Second State of Paolo Forlani's rare map of Poland.
First published without the title in a proof state dated 1567 (known in 2 copies), this is one of the rarest and most sought after 16th Century maps of Poland.
The map is drawn from the Gastaldi-Licinio's 2 sheet map of 1562, which extends to cover all of Lithuania, Finland and Eastern Scandinavia (Il Disegno de Geografia Moderna del Regno di Polonia, e Parte del Ducado di Moscovia, con parte della Scandia , e parte de Suevia, con molte Regioni, in quelli. Et la provincia de Ustinga e quella di Severa in sino al mare maggiore.). While Gastaldi's map has only a single title cartouche on the southern sheet, and therefore can be considered as a single map, Forlani's version has two cartouches, one per sheet.
https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/32237
The map of the Kingdom of Poland is one of the most important maps of the region and the second earliest Lafreri school map to focus on Poland (with the Gastaldi being the earliest). The map prominently featuring Poland, the city of Cracow and the Wistula River basin.
The geography of this map was largely derived from Gerhard Mercator's 1554 map of Europe. The map was also likely influenced by the maps of Bernard Wapowski (1526) and Waclaw Grodecki published in 1548, which is now lost, but was copied by Ortelius in 1570.
Rarity
The map is exceedingly rare on the market.
This is the first example we have ever seen offered for sale, with no examples listed in AMPR or Rare Book Hub.
Paolo Forlani (fl. ca. 1560-1571) was a prolific map engraver based in Venice. All that is known of his life are his surviving maps and prints, of which there are almost 100 (185 with later states included in the total). He also produced a globe and two town books. It is likely he came from Verona and that he died in Venice in the mid-1570s, possibly of the plague.