Bidspirit auction | [HISTORY] - LILIUS Zacharias (XVIth

[HISTORY] - LILIUS Zacharias (XVIth century) - “A Renaissance Compendium of the World” - LILIUS, Zacharias. Orbis breviarium. Venice, [ca. 1503]. 8vo. (155 x106 mm) 88 ff. Title within an elaborate woodcut border with grotesques and allegorical figures. Later vellum, gilt red morocco label on spine. Rare early Venetian edition of Zacharias Lilius’s concise geographical compendium, a popular Renaissance manual offering a systematic overview of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the known parts of the world at the dawn of the great age of discovery. Written in accessible Latin verse, the Orbis breviarium was designed as a didactic text, praised for its clarity and ease of memorization. A complete copy in excellent condition, with wide margins, clean leaves, and the fine woodcut border on the title-page intact. Provenance: bookplate of Danielis Vincentii Co. Concina. An attractive survival of early Venetian printing, combining geographical knowledge with the humanist taste for brevity and elegance.