A newly discovered manuscript atlas of nautical maps in the Institute of Manuscript of V. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

The article characterizes medieval manuscript portolan charts, emphasizing their uniqueness in the world. We describe a discovery of a valuable manuscript nautical maps atlas made by Grazioso Benincasa in 1474. The atlas was found in the Institute of Manuscript of V. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, in the archive of Saint Volodymyr University, among the manuscripts of a librarian collection. We submit two descriptions of the atlas: one made by a director of Saint Volodymyr University library V. A. Kordt in 1899 and our own description of the manuscript. The latter includes archeographic, codicological and heraldic data, which enable us to reconstruct the history of Benincasa’s atlas existence. It has ex-libris bearing evidence of the fact that the manuscript came to the library of Saint Volodymyr University from the library of a Polish nobleman, state, political and military figure of Rzeczpospolita Michał Jerzy Wandalin Mniszech. In the paper we have also reconstructed Grazioso Benincasa’s biography, given the table of his famous maps and atlases (with titles, dates and current location) and provided the bibliography relevant to the subject of our researc