ESSAI SUR LA MARINE ANCIENNE DES VENITIENS Dans Lequel on a Mis au Jour Plusieurs Cartes Tirees de la Bibliotheque de St. Marc, Anterieures a la Decouverte de Cristophe Colomb et Qui Indiquent Clairement L'existence des Antilles
Venice: Chez Formaleoni, 1788. First Edition. Hardcover. Boards (5-1/4" x 8") backed with binder's tape; 168 pages (lacking the errata page); spine title reads "Before Columbus." French translation of SAGGIO SULLA NAUTICA ANTICA de' VENEZIANI, published in 1783. Illustrated with three folding maps and a plate. In this rather sensational account, a Venetian geographer claimed that the Antilles had been discovered by Venetian explorers long before Columbus, basing his claim on two maps of the year 1436 preserved in the Library of S. Mark's; one of them by Andrea Bianco, a well-known geographer. Despite the rather persuasive map included in the book, Formaleoni's contemporaries did not accept his theories because the map showed that the distance between Portugal and the islands was only a little more than 200 nautical miles. SABIN 25095 notes that Llewell, in his HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHY, remarks that he was never able to see a copy of this rare book. Bookplate of noted collector Otto Oren Fisher on front pastedown. Complete but for the errata page; mild foxing; minor wear to binding. Very Good. Item #022504
Price: $1,500.00