Doria Atlas

Wardington Manor, 2015

The Doria Atlas is a 16th-century atlas commissioned by and named for the Genoese military leader Andrea Doria. Likely compiled around 1570, it is a composite atlas featuring 186 printed and manuscript maps[1] from two distinct atlases of the Lafreri school.[2] It also contains rare Italian maps dating to the 1620s, in addition to a series of manuscript maps, written by little-known publishers during the 1620s and 1630s and detailing the commercial, political and military interests of the Doria family.[2] As of the 21st century it is one of the world's most expensive books.

Having passed through successive generations of the Doria family, and later the British Rail Pension Fund, it was bought at auction by rare book collector Christopher Pease, 2nd Baron Wardington, for £240,000 in September 1988. In April 2004, the Doria Atlas was saved from a fire at Wardington Manor in Oxfordshire, when approximately 50 local residents "formed a human chain" to remove items from the Wardington library while firefighters were still attempting to put out the fire.[3] Though most of the rare atlases contained in the library were saved with little or no damage, extensive damage to the property forced Lord Wardington to auction much of the collection.[3]

Repair costs, in addition to Wardington's advanced age and frailty, forced a sale of 700 items from the collection.[3][4][5] The Doria Atlas was sold at auction by Sotheby's in October 2005. Initially expected to fetch £700,000 to £1 million,[6] it ultimately was purchased by Bernard Shapero, a London rare book dealer, for £1.46 million. Its sale price was the highest ever for an atlas, a record surpassed by the Cosmographia the following year.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Simon Garfield (2012). On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks. Penguin Group. p. 143. ISBN 9781592407798.
  2. 1 2 "Doria Atlas". Sothebys.com. 18 October 2005. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Bennett, Will (31 May 2005). "Rare atlases snatched from fire". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Thorncroft, Tony (7 October 2006). "Mapped-out fortunes". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  5. ↑ Temple, Peter (3 August 2012). "Mapping the price of atlases". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Lord auctions atlases after blaze". BBC News. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  7. ↑ Milmo, Cahal (6 October 2006). "Atlas favoured by Columbus goes on sale for £1 million". The Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
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