A New Mapp of Rome Shewing Its Antient And Present Scituation. Most Humbly Inscribed to His Grace The Duke of Queensbury and Dover

Spectacular rare plan of Rome printed in 1721 by John Senex (1690-1740), superbly embellished with four views of buildings and with extensive keys listing two hundred and fifty places of interest or landmarks.

The four large vignette views in the corners from top left clockwise;
The Coliseum, St. Peters, Sepulcher of Caijus Cestus Trajan’s Pillar- In Trajan’s Forum, north of the Roman Forum commemorating the Roman emperor, Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars.

The map was made at the height of the Grand Tour which was seen as an essential part of a young persons education. It lay in its exposure to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent. The traveller went to Rome to study the ancient ruins and the masterpieces of painting, sculpture, and architecture of Rome’s Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. As Edward Gibbon, author of, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, commented “According to the law of custom, and perhaps of reason, foreign travel completes the education of an English gentleman.”

From Senex, J. A New General Atlas, Containing a Geographical and Historical Account of All the Empires, Kingdoms, and other Dominions of the World with the Natural History and Trade of Each Country. Taken from the Best Authors