Tavola Nuova di Piemonte

Venice: Giralamo Ruscelli, 1574. unbound. Map. Uncolored copper engraving. Venice: 1574. Image measures 7 1/2" x 10" Beautiful early map of the Piedmont region of Italy. The Alps are rendered pictorially, showing their impressive heights in the upper portion of the map. The Po River transects the map, with its headwaters flowing from the Alps through various tributaries. The Tanaro River and its tributaries are also depicted. Towns, rivers, and some mountain peaks are labeled. From Ruscelli's Italian translation of Ptolemy's "Geographia", "La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo". In very good condition, with minor dampstains and repair to upper margin, not (truncated) affecting the image. Some toning along original centerfold. Girolamo Ruscelli (c. 1504-1566) was a Venetian editor, cartographer and physician known best for his revised publication of Ptolemy's "Geographia". Published posthumously, Ruscelli added about 37 new maps to his edition, largely based on the work of Gastaldi's 1548 expansion. Ruscelli is also believed to be associated with Alessio Piemontese, who many believe was in fact a pseudonym for Ruscelli. Piemontese wrote the popular book 'The Secrets of Alexis of Piedmont'. Alessio became known as the 'professor of secrets' who had dedicated his life to the hunt natural and technological secrets. Ruscelli, as Alessio, founded the 'Academy of Secrets' along with other humanists and noblemen, which became the first known experimental scientific society and led to other such groups, including Giambattista Della Porta's 'Accademia die Secreti'. (Inventory #: 309431)