Melville House Books

“It takes six people to lift it,” according to this report in the UK Guardian, “yet the splendid Klencke Atlas, presented to Charles II on his restoration and now 350 years old, has never been publicly displayed with its pages open.”

That oversight will be rectified this summer when the British Library puts the atlas on display as one of the stars of its summer blockbuster exhibition on maps.

The Klencke Atlas was originally given as a gift to Charles II by Dutch merchants, and was kept in his cabinet of curiosities. This exhibit promises to give a peak at some other amazing curiosities as well. Of the 100 maps to be shown, over three quarters will be going on display for the first time.

And, by contrast to the giant Klencke, one of the smallest maps in the world, a fingernail-sized German coin from 1773 showing a bird’s eye view of Nuremberg, will be exhibited close by.

Valerie Merians is the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.