1864 Artaria Map of Lake Como and Milan

This is a rare 1864 Artaria map of Lake Como and its vicinity, produced shortly after Giuseppe Garibaldi's campaign recaptured the territory from Austria. It masterfully evokes the mountainous terrain, shown with some of the finest hachure-engraving we have seen in this medium. The map includes the area surrounding the cities of Como and Lecco, and the Lago di Pusiano, Lago di Annone, Lago di Mezzola, and the smaller lakes surrounding Lake Como. An inset map in the upper left details the route between Como and Milan, showing the rail connection between the two cities via Monza. The map includes detailed descriptive text for both the city of Como and the lake, its towns and its attractions.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved by Pietro Allodi, and printed in 1864 by the Milan firm of Ferdinando Artaria e Figlio. A further edition would be published by the firm in 1877 under the imprint of F. Sacchi e Figli. The map appears to be quite scarce: OCLC lists this edition only at the British Library; the 1877 is catalogued only there and the Wurttemburgische Landesbibliothek.