MEDINA, P. da. L'Arte del navegar, in laqual si contengono le regole, de chiarationi, secreti, & avisi,alla bona navegation necessarij. Full-page woodcut map of America, and numerous woodcut illustrations in text. [11], [1] blank, 137 leaves. 8vo, 195x140 mm, modern vellum. Venice: Aurelio Pincio for Gioanbattista Pedrezano, 1554
First Italian edition of the first reliable pilot for New World waters. Equally noteworthy as the first practical treatise on navigation.
Regarding the important Atlantic map: "[Medina's] knowledge of the New World was first hand, having travelled with Cortés. . . The map depicts the trade routes to and from Spain and her possessions by the use of ships heading south-westerly on the outward bound journey and returning via the Gult Stream to the north-east." -- Burden, 14.
