Zacharia Lilio

ZACHARIA LILIO VICENTINO (1452–1522).
“Orbis Brevarium 1496–1501.” Incunabulum. 3rd edition.
It shows signs of wear due to age and has undergone minor restoration on the inner margin of the first few pages and the corner of the title page.
Measurements: 19.5 x 14.5 cm.
A celebrated humanist work, first published in Florence in 1493. The *Orbis Brevarium* quickly became a practical reference manual for geographical knowledge of the world in the late 15th century, at a time of extraordinary transformation in Europe’s understanding of the Earth.
Zaccaria Lilio, an Italian humanist born in Vicenza, was a canon regular and later a bishop. His work systematically compiles geographical and cosmographical knowledge drawn from the classical and medieval traditions, presented to the reader in an alphabetical structure that facilitates the lookup of names of provinces, regions, islands, and peninsulas. The result is a unique synthesis between the geographical tradition inherited from antiquity and the new intellectual curiosity characteristic of the Renaissance.
Its significance is heightened by the historical moment in which it was conceived. The work dates from the years immediately following Christopher Columbus’s voyages and the first major shifts in the European conception of the world. The *Orbis breviarium* thus offers insight into how humanists of the late Quattrocento organized and transmitted geographical knowledge; in fact, the MET’s collection includes a copy (No. 25.30.134).