A very rare map of the world, on an oval projection, surrounded by a decorative border including portrait medallions of three men and three women. This anonymous and untitled map, received its name from the entry in Ellis & White bookseller catalogue, of 1884, naming it the “Florentine Goldsmith’s map”.

It has been suggested, by Rodney Shirley, that the map was based on a manuscript map by the Cretan cartographer Giorgio Sideri known as Calapoda (1537-1565), who included it in an atlas of charts prepared by him in 1552. However, more recent academic study suggest that the printed version might have been produced before the manuscript, due the number of toponyms that feature on the printed version, but are lacking on the manuscript example.

The map is produced on an oval projection, first introduced by Francesco Rosselli in 1508, used later by Bordone and Gastaldi. The cartography largely follows that of Gastaldi of 1546, except for the representation of the isthmus of Verrazzano which here extends to the north-west of the North America. The lands north of the isthmus are called ‘Tierra del Bachalaos’ and ‘Tierra del Labrador’, as in the Gastaldi map, and are represented together with China. California takes the form of a peninsula (its first occurrence on a dated map dates back to 1542), while the Amazon is not marked.

The map is exceedingly rare with only two recording institutional examples: Phillips Academy, Andover; John Carter Brown Library, Providence.