PORCACCHI Tommaso – L’isole Piu Famose Del Mondo – 1572

Descrizione

PORCACCHI Tommaso – L’isole piu famose del mondo descritte da Thomaso Porcacchi da Castiglione arretino e intagliate da Girolamo Porro padovano, al Sereniss. Principe et Sig.re il S. Don Giovanni d’Austria General della Santiss. Lega – 1572. In Venetia, appresso Simon Galignani et Girolamo Porro. Full floppy vellum with handwritten titles on the spine; quarto, 29.8 x 20.8 cm; pp. (2b) (22) (2b) 117 (2) (1b); parchment stripped in its entirety except at the upper edge of the spine, slight neckline of the binding at the lower edge in correspondence with the first blank page, some very rare and very slight internal blooms, overall more than good copy, very clean and still crisp paper. Beautiful copper engraved title page in an architectural frame with male figures in the shape of columns, four cherubs, an armillary sphere and two globes, woodcut vignettes and initials, text also in italics, 30 beautiful half-page copper plates of islands – many of which show the rose of the winds and sea monsters – engraved by Girolamo Porro, letterpress on the last page. Copy from the Nassau-Dillenburg Library (as per label applied to the first blank page: “Ad Bibliothecam Principalem Arausio-Nassauiensem Dillengurgicam”, old stamp canceled on the verso of the title page. First edition of this famous treatise by Porcacchi, illustrated by beautiful maps – each of which accompanied by a refined textual description -, of which the first fifteen refer to the Mediterranean islands (Venice, Corfu, Morea, Crete, Cyprus, Rhodes, Greek archipelago, Euboea, Sicily, Malta, Corsica, Sardinia, Elba, Mallorca and Menorca) , followed by six relating to the North Sea (United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Iceland and Gotland) and five others outside Europe (Haiti, Cuba, San Lorenzo Island in Alaska, Sri Lanka, Moluccas Islands, the entire North American continent and Temistitan) Finally, the famous Globe and the beautiful nautical equivalent close the work.