GEOGRAFIA DI M. LIVIO SANVTO DISTINTA IN XII LIBRI

First Edition of the first printed atlas of Africa: folio (420 x 270 mm), engraved title page by Giamoco Franco, (xxiv leaves), followed by twelve double-pages maps mounted on hinges and bound in before the text which comprises 146 leaves, woodcut head-pieces, tail-pieces and initials, two indexes, errata at the foot of preliminary leaf xxiv, light water stains at the very top of a few pages towards the end of the volume otherwise the contents is bright and crisp, modern full brown morocco stamped in blind on the covers, red leather title label on the spine with gilt decoration in panels, a remarkably good copy.

 Norwich (Oscar I.) Maps Of Africa, An Illustrated and Annotated Carto-Bibliography, Ad Donker, Johannesburg, 1953, pages 55-57.

 Mendelssohn (Sydney) South African Bibliography, Volume 2, page 269

 Betz (Richard L.) The Mapping of Africa, A Cartobibliography of Printed Maps of the African Continent to 1700, 't Goy-Houten, The Netherlands, 2007, no.22, pages 145-146, 'Livio Sanuto (c1520-1576) was a Venetian cosmographer, mathematician, inventor of astronomical instruments, and maker of terrestrial globes. Sanuto along with his brother Giulio (active from 1540-1588) planned to produce a comprehensive atlas with maps of all regions of the world that was intended to be more accurate than any previously published. Sanuto started his work by preparing descriptive text and a series of maps of Africa. He died, however, at the age of 56 in 1576 before the text and maps for any further areas of the world could be undertaken.

'It is not precisely known when Sanuto wrote his Geografia. Skelton (1956c) theorises that the text was prepared between 1561 and 1575. By 1561, Sanuto had established his reputation as a geographer. By that time, he had been admitted for membership into the 'Accamdemia della Fama' in Venice.

'Sanuto's atlas Geografia di M. Livio Sanuto…, showing all parts of Africa (12 maps in total with a map of the continent and regional maps), was published posthumously in 1588 by Damiano Zenaro. It is curious that there was a delay of 12 years between the time of Sanuto's death and the publication of the atlas. Likely, as the other parts of the world were not undertaken and as Africa was of secondary interest to the new discoveries in the Americas and in the East, there was not a tremendous pressure to produce the atlas. For those seeking geographic information on Africa, the description provided by Leo Africanus was by this time available in French and Latin, with the soon to be published English edition.

The text of the Geografia provides an exceptional description of Africa and thoroughly summarises sixteenth century knowledge of Africa. Based on Sanuto's careful and meticulous attention to detail, coupled with the finely engraved maps there is little doubt that had Sunuto lived and been able to complete his atlas, it likely would have ranked as one of the masterpieces of Renaissance geographical work (Skelton 1965c: viii).'

Stevens (Henry) Bibliotheca Geographica & Historica or a Catalogue of a Nine Day Sale, London 1872, number 2461. https://ia800906.us.archive.org/1/items/bibliothecageogr00stev/bibliothecageogr00stev.pdf

'As it is impossible for the thorough student of mediæval geography to budge an inch without having read the works of Marino Sanuto, so no thorough student of historical geography, especially African and American of the last half of the sixteenth century, can touch bottom in his subject till he has digested this work of Livio Sanuto. To him more perhaps than to any one writer we owe the clearing up of the subject, and the brushing away the rubbish and blunders of the inland German and French geographers of the previous half century, such as Schoner, Apianus, Muenster, Finé and others. Livio was the son of the Senator Francesco Sanuto, of Venice. In youth he visited Germany to study Mathematics. Being of a practical turn, he made many mathematical instruments, according to the precepts of Ptolemy and others, which were preserved in his family. He next applied himself to Cosmography, and collected out of the best authorities materials for a Terrestrial Globe, in which he was assisted by his brother Giulio, who engraved all the plates with his own hand. Observing that Africa was imperfectly described, he set to work and compiled this Book with its 12 large maps drawn by himself and engraved by his brother. He intended to publish descriptions of the other parts of the World, but died about 1585 [i.e., 1576], at the age of fifty-six. The present work is therefore posthumous and was edited by Damiano Zenaro, who dedicated it to Benedetto Zorzi, son of the Signor Aluise. The three excellent Tables of Contents were made by Giovan Carlo Saraceni. The beautiful engraved title page is by Giacomo Franco.’