----------------------------Original message---------------------------- THE ATLAS OF BATTISTA AGNESE The CD-book "Atlas of Battista Agnese" is part of the new series "Palimpsests, facsimiles of the Marciana National Library of Venice", directed by Piero Falchetta, who intends on offering scholars and enthusiasts full reproductions of some of the most prized and important manuscripts and printed works conserved in the Marciana National Library. The CD-ROM, available in English and Italian, for both the Windows and Macintosh environments, together with a 200-page book, is dedicated to the complete reproduction of a very famous manuscript atlas conserved in the Marciana Library. The author is one of the greatest map-makers of the XVI century, Battista Agnese. The manuscript [Ms. Marc. It. IV, 62 (= 5067)] was created by Agnese from 1554-1556 and is perhaps the most beautiful and certainly the most detailed of those he produced over his long and successful map-making activities. The CD-ROM contains: - 112 high-resolution colour pictures of the Agnese Atlas - 27 pictures of the Tabulae Antiquae of Ptolemy (Rome 1490 edition) - 54 pictures ready for immediate comparison, taken from the Agnese Atlas and from the Tabulae of Ptolemy - texts equivalent to more than 500 pages The CD-ROM provides the user with the opportunity of making an in-depth as well as complete exploration of the 32 charts by Battista Agnese, reproduced in their entirety together with the pages inserted by the map-maker as accessories to the manuscript (armillary map, table of solar declinations, representation of the celestial spheres, the zodiac). The single charts can be analysed down to the smallest details, thanks to four different zoom factors which enlarge the dimensions up to six times the original size. No details will ever be missed thanks to the high graphic resolution. Tools are provided to help read the pictures and to ensure a detailed analysis. The "Rotate" application can be run on each chart. This function is used to place the names that are written vertically or upside-down in a horizontal position. The descriptions of the single charts illustrate the main technical and compositional aspects. The texts also include hypertextual links to the most important subjects (for example: the description of Temistitan, our Mexico City; the Taprobana island; the pilgrimages in the Holy Land; the mysterious Priest Ianni; the voyage of Magellan...). The Tabulae Antiquae of Ptolemy (Rome 1490 edition), which are also reproduced in their entirety, can be used to obtain more complete knowledge of the cultural sector that includes the work by Battista Agnese; the two works can be compared immediately by using the guided comparisons. The texts of some of the main studies on Battista Agnese, together with extensive bibliographies, offer the possibility of an immediate in-depth study. Finally, the entire text of the report by Antonio Pigafetta, who travelled with Ferdinand Magellan on the first voyage around the world, is part of the beautiful chart in which Battista Agnese traces the route of the great navigator. The book contains the guide to navigate in the CD-ROM and the articles "The manuscript Atlases of Battista Agnese" (Henry R. Wagner 1931) and "Introduction to the history of nautical map-making in Venice (XIV-XV century)" (Piero Falchetta 1995). An overview about the CD-book is available at the site: http://www.vol.it/canal/agneseen.htm The sales price up to December 31, 1996 is Lit. 149,000 for the CD-book plus shipping expenses. A discount of 20% will be applied for orders of more than 5 copies. To buy the work, complete the order form which can be obtained from the site: http://www.vol.it/canal/ordrform.htm and send it: - by fax to +39-41-718033 - by e-mail to [log in to unmask] - by mail to Canal Multimedia, Santa Croce 2180, 30135 Venice Italy. Please, send us your address to receive further information about our next publications of the series "Palinsesti" and other cartography related material.