MEDINA (Pietro da).
Arte del Navigare dell'Eccel. Dottor Pietro da Medina nella quale copiosamente si tratto tutto quello, che appartiene alla Nauigatione, e sua cognitione. ... Di novo ampliata, & corretta. ...
Pedro de Medina’s (1493-1567) Arte de navegar (originally published in Spanish in 1545) was a ground-breaking work on compass navigation, and became a standard manual translated into many languages. Medina was famous as a mathematician and cosmographer, and the king of Spain placed him in charge of examining pilots and masters for the West Indies, and this volume was designed as a navigation manual for voyages to the New World. This second Italian edition (the first was printed in 1554) was translated by Vincenzo Palentino.
The woodcut map depicts the Atlantic, with the facing coasts of Europe and Africa, with New World from Labrador to Brazil, with the entire Caribbean basin and part of the Pacific coast.
