Vallard Atlas

The most important geographical sea charts of the Middle Ages unequivocally came from the Portuguese school of cartography. These sea charts were also called ‘portolans’ and were reproduced across Europe and were used as the basis for new maps. Another stronghold of cartography was the Dieppe school in France. Some of Europe’s most important handwritten maps arose between 1540 and 1570 in the French city of Dieppe. The Vallard Atlas is one of these splendid specimens. The work contains 15 gorgeous, elaborately designed sea charts on vellum.

The Cartography of Dieppe

The French charts, which were produced in Dieppe, were largely based off of the findings of Portuguese geographers. They contain several particularly attractive characteristics. The large-format charts are true works of art, which were intended to be mounted on a wall or to be outstretched on a large table. Alongside the newest geographic facts and information, they contain marginal notes and illustrations from the realm of mythology. The Vallard Atlas is furnished with breathtaking landscapes in exciting, vivid colors, it shows the geographic features and the inhabitants of every land on Earth. The atlas is one of the most beautiful cartographic products of the European Renaissance.

The History of the Atlas

The history of the Vallard Atlas is exceptionally well documented due to the handwritten notes in the codex. Nicolas Vallard, a famous cartographer of the Dieppe school, was probably not the author of the work, but he was certainly the first owner of the valuable codex. In the year 1816, the collection of charts was sold by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the Prince of Bénévent to the English art collector Robert Triphook. The work found itself in the collection of Sir Thomas Philipps in 1849, who exhibited it in his famous library. In 1924, Henry E. Huntington acquired the atlas for his library in California, where it is found to this day.