Cipro

Antique woodcut map of Cyprus. Printed in Venice between 1528 and 1565.

Reference 12197

Description

The 2nd printed map of Cyprus.

Rare woodcut map of Cyprus by Benedetto Bordone on a double sheet. Printed from two woodblocks. Shows Cyprus with the south coast of Turkey, in the east Antioch and Tripoli (Lebanon).

Andreas and Judith A. Stylianou in The History of the Cartography of Cyprus about this map:

Cipro is written inside the map. Comparing the maps of Cyprus from the two Isolari [Bartolomeo and Bordone], we find that they are almost identical. Bernedetto copied Bartolomeo's map, but he corrected the orientation to 'northeast by east' in the text and in the map. He introduced some place-names into his map from Bartolomeo's MS edition, as well as Famagosta and Costanza from the latter's sonnet. He added two rock islands off golfo di pendaia and named them carpasie, a mistake which goes back to Ptolemy. Twenty place-names are marked on the coastline and only nicosia and la croce (Stavrovouni) are marked in the interior. The problem of introducing letters into wood-cut maps had not yet been fully solved.

From Libro di Benedetto Bordone... de tutte l'isole del mondo..., more commonly known as Isolario of Bordone, which first appeared in Venice in 1528. Three further editions followed in 1534, 1547 and 1565. The maps of all four editions were printed from the same woodblocks in Venice.

Details

Cartographer	Benedetto Bordone
Title	Cipro
Publisher, Year	Venice, 1528-1565
Plate Size	16.0 x 32.7 cm (6.3 x 12.9 inches)
Sheet Size	29.6 x 38.0 cm (11.7 x 15.0 inches)
Reference	Stylianou, A. & J.: The History of the Cartography of Cyprus, No. 18 (fig. 21); Zacharakis, C.G.: A Catalogue of Printed Maps of Greece, 1477-1800, No. 540/343

Condition

Printed from two woodblocks on two sheets, joined. Very good condition.

Cartographer

Benedetto Bordone was an Italian cartographer, chart- and mapmaker who worked in Venice during the beginning of the 16th century. He is best known for his Isolario, a geographical, historical and cultural description of the islands of the Mediterranean and the world, which first appeared in 1528. The genre Isolario was very popular in Italy at that time and was intended as an illustrated guide for sailors. Bordone also describes new discoveries in South and North America for the first time in an Isolario. The book contains a record of Pizarro's conquest of Peru, the earliest known printed report of the event. Of particular interest are 12 woodcut maps of America and the earliest map of Japan as an island printed in Europe.

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Benedetto Bordone: Cipro.

Antique woodcut map of Cyprus. Printed in Venice between 1528 and 1565.

Cyprus - Bordone, Benedetto - Cipro