A SEPARATELY PUBLISHED LAFRERIAN RARITY OF CORFU

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BERTELLI, Ferrando / Ferdinando.

Vogliono alcuni che l’Isola di Corfu…1564.

[Venice, 1564.]

37 x 27 cm. Lightly toned. else excellent condition.

Separately published. First state of this very attractive and rare map of the island of Corfu, featuring a well-detailed vignette of the fortress city of Corfu, and part of the neighbouring coast of Greece. The map is oriented with south at the top.

Controlled by Venice from 1401 to 1797, Corfu’s position in the Adriatic, on the west coast of Greece, made it ideally situated to defend the upper Adriatic and Venice from Turkish incursion.  Corfu withstood several Ottoman sieges to remain the only part of Greece never conquered by the Turks.  This map, especially in its depiction of the town of Corfu, visually suggests how the island made such a formidable defensive barrier.

Not a lot is known about the life of Bertelli: he was an engraver, a print and map publisher with a shop in the vicinity of San Marco, and active  between 1561 and 1572. He collaborated closely with a number of Lafrerian mapmakers, most specifically with Camoscio, Forlani and Gastaldi.

* Tooley 165; Novacco 32; Zacharakis 354/223: Trecanni, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol.9.

Price: $3,300.00