The World's Largest Book

     The largest book in the world is Klencke Atlas. It is 1.75 metres tall and 1.9 metres wide when open. And this atlas has 11 centimetres thick. It takes six people to carry Klencke Atlas. It is a world atlas and made up of 37 maps on 39 sheets. The maps were intended to be removed and displayed on the wall. The maps are of the continents and assorted European states and it was said to encompass all the geographical knowledge of the time. Dutch Prince John Maurice of Nassau is credited with its creation. Moreover, this atlas contains engravings by artists Blaeu, Hondius and others. It was presented by a consortium of Dutch merchants and led by Professor Johannes Klencke to King Charles II of England in 1660 to mark the occasion of his restoration to the throne.

Klencke Atlas

     Johannes Klencke is the son of a Dutch merchant family. He was born at Amsterdam on 5 March 1620. He was a Dutch teacher in philosophy at the Athenaeum Illustre in Amsterdam. In 1648 he was appointed professor of philosophy at the illustrious school of Amsterdam. He taught physics, metaphysics, logic, ethics and politics.
    
     In 1828 King George III gave the Klencke Atlas to the British Library as part of a larger gift of maps and atlases. In 1950 it was rebound and restored. Today this atlas is held by the Antiquarian Mapping division of the British Library in London. Since 1998 it was displayed at the entrance lobby of the maps reading room. And in April 2010 it was publicly displayed for the first time in 350 years with pages open at an exhibition at the British Library.