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Fine impression of this rare and important early plan of Mexico City from Giulio Ballino's De' disegni delle più illustri città, et fortezze del mondo..., printed in Venice in 1569, by Bolognino Zaltieri.

With the exception of the image of Santo Domingo which accompanied Columbus' first letter, the earliest plan of any city in America is the Cortes map of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), which first appeared in 1524. Variant editions of the plan appeared in Bordone's Isolario, Munster's Cosmographia, Ramusio's Navigatione et viaggi, and Antoine du Pinet's Plantz, pourtraitz et descriptions de plusiueres villes et fortresses. The first map maker to deviate from the traditional Tenochtitlan plan was Ballino, who in turn was copied by Braun & Hogenberg in 1572 and by Porcacchi in 1579.

Ballino's work, which included 50 plans and 1 chart, was an Italian atlas of important fortresses and cities. This important early plan of Mexico City is the only non-European or Mediterranean plan in Ballino's atlas. Ballino wanted to create a complete work with text and an index. However, his plan to expand his work was overtaken by Braun & Hogenberg's publication of their landmark Civitates Orbis Terrarum, in 1572. According to Albert Ganado (1993), 32 of the plans are reprints of Forlani & Zenoi's work engraved between the years 1566 and 1568. They were published for the first time in "Il primo libro delle città, et fortezze principali del mondo", 1567. The remaining engravings were prepared by an unidentified hand. There are two issues of Ballino's work with differing title pages, and both versions are believed to be printed by Bolognini Zaltieri in 1569. Giulio Ballino was a Venetian lawyer, and a friend of the Manuzio family around 1530. His passion was classical studies.

One of the rarest plans of Mexico City and one of the earliest obtainable plans of a City in the New World. An essential map for Mexican Collectors.