Giovanni Antonio Rizzi Zannoni
(September 2, 1736 - May 20, 1814)

One of the leading cartographers of the late 18th century, Giovanni Rizzi-Zannoni was also a noted astronomer, surveyor, and mathematician. Born in Padua, his varied career took him to Poland, where he executed the first triangulation of the country and produced a series of large scale maps; to America, where he assisted in the French/English border survey; to Paris, where he became the chief hydrographer of the Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine; and to Naples, where he founded and served as director of the Topographical Office, one of Europe's first governmental cartographic agencies.

This map is from a small pocket atlas of 1762.

 It was produced by Rizzi-Zannoni in the same year in which his well-known world atlas, Atlas Moderne, was first published. The maps in his various atlases were beautifully engraved, showing minute detail and some embellished with elaborate cartouches.

His miniature maps are highly sought after and generally listed as scarce or rare.