Extremely rare first French edition of the Portolano del Mare, usually attributed to Cadamosto (Ca da Mosto), a Venetian traveller under the service of Henry the Navigator, who discovered Cape Verde in 1455-56.
The Portolano was first published in 1490, and subsequent editions were printed in the 16th century (first in 1528), often with the Consulate, and in an abridgment format, this edition is much larger, includes the full original contents, and possibly more; this is the first time the work, a virtual navigation guide to the Mediterranean and Middle East, is translated and published in French (the translation prepared by Gaspard Carentenne). The 1490 edition is virtually unobtainable, and only later Italian editions, in their abridged form appear to be common, this first French edition is exceedingly rare. It contains sailing instructions through the Mediterranean, from Gibraltar to the Levant, and was probably compiled by Alvise Cadamosto.
Cadamosto, or Ca da Mosto (1432 – 1488) was a Venetian navigator and explorer in the service of Portugal´s Henry the Navigator, famous for his explorations along the West African coast in 1455 and 1456, and the discovery of the Cape Verde islands. The narrative of his exploration was published in the Paesi novamente retrovati et Novo Mondo (1507). The title page is illustrated with a large and dramatic woodcut device, taken from earlier Italian and Spanish editions of the Consulate, and later, of the Livre du Consulat, also printed by Roux in 1577, it shows two caravels sailing under the patronage of four Saints; the verso of the title page is occupied entirely by a large woodcut with the arms of France within an architectural frame.
According to USTC (94358), a copy of it was printed in 1577 in Avignon, however no copy of this edition is known. Rarity: no copy seems to have appeared at auction according to RBH, and only two copies are found in libraries, that of the BNF and Amsterdam.
Brunet, IV, 832 (for the 1490 edition). Polak, n°1380. Répertoire bibliographique des livres imprimés en France au XVIe siècle, fascicule 26, p. 14, n°3.
