterpiece, the Atlas of Spain and its Overseas Possessions which would include maps of all of the provinces of Spain. The first work to reflect the new territorial division of the country in 1833, the intended format of each provincial map was 100 x 75 cm, with a total of 65 sheets. However, the project was not completed and the maps of eleven provinces remained unrealized, although maps of Spanish Africa and various overseas possessions were made. The sheets had a provincial map —the base of the document—, small plans on a smaller scale of different cities in the province —disposed on the sides of the sheets— and small textual annotations included by Madoz. Coello's work consisted of carrying out research work and compilation of plans or other sources and the subsequent drawing of the new maps from those, with very little field work. The Atlas of Spain and its overseas possessions represents in any case a key point in the development of cartography in Spain and many years later still has a unique value for the study of urban development in many Spanish cities, being even used as a reference work in the development of urban projects.