Klencke Atlas Explained

The Klencke Atlas, first published in 1660, is one of the world's largest atlases.[1] Originating in The Netherlands, it is tall by wide when open,[2] and so heavy the British Library needed six people to carry it.[1]

Description

Klencke Atlas is a singular work; no other copies were created. It is a world atlas made up of 41 copperplate wall maps that remain in exceptionally good condition. The maps were intended to be removed and displayed on the wall.[1] The maps are of the continents and assorted European states and it was said to encompass all the geographical knowledge of the time.[3] Dutch Prince John Maurice of Nassau is credited with its creation,[3] and it contains engravings by artists Joan Blaeu and Hondius and others.

It was presented by a consortium of Dutch sugar merchants, represented by Professor Johannes Klencke,[4] [5] to King Charles II of England in 1660 to mark the occasion of his Restoration to the throne.[1] The consortium likely hoped to gain favourable trade agreements with Britain for slave trade and their sugar plantations.[6] Johannes Klencke was the son of a Dutch merchant family, and an expert on Hugo Grotius. Charles, a map enthusiast, kept it in the 'Cabinet and Closset of rarities' in Whitehall.[4]

History

In 1828, King George IV gave it to the British Museum as part of a larger gift of maps and atlases, the King's Library, collected by his father George III.[7] [8] In the 1950s it was re-bound and restored.[7] Today it is held by the Antiquarian Mapping division of the British Library in London.[1] Since 1998 it was displayed at the entrance lobby of the maps reading room.[4] In April 2010 it was publicly displayed for the first time in 350 years with pages open,[2] at an exhibition at the British Library.[1] [9]

Until 2012 the Klencke Atlas was widely regarded as the world's largest atlas,[2] a record it probably held since the atlas was created 350 years earlier.[10] In February 2012, Australian publisher Gordon Cheers published a new atlas called Earth Platinum that is bigger by about a foot making it probably the largest atlas in the world; 31 copies were made priced at each.[11] [12]

In 2017, the British Library digitized the atlas and made it available online.[13] A video of the digitization process was also made available.[14]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The World Actually Fits In The World's Largest Book . . Liane . Hansen . 31 January 2010 . 2023-12-30.
  2. Web site: Largest book in the world goes on show for the first time . . Mark . Brown . 26 January 2010 . 2023-12-30.
  3. Web site: 'Largest book in the world' to be displayed for the first time . https://web.archive.org/web/20100201043320/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/largest-book-in-the-world-to-be-displayed-for-the-first-time-1881706.html . 2010-02-01 . . Relax News . 28 January 2010 . 2023-12-30.
  4. Book: The Map Book . Walker & Co . New York . Peter . Barber . 2005 . 164 . 9780802714749 .
  5. Book: Miert, Dirk van . Humanism in an Age of Science: The Amsterdam Athenaeum in the Golden Age . BRILL . 2009 . 68-70 .
  6. Web site: The Klencke Atlas . https://web.archive.org/web/20170502151429/https://www.bl.uk/picturing-places/articles/the-klencke-atlas . 2017-05-02 . British Museum . Tom . Harper . May 13, 2017.
  7. Web site: And You Think Your Kids' Books Are Heavy . https://web.archive.org/web/20100131080303/http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/33772/and-you-think-your-kids-books-are-heavy . 2010-01-31 . Art Info . Vic . Brand . 28 January 2010 . 2023-12-30.
  8. Web site: King George III Topographical and Maritime collections . https://web.archive.org/web/20230528104801/https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/king-george-iii . 2023-05-28 . British Museum . 13 May 2017.
  9. Web site: Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda And Art . . 27 January 2010 . 2023-12-30.
  10. No other known atlas made such a claim.
  11. Web site: Earth Platinum, the largest world atlas ever produced has been launched in Abu Dhabi . https://archive.today/20130105031514/http://www.globalmapping.uk.com/earth_images/EarthPlatinumtheWorldslargestbook.htm . 5 January 2013 . Global Mapping UK . Alan . Smith .
  12. Web site: Kiwis leave their mark on world's biggest atlas . Idealog . 2012-05-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140716014536/http://www.idealog.co.nz/news/2011/11/kiwis-leave-their-mark-worlds-biggest-atlas . 2014-07-16 . dead .
  13. Web site: Massive Royal Atlas Gets Digitized . Smithsonian . Jason . Daley . 12 May 2017 . 13 May 2017.
  14. Web site: Watch the British Library Digitize One of the World's Largest Books . hyperallergic.com . Allison . Meier . 28 April 2017 . 13 May 2017.

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