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Description

The Only Known Example of the First State of the First Printed Map of Provence

The first printed map of Provence, engraved by Giacomo Fornasieri for Pierre Jean de Bompar, Royal Judge of Grasse, in 1591. The map was made for the Duke of Savoy, Carlo Emanuele I (1562-1630), and probably had a military purpose, for use during the invasion of Provence.

This map is a valuable source of information, due to the richness and novelty of the toponyms reported: some villages and municipalities appear for the first time on a map. 

The work does not indicate the place of printing.  Based upon Fornasieri's history, it could have been engraved by either Turin or Rome.

The map was the basis of the cartography of the region for the entire next century, replicated in all the atlases starting from the table inserted by Abraham Ortelius in his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of 1594. The only known example of the work is the one preserved at the Bibliothèque Municipale of Grenoble. 

Rarity

This is the only known example of the first state of the map.

The only other known example of the later state of the map is in the sixth volume of the National Library of Malta collection.  It indicates no place or date of printing and was published by Philip Thomassin and Jean de Turpin, active in Rome (see Ganado, 1994, VI, p 204, No. 76).  Bifolco speculates that an earlier edition may have been printed, but does not survive.

Reference
Bifolco-Ronca, Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo, Catalogo ragionato delle opera a stampa (2018), pp. 992-993, tav. 384.