Mercurio Geografico

Mercurio Geografico, overo Guida Geografica in tutte le tavole geografiche del Sansone, Baudrand, e Cantelli, was a grand geographical compendium published in Rome by Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi at his renowned Stamperia alla Pace, marked all’Insegna di Parigi (at the sign of Paris), under papal privilege (co’ Priuilegio del Sommo Pontefice). Compiled in the late 17th century, this work served as a guide to the maps of three of the era’s foremost French and Italian geographers: Nicolas Sanson, Michel-Antoine Baudrand, and Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola. It brought together their cartographic contributions into a unified atlas, richly engraved and annotated, reflecting the expanding geographical knowledge of the Baroque period. De Rossi’s press—one of the most influential in Rome—was known for its high-quality copperplate engraving and close association with the Vatican, making the Mercurio Geografico both an artistic and scholarly achievement in early modern Italian cartography.