182. Homem, Diogo – Forlani, Paolo: La vera descrittione...

... della navigatione di tutta l’Europpa, et parte dell’ Affrica et dell’ Asia quali confinano con essa…
Rome, 1572.
Scarce, damaged, copperplate map of the Mediterranean by Paolo Forlani, which, as the cartouche describes, was based on Diogo Homem’s portolan (presumably, he gave permission to use it). Our copy is an Antonio Lafreri edition, published in Rome, which is much rarer than the Venetians. The portolan map type refers to navigational maps that are important and spectacular in terms of cartographic history, and which have been provided with directions and other vital information for sailors to facilitate navigation. It can also be observed that, due to the targeted use, the topographical elements of the land, as well as the nomenclature, are not displayed with the exception of coastal settlements, harbours and the names of some landmarks. It was also on these maps that the scale bar appeared for the first time (in the case of our copy, this was contained in the missing lower right corner). Although the map field focuses on the area of the Mediterranean – thus, in addition to Europe, the northern part of Africa and the western part of Asia are also included – it also depicts the highly detailed coastline of the Atlantic Ocean, the British Isles, and the Black Sea. The engraver illustrated the sheet – which is considered one of the most beautiful 16th-century representations – with a delicately decorated cartouche and several compass roses marking the intersection of the direction lines.
50 mm of the lower part of the entire (485 x 745 mm) map field is missing as well as an additional 215 x 65 mm from the bottom of the right side, but these parts are limited to areas of the African continent with minimal topographical information. Besides this, it is a clean copy with some minor tears at the edges.
Bifolco – Ronca: Tav 236 (state 1).; Imago Mundi III (Tooley – Maps in Italian Atlases…): 35.
 
Starting price: 2 500 000 Ft