Giant Book

The Klencke Atlas

Largest book in the world goes on show for the first time

5ft (1.75 metres) tall and 6ft (1.9 metres) wide ??

It was presented to King Charles II in 1660 by Dutch merchants on his restoration and is now 350 years old.

It takes six people to lift it and has been recorded as the largest book in the world.

In 1979 the ' Klencke' atlas, presented to King Charles II in 1660, and with measures over six feet in height, was photographed, map by map in sections, with the aid of scaffolding and special lighting in the British Library Map Library.

Links

http://www.jstor.org/pss/4422721  (Re-Binding the Atlas work)

http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/contact_us.aspx

“Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art”
http://www.bl.uk/news/2010/pressrelease20100126.html

Johan Maurits of Nassau, The Klencke Atlas, c.1660, 175 x 190cm, atlas with 37 printed wall maps on paper: This, the largest book in the world at almost 6ft, was presented by the Amsterdam merchant Johannes Klencke to Charles II of England on his restoration to the throne in 1660. It was certainly a gift fit for a king, with thirty-seven large wall maps in an ornate binding, which bears symbols of the kingdoms of Great Britain and France, which the English monarch still claimed. The maps are either unique, or known in only a handful of copies. Together they were adjudged to encapsulate all knowledge

Photograph: The British Library
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2010/jan/26/british-library-map