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A rare and important map showing the Great Siege of Malta which took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire invaded the island, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The Knights won the siege, one of the bloodiest and most fiercely contested in history, and one which became one of the most celebrated events in sixteenth century Europe.
Lafreri's map of the Siege is one of the best contemporary graphical depictions of the Siege of Malta and extremely rare, especially in such fine condition.
Antonio Lafreri (1512-1577) (also known as Antoine Lafréry and Antoine du Pérac Lafréry) was a French mapmaker, engraver, and publisher who worked in Italy. Lafreri was born in Franche-Comté and moved to Rome around 1540. Lafreri sold sheet maps but he also bound maps into books for his clients based on their interests and needs. These are the famous Lafreri atlases, important pre-cursors to the modern atlas. He also published well known works such as the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae (ca. 1575), a collection of engraved views and images of Rome. Lafreri was well-connected to the cartographic networks of the time, collaborating with Giacomo Gastaldi, Battista Agnese, Antonio Salamanca, Donato Bertelli, Paolo Forlani, and others.
![L'Italia e i suoi principali prodotti [Italy and her Principal Products]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/89640.jpg)