A rare map of the Middle East, published by Lafreri

GASTALDI, Giacomo.

La Descrittione Della Prima Parte Dell' Asia Con i nomi antichi & moderni Di Jacopo Gastaldi Piemontese cosmografo... L'Anno M.D.LXI.
Rome: Antonio Lafreri, 1561. Two sheets conjoined, total 435 x 745mm, with wide margins.

A small tear entering map area at bottom expertly repaired.

A fine example of this rare map of the Middle East, published by a major figure of 16th century Italian cartographic publishing.
In the west the map depicts Constantinople and Turkey, the Black Sea, Cyprus, the Holy Land, the Lower Nile in Egypt, and the northern reaches of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf in Arabia. In the centre of the map is the Caucasus and Persia. To the east of the Caspian Sea (still wider than it is tall, a feature not corrected until the end of the next century) are the landmarks of the Silk Route, Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Kandahar and Kabul. Along the top of the map are the tents of the Steppes nomads.
The map was drawn by Giacomo Gastaldi (c1500-67), a Piedmontese cartographer who established himself in Venice, whose influential output earned him the notable title of 'Cosmographer to the Republic'. It was one of three maps of Asia that were significant improvements to existing maps and so were highly influential: they were chosen by Abraham Ortelius as the basis of his map of Asia in his 'Theatrum' atlas of 1570.
This close copy of his 1559 map was engraved by Jacabo Bos, a Belgian, for Antonio Lafreri (1512-77), a Burgundian who Rome's leading map publisher.
A rare example of 'Lafreri-school' cartography and important map for collectors of cartography of the region.

BIFOLCO & RONCA: Tav. 68, state i of iii.
Stock ID : 23975