This very early plan of Mexico City is from Giulio Ballino’s very rare “De’ disegni delle più illustri città, et fortezze del mondo …”, printed in Venice in 1569 by Bolognino Zaltieri. The book contained 50 views and one chart and is the first attempt, in Italy, to produce an atlas of important fortresses and cities. This one of Mexico is the only non-European or Mediterranean one in the book. Ballino wanted to create a complete work with text and an index. Any plans to expand or capitalise on the book were soon overtaken by the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” published by Georg Braun & Fransz Hogenberg in 1572.

According to Albert Ganado (1993), 32 of the plans are reprints of Forlani & Zenoi’s work engraved between the years 1566 and 1568. They were published for the first time in “Il primo libro delle città, et fortezze principali del mondo”, 1567. The remaining engravings were prepared by an unidentified hand. There are two issues of Ballino’s work with differing title pages, both versions are believed to be printed by Bolognini Zaltieri in 1569.

Giulio Ballino was a Venetian lawyer, and a friend of the Manuzio family around 1530. His passion was classical studies. Cremonini “L’Italia nelle vedute e carte Geographiche” 4 no. 51; Shirley T.Ball 1a no. 50.