An Important 16th Century View of Marseille

Extremely rare bird's-eye anonymously published view / plan of Marseille from above "Le Fort de Notre Dame de la Garde".

The view includes a coat of arms of the city of Marseille.

Text description of Marseille in Italian at the bottom right describes the history of the city back to its founding by the Greeks, describing it as a rich and powerful city of Letters, Merchants and Sailors, and its later siege by the Romans in the third century. A key identifying 16 points of interest.

The view was first published anonymously around 1580, with later editions by Orlandi and Hendrik van Schoel in Rome.

Rarity

All states of the map are rare. The first state is known in a single example. This second state is known in 2 examples (Federiciana Library and Newberry Library). The first and third states are known in 1 example each.