Warhafftige Co[n]terfettung der Turckischen Armata von Galleen und andern Schiffen Dreihundert wie solche dess 1570 Jars in Ordnunge wider die Venedische Lendt ist aussgefahren

[Nuremberg, 1571. Engraving, printed on two sheets of laid paper joined. Engraver's monogram at the lower left. Early manuscript caption in English in the lower margin. Plate mark: 11 x 16 inches. Sheet size: 14 5/8 x 18 3/8 inches. (Tear extending from the right margin closed with small void in excellent facsimile, small worm hole within the image). Very rare German news-sheet map depicting the Turkish fleet invasion of Cyprus in 1570.

Exceptionally scarce engraved German broadside map depicting the Ottoman fleet sailing to Venetian-controlled Cyprus in 1570. The early English manuscript caption in ink just below image reads: "The representation of the Turkish Navall Army in ye year 1570 going forth to meet the Venetian fleet." Cyprus, then under Venetian rule, was a strategic point for controlling shipping and trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Ottomans, ruled by Sultan Selim II, had long desired the island. Following a series of warnings and demands, the Ottoman fleet, commanded by Müezzinzade Ali Pasha and Lala Mustafa Pasha sailed for Cyprus in late June 1570. Depicted here, the Turkish fleet was composed of an estimated 350-400 ships and upwards of 100,000 men. Following sieges and massacres at Nicosia, Kyrenia and Famagusta, the island was taken by August 1571. Although the invasion was long-heralded, the Venetian fleet failed to prevent the invasion or the subsequent fall of Cyprus to the Turks. However, they subsequently raised the support of the "Holy League" of the Catholic maritime states in the Mediterranean, and defeated the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571 off the western coast of Greece. The victory of the Holy League prevented the Ottoman Empire expanding further along the European side of the Mediterranean, though did not end their possession of Cyprus. Jenichen, who signed the map with his monogram 'BI', was the leading German publisher of news-sheet maps. Jenichen and compatriot Matthias Zündt took particular interest in the conflict and produced views and maps of it that equaled and surpassed those of their Italian counterparts. Given their ephemeral nature, all are rare and desirable. We can locate only one other example of this engraving appearing at auction in recent times (Sotheby's London, 29 April 2014, lot 157, £60,000).

Hollstein XL B, 128; G.K. Nagler, Die Monogrammisten v. 1, p. 818-819; Andresen II, Nr. 276; Drugulin II, 364; s.a. Meurer, Jenichen S. 50.