| Method | Copper engraved |
| Artist | Porro, Girolamo after Porcacchi, Tommaso |
| Published | [Appresso gli Heredi di Simon Galignani. In Venetia, MDLXXXX] |
| Dimensions | 104 x 140 mm |
| Notes |
A map of the world, with particular reference to navigation, engraved by Girolamo Porro for Tommaso Porcacchi's L'isole più famose del mondo. The current example comes from the 1590 printing published in Venice by Simon Galignani. The map is effectively a Mercator projection with the prime meridian at the Straits of Gibraltar. The western coast of North America and Asia beyond the Indian subcontinent are not pictured, falling outside the scope of the map. South America is very squat, West Africa is significantly elongated, and the massive supercontinent of Terra Incognita takes up the entire southern edge of the map. The entire map is criss-crossed by numerous rhumb-lines. Above the map, the title in Italian appears below a decorative section divider, and Italian text below provides an account of navigation. Girolamo Porro (c. 1520-1604) was an Italian engraver active in Venice and his native Padua, working predominantly as a map engraver for Tommaso Porcacchi, and Girolamo Ruscelli. Tommaso Porcacchi (1530-1585) was an Italian humanist, geographer, translator, and author, chiefly remembered for his atlas, L'isole più famose del mondo descritte da Thomaso Porcacchi da Castiglione arretino e intagliate da Girolamo Porro padouano con l'aggiunta di molte isole. As a young man, he studied in Florence under the patronage of Duke Cosimo I. In 1559, he moved to Venice, translating works from Latin and Greek into Italian, on behalf of publishers including Ludovico Domenichi and Giolito de Ferrari. His treatise on the islands of the world included some of the very earliest maps and plans of the new world, including North America, Mexico, and Temistitan, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Condition: Strong dark impression on full sheet. Italian text above and below plate, and on verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £550.00 |
| Stock ID | 42876 |