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Description

Finely Engraved Lafreri School Map of Mallorca

Fine wide-margined example of this rare anonymous copy of Fearndo Bertelli's map of Mallorca.

Recorded by Novacco, Tooley and Meurer, this rare anonymous map of Mallorca is known to appear in a pair with the map of Menorca in several rare Lafreri atlases, but almost never on the market.  While it resembles the Bertelli, the engraving quality is much more refined.

Bertelli's separately issued map of Mallorca is one of the earliest separate printed maps of the island, if not the earliest. The map is oriented with west at the top. Several towns are named and several sailing ships are shown.

Bertelli is one of a group of 16th century Italian mapmakers often referred to as "Lafreri School," named for the Roman mapmaker and publisher, Antoni Lafreri, who assembled composite atlases of maps published by himself and other Italian mapmakers and added his title page to some examples. Lafreri maps are often among the earliest obtainable modern maps of various regions of the world. While most maps were separately issued, some were bound in composite atlases, which increased the prospects of their survival until modern times.

Reference
Novacco 78; Tooley, Italian Atlases 356; Meurer, Strabo S. 94