Italy - Veneto // Padua; Abraham Ortelius (1528–1598) - Patavini Territorii Corographia, Iac. Castaldo Auct. / Patavinvm Territorivm - 1561-1580

Rare and fascinating copper-engraved map of the Territory of Padua and the Venetian plain, based on surveys by the famous Piedmontese cartographer Giacomo Gastaldi. The map is mounted on an original two-leaf sheet taken from the celebrated Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Abraham Ortelius.
The front presents the map oriented unusually with South to the left and West at the top (as indicated by the labels Occidens, Septentrio, Meridies, Oriens on the margins). The orography shows in detail the Euganean Hills, while the dense hydrographic network includes the Brenta, Bacchiglione, Adige rivers and the area of the Venetian Lagoon with the city of Venetia in the bottom-right corner. In the upper-left stands the historic shield of Padua surmounted by a winged putto. Below, a majestic monumental cartouche in a Mannerist style encloses the title and authorship of the work.
The back presents the typographic text sheet in Latin divided into two columns: the first devoted to the historical and geographical description of the territory of Padua (PATAVINVM TERRITORIVM) and the second devoted to the description of Puglia (APVLIA), a typical configuration of Ortelius editions where maps were printed in paired sheets or printed on the back of adjacent descriptive sheets.

• Language of the text on the verso: Latin.
• Coloring: Exceptional watercolor coloring of the period
Very good/Excellent. The sheet shows the normal and genuine signs of aging, light marginal foxing