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1941 La Visceglia Italian Fascist Propaganda Map of Invasions of Great Britain

SbarchiGranBretagna-visceglia-1941
$375.00
50 Sbarchi in Gran Bretagna. - Main View
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1941 La Visceglia Italian Fascist Propaganda Map of Invasions of Great Britain

SbarchiGranBretagna-visceglia-1941

If the Romans invaded Britain, certainly the Nazis can!

Title


50 Sbarchi in Gran Bretagna.
  1941 (dated)     31 x 23.25 in (78.74 x 59.055 cm)     1 : 1000000

Description


This May 1941 Visceglia map of Great Britain and Ireland is WWII Fascist Italian propaganda highlighting successful invasions of the British Isles from Antiquity through the 18th century. This map emerged as the Axis powers were planning a full-scale invasion of the Isles - Operation Sea Lion. With so many successful invasions in the past, the map reads, how can the Axis powers fail?
A Closer Look
The Italian-language map illustrates 50 invasions of the British Isles from antiquity through the 18th century. Ships encircle the British Isles with a red line nearly encircling them. Red text provides short histories of each invasion, several of which date from the Roman Era. One such, in 55 A.D., occurred in the vicinity of Dover where Romans and Britons fought in the up-to-waist-deep surf, turning the water red. A vignette illustrates Hadrian's Wall, perhaps Britain's most famous remaining Roman structure. In highlighting Roman victories, this piece reinforces one of Mussolini's favorite propaganda themes: inheriting and renewing the glory of Rome.
Publication History and Census
This map was created and published by Visceglia in May 1941. We note 2 examples cataloged in OCLC, which are part of the collections at the Library of Congress and the Biblioteca del Museo storico della Guerra in Rovereto, Italy. An example is also part of Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection at Cornell University.

Cartographer


Vincenzo Visceglia (January 30, 1903 - October 5, 1971) was an Italian cartographer and publisher. Born in Salandra, Visceglia began his university studies in engineering at the University of Naples, before moving to Rome and earning degrees in physics and mathematics from the University of Rome in 1928. He taught at a high school for a while before changing directions toward and founding the Visceglia Geographical Institute in 1929. The institute's first publication, The Toponymy Guide to Rome appeared in 1930. Visceglia continued to publish maps throughout the 1930s and 1940s (many supporting the fascist regime) and survived the war years. In the 1960s the Institute began publishing the Urban Atlas of Italy. Visceglia died at home in Rome after a long illness. The Visceglia Geographical Institute still publishes maps to this day. More by this mapmaker...

Condition


Good. Wear along original fold lines. Verso repairs to fold separations. Slight loss at a fold intersection. Infill to bottom margin just below the copyright. Some toning. Some dampstaining to lower right margin.

References


Cornell University, Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection, 2431.01. OCLC 1354545536.