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Map of the world, featuring the itineraries for maritime voyages of Portuguese exploration by Fernão Mendes Pinto, Fernão de Magalhães and Pedro Fernandes Queirós. Also shows the main cities from Portugal to India by land and sea, as well as bodies of water, drainage, coastlines and islands. Includes latitudinal and longitudinal lines, as well as a legend. Colored lithograph. Map is 30 x 50 cm, on double sheet 48 x 69 cm., Atlas de Portugal ultramarino e das grandes viagens Portuguesas de descobrimento e expansão, by the Ministério das Colónias of Portugal; published in Lisbon by the Instituto Geográfico e Cadastral, 1948. Title translates to: Atlas of overseas Portugal and the great Portuguese voyages of discovery and expansion. Bound in original brown cloth with calf spine. Title and imprint gilt debossed on front cover and spine. Collation: 2° : [10] pages, [101] leaves of plates (including some double), [4] pages. Volume includes a preface, table of contents, list of citations and colophon. Plates comprised of 110 maps, which represent Portuguese colonies across the globe, through systemic cartographic portraits of each place. Maps show political boundaries, cities, air routes, railways, roads, topography, bodies of water, drainage, coastlines and islands. Maps feature elevation, geology, climate, phytogeography, historical exploration, population, ethnicity, languages spoken, and economics, such as export and import values. Atlas was an intellectual production of the state colonial research agency, the Junta das Missões Geográficas e de Investigações Colonials, under the oppressive "Estado Novo" regime, which was led by the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar (1889 – 1970), an economics professor who promoted science, statistics, mapping and data visualization. The atlas was intended to be an expanded successor to the Comissão de Cartografia’s Atlas Colonial Português (Lisbon: [Imprensa Nacional], 1914), which showcased Portugal’s colonies but only included conventional topographic maps. "An unusually fine example of the most comprehensive and sophisticated atlas of Portugal’s colonial possessions ever made, and one of the greatest intellectual products of the ‘Estado Novo’ regime, that while oppressive, valued science, statistics and mapping; made by the state colonial research agency, the Junta das MissoÞes Geograìficas e de InvestigaçoÞes Colonials, the colossal work features 110 colour maps, including advanced topographical maps and thematic cartography (recording historical exploration, as well as geological, economic, hypsometric, demographic, ethnographic, climate, transport and communication maps) for each of the Portuguese colonies, custom made for the atlas by the Instituto Geográfico e Cadastral. This attractive and technically advanced atlas showcases Portugal’s overseas empire which then included Mozambique; Angola; Macau, China; Goa, India, along with its dependencies DamaÞo, Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli; Cabo Verde; São Tomé & Principe; Guiné (today Guinea-Bissau); and Timor-Leste (East Timor, in the Indonesian Archipelago). It was made by the Junta das MissoÞes Geograìficas e de InvestigaçoÞes Colonials, Portugal’s special state colonial research agency, which succeeded the former Comissão de Cartografia. The atlas commences with 11 maps charting the amazing historical achievements of Portuguese explorers, who were often the first Europeans to encounter parts of the world beyond their own continent, accomplishments which gave Portugal the world’s first global empire. Following that is an intriguing map shown the airline connections between Lisbon and its African colonies. The main body of the work is comprised of a systematic cartographic showcasing of each colony, including fine topographic maps, as well as thematic works such as geological, economic, hypsometric (elevation), demographic (population), ethnographic, linguistic, climate, and transport and communication maps. On the topographic side, the atlas incudes a monumental 6-sheet map of Angola and a 3-sheeet map of Mozambique. All the maps were custom made for the atlas by the state cartographic agency, the Instituto Geográfico e Cadastral. The atlas was intended to be the tremendously expanded successor to the Comissão de Cartografia’s Atlas Colonial Português (Lisbon: [Imprensa Nacional], 1914), that showcased Portugal’s colonies but that only included conventional topographic maps (albeit of very high quality). The present atlas is one of the greatest intellectual products of the Estado Novo regime (1926-74) that ruled Portugal and its overseas territories, led most of the time by the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar (1889 – 1970), an economics professor. While he presided over a conservative autocracy with a lamentable human rights record (especially in the African colonies), he revolutionized and modernized Portugal’s imperial bureaucracy, valuing science, statistics, mapping and data visualization. This, combined with the prevailing international movements of Art Deco and Mid-Century design, produced graphic works throughout the Portuguese lands that feature bright colour schemes, while imparting technical or scientific information in a precise, but visually crisp manner. While the atlas is not all that rare, it is very uncommon to encounter an example is such fine condition as the present offering. Due to the book’s immense size and weight, it is very prone to damage, and almost all the examples of which we aware have condition issues, whereas the present example is preserved in a lovely state. The present example of the atlas bears the ex libris of Professor Dr. Fernando de Mello Mendes, a prominent Portuguese mining engineer who did important work in Africa. Portugal’s ‘Ultramar’: The First European Overseas Empire Portugal established the first and one of the longest lasting European colonial empires, commenced by the amazingly audacious maritime projects of Prince Henry the Navigator (1394 – 1460). By the early 16th century Portugal’s empire, including both held colonial territories and trading posts, extended from South America all the way around Africa and thorough the Indian Ocean to the Asia Pacific, as far as Japan. Portugal’s disastrous union with Spain (1580 - 1640) severely weakened the empire, causing it to lose many of its colonies and trading posts to the Netherlands and England. However, in the aftermath, Portugal still retained a massive colonial empire that included (with dates of their establishment as colonies): Cabo Verde (1462); São Tomé & Principe (1486); Mozambique (1506); Goa, India (1510), along with its dependencies DamaÞo, Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli; Brazil (1532), the gem of the empire; Macao, China (1557); Angola (1571); Guiné (1588), today Guinea-Bissau; and Timor-Leste (1769), or East Timor, in the Indonesian Archipelago.  While Brazil became an independent mega-state, ruled by a branch of the Portuguese royal family, in 1822 (albeit maintaining close ties the Lisbon), Portugal retained its remaining colonies for a longer time that most other European powers. In fact, in modern times, these lands were classified as ‘overseas provinces’, or integral parts of Portugal proper, and not as colonies (the residents of those lands were even given full Portuguese citizenship); for example, Angola was legally just as much part of Portugal as Lisbon. Over the generations, hundreds of thousands of ethic Portuguese people had also migrated to the overseas provinces, with generations of their stock born there. While many (but not all) of the indigenous peoples had different notions, the Portuguese national psyche held the overseas domains as an inalienable part of the country’s identity. During World War I, when Portugal, in alliance with Britain, had to defend Mozambique from a surprisingly effective German invasion launched by the master-guerrilla leader, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. While the Anglo-Portuguese side eventually prevailed, this came after only many shocking trials and tribulations. Under the ‘Estado Novo’ regime (1926-74), ruled most of the time by the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, Portugal stubbornly resisted the anti-colonialism movements that were sweeping the world. Portugal sent in the army to suppress rebellions in Angola and Mozambique and were for a time successful. However, in 1961, India seized Goa in a lightening military strike, ‘Operation Vijay’, hailing the beginning of the end of the Portuguese overseas empire. Portugal’s ‘Carnation Revolution’ of 1974 saw the collapse of the Estado Nova regime, which was replaced with a liberal democratic government. Portugal then allowed all the remaining colonies to gain their independence (although Timor Leste was soon invaded and conquered by Indonesia; it attained its independence in 2002), except for Macao, which was retained until 1999, when it was voluntarily handed back to China. While Portugal no longer possesses any colonies, it retains very strong social and economic ties with its former overseas realms. Well over a million of Portugal’s residents are of colonial decent (either ethnic Portuguese or from ingenious stock, or mixed), such that the colonial legacy is still very much part of the modern Portuguese identity." (Alexander Johnson and Dasa Pahor, 2022), British Library: Cartographic Items Maps Ref.G.5.(EUR).(6).; OCLC: 65363869, 83588368.