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Description

In Original Color -- Published During The Salt War

Rare map of the Mediterranean coast southwest of Rome, from the southern part of Lazio to Monte Circeo and the Pontine Marshes, published by an anonymous early Lafreri School map publisher. 

The map is known to have appeared in the catalog of Antonio Lafreri, but is likely the work of Antonio Salamanca, whose plates were acquired by Lafreri after Salamanca's death.

The map is oriented with south at the top and is out of scale, over emphasizing the fortified city of Nettuno, and its surrounding countryside and adjacent coastline, the seas decorated with galleons and small ships. The map shows the fortifications of Nettuno and the neighboring port of Anzio, Lago di Fogliano, and the peninsula of Circeo with its famous grottoes.

The map was issued during the Salt War (1556-57), when the armies of the Viceroy of Naples (the Duke of Alba) invaded the southern part of the Papal States.   

The map is known in 4 states;

  • Proof state, with Nettuno outlined (1 known example)
  • circa 1557:  No imprint
  • 1602:  Imprint of Giovanni Orlandi
  • circa 1614: Imprint of Hendrick van Schoel

Rarity

All states of the map are very rare on the market.

The Lafreri School

The Lafreri School is a commonly used name for a group of mapmakers, engravers, and publishers who worked in Rome and Venice from ca. 1544 to 1585. The makers, who were loosely connected via business partnerships and collaborations, created maps that were then bound into composite atlases; the maps would be chosen based on the buyer or compiler’s interests. As the maps were initially published as separate-sheets, the style and size of maps included under the umbrella of the “School” differed widely. These differences can also be seen in the surviving Lafreri atlases, which have maps bound in with varying formats including as folded maps, maps with wide, trimmed, or added margins, smaller maps, etc.

The most famous mapmakers of the School included Giacomo Gastaldi and Paolo Forlani, among others. The School’s namesake, Antonio Lafreri, was a map and printseller. His 1572 catalog of his stock, entitled Indice Delle Tavole Moderne Di Geografia Della Maggior Parte Del Mondo, has a similar title to many of the composite atlases and thus his name became associated with the entire output of the larger group.

Condition Description
Original Color.
Reference
Bifolco-Ronca, #2018.
Antonio Lafreri Biography

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. 

Antonio Salamanca Biography

Antonio Salamanca was a print seller and publisher based in Rome. While he was known by the surname Salamanca, his family name was actually Martinez; he hailed from Salamanca, Spain. His shop was in the Campo de’ Fiori and it served as a gathering place for those with antiquarian interests. Later in his career, he partnered with Antonio Lafreri, the era’ most prominent Italian map publisher. Salamanca’s stock was sold to Lafreri after the former’s death.