Lot 135: AFRICA - GASTALDI, GIACOMO (c.1500-1566).

La Descrittione dell'Africa. Venice: Paolo Forlani, 1562. Engraved map of Africa by Paolo Forlani, on two joined sheets, 447 x 597mm.

A VERY RARE AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT MAP OF AFRICA. It is one of the great masterpieces by Giacomo Gastalidi, the "cosmographer to the Republic of Venice" who produced 109 separate sheet maps during his career. The depiction of Africa had long been a special endeavour for Gastaldi. There is evidence to suggest that he had been working on a large-scale map of the continent since 1545 (Norwich p.11). He published two small-scale images of the Africa; one in his Ptolemy of 1548 and another was included in the second edition of Vol.I of Giambattista Ramusio's Navigationi e viaggi in 1554. However, these works were overshadowed by the cartographic wall mural he devised for Doge Francesco Donato to adorn the Sale dello Scudo of the Ducal Palace (completed 1550). The present map is largely based on his great wall mural, featuring geographic details supplied by travel accounts in Ramusio and from diverse Portuguese sources. Engraved by Paolo Forlani, the coasts are well detailed and feature extensive taxonomy, while the largely mysterious interior is filled with mountain ranges, shaded only to west to indicate the perpetual presence of sunshine. This map served as a maquette for Forlani's 1564 monumental engraving of the continent, and not only served as the source map for many subsequent Italian maps of Africa, but saw its influence cross the Alps to inform important editions made by Ortelius, Gerard De Jode and Jean-Baptiste d'Anville. Karrow no.1, Tooley:1939 no.67, Woodward:1990 no.10.01, Woodward:1996 watermark 129.

AFRICA AND ASIA

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