Scarce Maps Commemorating Venetian Victories in the Morean War

"[Lot of 2] Pianta della Citta e Fortezza d'Atene... [and] Conquiste della Serenissima Republica di Venetia Nella Morea...", Coronelli, Vincenzo Maria

This scarce pair of beautifully engraved maps chronicle and celebrate Venetian military activity during the Morean War (1684-99), which was part of the wider conflict in the Great Turkish War between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire.

The first map, Pianta della Citta e Fortezza d'Atene... (23.9 x 17.6"), details the Venetian capture of Athens in September 1687. It features excellent detail of fortifications, and a key in an architectural structure at right locates important sites. The map is decorated with two coats of arms and an extremely ornate separately printed border. Under the command of Francesco Morosini, the Venetians took the ancient city after a siege lasting 8 days. The Parthenon was famously destroyed during the battle, when a single mortar shell scored a direct hit on the Turkish gunpowder supply, causing an explosion that killed 300 men and collapsed the temple's roof and most of its walls - a "miraculous shot," according to Morosini. Later that winter, the Venetians abandoned Athens. As they evacuated, Morosini's men would attempt to plunder ancient statues, accidentally obliterating statues of Poseidon and Nike's chariot in the process. Condition: A crisp impression on watermarked paper with light toning and offsetting along the centerfold and light soiling, much of it confined to the margins.

The second map, Conquiste della Serenissima Republica di Venetia Nella Morea... (23.7 x 17.8"), centers roughly on the Fortezza di Corinto (Acrocorinth) and features excellent topographical detail of the surrounding area. 24 circular plan views of various key fortifications are incorporated into the decorative garlands along the sides of the map. An inset at top right zooms out to show Greece and part of Italy and Turkey. There are two blank shields at top. North is oriented to the bottom of the sheet. The map is dedicated to Domenico Contarini, a former Doge of Venice, and Pope Innocent XII. On verso there is a small view, Dardanelli di Lepanto Veduti dalla Parte del Golfo (6.3 x 5.3"). Condition: A fine impression with some extraneous creasing, minor toning and offsetting along the centerfold, and an edge tear at top that barely crosses the neatline.

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Condition: B+

See description above.