Thomaso (Tommaso) Porcacchi (1530-1585)

Thomaso Porcacchi was born in Castiglion Fiorentino (Arentino), Tuscany, into a poor family. Through the patronage of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, he was able to pursue his studies; afterwards, he embarked on a career as a translator, editor and author, initially in Florence, often working with the humanist scholar Lodovico Domenichi. His speciality was classical texts, particularly of a geographical and historical nature. Through this work, he came into contact with the prominent Venetian publisher Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari and, in 1559, he moved to Venice to form a fruitful association with Giolito, who had produced several books containing maps.

Later in his career, Porcacchi composed an isolario, L'isole piu famose del mondo ..., published by Simone Galignani de Karera and Girolamo Porro in 1572. In 1574 Porro engraved the plates for another Porcachi volume, Funerali antichi di diversi popoli, et nationi ..., and he later contributed the maps to a new edition of Claudius Prolemy's Geographiae universae tum veteris tum novae ..., edited by Giovanni Antonio Magini and published by the Heirs of Simone Galignani de Karera.

The first edition of Porcacchi's L'isole piu famose contained 30 engraved maps, set in text. The coverage was worldwide, albeit concentrated on the Mediterranean. For the second edition, the text was rewritten, and 17 additional maps were inserted, to make a total of 47.