This miniature bird's-eye view of Cusco is based on an engraving by Francesco Valegio (whose imprint appears at bottom). The city, once the capital of the Inca Empire before the Spanish conquest, is laid out in an orderly rectangular grid and surrounded by impressive walled fortifications. The Qorikancha temple is prominent, with the modifications that the Spanish made to convert it into a church and convent. Indigenous figures fill the foreground. Lasor a Varea, whose real name was Raffaello Savonarola, published his two-volume scriptural and historical dictionary with nearly 500 maps that were taken from old plates by Valegio, Porcacchi, Rosaccio-Franco, and Magini, many of which were more than a century old, and often reworked. On a sheet of Latin text measuring 9.0 x 13.5".

References: Phillips (Atlases) #3475-313; Shirley (BL Atlases) T.LAS-1a #156.

Condition: B+

A dark impression with light dampstaining that is mostly visible outside engraved image.