Braun & Hogenberg, Tunis, with Ottoman inscriptions

Braun (Georg) & Hogenberg (Frans)

Tunes Urbs - Tunetis Urbis, ac Novae Eius Arcis, et Guletae, quae Philippo Hispan Regi Parent,

hand-coloured town view of Tunis, from the Civitatus Orbis Terrarum, ink inscriptions in the left margin, some browning and staining, laid down onto modern card, sheet 41 x 54 cm, Cologne, c. 1575.

***The inscriptions, in Ottoman Turkish, pre-Ataturk Persian script, note Tunis as a famous city in Africa and the location of a battle for Sultan Selim in Arabia. This illustrates the book’s diffusion in the Ottoman world, which was preoccupied with accurately noting locations.