“First printed map of Corsica” and
“the earliest authentic description of Pizarro’s entry into Peru to appear in a printed book.”
Venice, June 1534.
112 woodcut maps.
Bordone, Benedetto (?1445-1460 – 1539). Isolario.
Venice, Nicolo d’Aristotile Zoppino, June 1534.
In-folio of (4) leaves including 1 title printed in red and black within an engraved frame, 74 leaves presenting 112 woodcut maps of which 4 on double-page (3 mounted on stubs) and 2 full-page, 1 diagram, some historiated initials, lower white margin of the final leaf and f. 66 restored without affecting the text, full brown jansenist morocco. Modern binding.
296 x 203 mm.
The rare second and, from an Americanist point of view, the most desirable edition of the “Isolario” as it contains for the first time the “gionta del Monte del Oro novamente ritrovato” mentioned on the title-page, the earliest authentic description of Pizzaro’s entry into Peru to appear in a printed book.
Phillips/Le Gear 163; Nordenskiöld Coll. 28; Sabin 6419; Alden/L. 534/2; Borba de Moraes I, 112 Note; Index Aurel 122-344.
The isolario, or “book of islands”, was a cartographic form introduced and developed in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Like the portolano, or pilot-book, to which it was related, it had its origin in the Mediterranean as an illustrated guide for travelers in the Aegean archipelago and the Levant. Bordone’s ‘Isolario’ was the second isolario to be printed and the first to give prominence to the transatlantic discoveries.
Divided into three books, the Isolario is devoted, respectively, to the islands and peninsula of the Western Ocean, to the Mediterranean, and to islands of the Indian Ocean and the Far East. While this order corresponds very roughly to that of Ptolemy, it gives conspicuous priority to the discoveries across the Atlantic. In addition to a page of diagrams illustrating the construction of a circular world map and wind roses of “ancient” and “modern type”, there are three general maps: Europe, the Aegean, and an oval world map. The work also contains 107 small maps, plans, or views, including a nearly three-quarter page plan of Mexico City before the conquest of Cortez – which qualifies because it is an island. According to Cortazzi, the ‘Isolario’ also contains the earliest European printed individual map of Japan.
This edition also contains the first printed map of Corsica.
Very rare and first printed map of Corsica, published in the second edition of Benedetto Bordone’s Isolario. The island is depicted horizontally, with north oriented to the left. The map is derived from Andrea Bianco’s portolan of 1436, and only bears the name “Corsica”, located at the position of Cap Corse. Eleven towns are represented by drawings of castles. To the northeast of the island, one can see the islands of Elba, Capraia, Giglio, and Montecristo. On the verso is a map of Pianosa, here named Palmosa, the north of Corsica with the named Cap Corse, the south of the island of Elba, and the islands of Capraia and Gorgona.
Text in Italian on both pages. Miniaturist, geographer, and engraver hailing from Padua, Benedetto Bordone worked in Venice. His Isolario made him famous.
First edition using “Isolario” in the title. Among others with early depictions of the Caribbean islands Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola, as well as with an early map of Japan, a large plan of Mexico before its destruction by Cortes and a large bird’s eye view of Venice. Containing on the last two leaves the first printed account of Pizarro’s conquest of Peru in 1533.
