Antonio Salamanca or Martinez de Salamanca (Salamanca 1479–1562 Rome) was a Spanish-born Italian dealer and publisher who settled in Rome and was active as a book-seller, publisher and engraver.
He was born in Salamanca, Spain in 1479 and seems to have settled in Rome, Italy, around 1510, when he married an Italian woman named Sigismonda Viccardi. A recently discovered marriage contract dates their wedding in 1532.1. Archivio di Stato di Roma, Collegio dei Notai Capitolini, vol. 321, fols. 39, dated ‘the last day of February 1532’. Notary Giorgio Latino Cecio; published by Corinna Gallori, ‘Antonio Salamanca's First Marrige’, Print Quarterly, vol. xlii, no. 1 (March 2025), p. 44, note 5. However, his daughter, Magdalena, was born prior to this date. Since she is explicitly named as his legitimate child in her own marriage certificate, it can be concluded that Salamanca had a previous, unidentified wife as well.2. Rome, Archivio Storico Capitolina, Archivo Urbano, sez. I, vol. 289/3, fol. 41; Corinna Gallori, ‘Antonio Salamanca's First Marrige’, Print Quarterly, vol. xlii, no. 1 (March 2025), p. 44.
In 1532 he published his first collection of engravings with prints of mythological interest, including works by Raphael. Since 1553, he cooperated with Antonio Lafreri (1512–1577), a publisher and map trader of French origin, with whom he published a book of Juan Valverde de Amusco illustrated by Nicolas Beatrizet. His cooperation with Lafreri lasted until his death, for almost a decade, and produced engraved maps, prints and views of cities, as well as informative leaflets (avvisi) of important events of his time.The Ionian Sea. Chartography and History 16th–18th century [in Greek], Archive of the Chartography of Greek Areas, Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, Athens, 2007, biographies of map makers, p. 239.
After his death, in 1562, his son Francesco Salamanca continued the cooperation with Antonio Lafreri.
Amongst his works is the creation of a copy of the first world map by Gerardus Mercator.
References
Sources Corinna Gallori, ‘Antonio Salamanca's First Marrige’, Print Quarterly, vol. xlii, no. 1 (March 2025), pp. 44–45.
Valeria Pagani, ‘Documents on Antonio Salamanca’, Print Quarterly, vol. xvii, no. 2 (June 2000), pp. 148–153.