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C1574
Tabula Asiae XII
Mapmaker:
Rare c.16th engraved map of present day Sri Lanka, named Taprobana, with a superb woodcut of the ‘Pascua Elephantum’, an elephant at pasture)at the base of the Malli Mountains which Ptolemy described in his Geographia. In the lower left is … Read Full Description
$A 450
S/N: ZLGDCT-ASI-0121574–511942
(C017)
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Details
Full Title:
Tabula Asiae XII
Date:
C1574
Mapmaker:
Condition:
Uncoloured as always issued, 3 small borer holes. otherwise in good condition.
Technique:
Copper engraving.
Image Size:
253mm
x 185mm
Paper Size:
311mm
x 224mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1574
Description:
Rare c.16th engraved map of present day Sri Lanka, named Taprobana, with a superb woodcut of the ‘Pascua Elephantum’, an elephant at pasture)at the base of the Malli Mountains which Ptolemy described in his Geographia.
In the lower left is a panel of text indicating that the island was a rich source of ivory. In ancient times, Sri Lanka was known by various names, Ptolemy named it Taprobana, the Arabs Serendib, the Portuguese called it Ceilo and the British, Ceylon. Much confusion existed among medieval mapmakers as to the identities of the islands of Taprobana and Sumatra which arose primarily from the descriptions in the ancient texts which stated that Taprobana was the largest island in the world. This was later contradicted by Marco Polo in his Il Milione in which he stated, that it was Java Minor (Sumatra) and that was in fact the largest island. As Sumatra was virtually unknown to most medieval mapmakers their primary concern was the placement of Taprobana on maps. Invariably it was incorrectly positioned off the southeast coast of Arabia but once the accounts of Marco Polo were revealed at the end of the thirteenth century, the eastern limits of the Indian Ocean were greatly expanded and the question as to the identity of the islands became more critical for mapmakers. The Portuguese arrived on the island in 1505 and by 1518 had built a fort in Colombo, enabling them to control strategic coastal areas they had previously captured. Once Portuguese information and charts were copied, the position of Ceylon and the confusion with Sumatra was corrected
From: Tolomeo, Claudio. La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo Alessandrino, gia tradotta di Greco in Italiano da Giero. Ruscelli: & hora in questa nuova editione da M.Gio.Malombra… con l’ espositioni del Ruscelli, particolari di luogo in luogo, & universali, sopra tutto il libro, & sopra tutta la Geografia, o modo di fare la descrittione del mondo…. con un discorso di M. Gioseppe Moleto. Venezia: Giordano Ziletti, 1574.
References:
Stevens, H. Ptolemy’s Geography. London 1973 : p.50
Sweet, M. Mapping the Continent of Asia. Singapore 1994. : 4. p.10.
Suarez, T. Early Mapping of Southeast Asia. Singapore 1999 : p.130.
Collections:
David Rumsey Collection: 11311.119
National Library Board Singapore: Identifier: OCoLC)7476334
State Library New South Wales: CALL NUMBERS MRB/910/P (16th Century)
State Library Victoria: RARES 912 P95G
References:
Sabin, J. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time. New York. (1936) 1967 :: 66505.
Shirley, R. The Mapping of the World Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700. London 1987 :: 133.
Stevens, H. Ptolemy's Geography. London 1973 :: p.52, [1574].
Sabin, J. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time. New York. (1936) 1967 :: 66505.
Shirley, R. The Mapping of the World Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700. London 1987 :: 133.
Stevens, H. Ptolemy's Geography. London 1973 :: p.52, [1574].
Claudius Ptolemy (100 - 170)
Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, geographer, astrologer and author of the Geography, also known by its Latin names as the Geographia and the Cosmographia, a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, which comprised the geographical knowledge of the 2nd-century Roman Empire written c. AD 150. It was a revision of a lost atlas by Marinus the Greek, a geographer, cartographer and mathematician from the Roman province of Tyre using additional Roman and Persian gazetteers and new principles. Its translation into Arabic in the 9th century and Latin in 1406 was highly influential on the geographical knowledge and cartographic knowledge of the medieval Caliphate and Renaissance Europe. No Greek manuscript of the Geography survives from earlier than the late 13th century (c.1295), the earliest is in the Vatican library. A letter written by the Byzantine monk Maximus Planudes records that he searched for one in the Chora Monastery in the summer of 1295 and the earliest surviving manuscript may have been one of those he then assembled. The three earliest surviving manuscript versions with maps are those from Constantinople (Istanbul) based on Planudes's work. The first Latin translation from these was made in 1406 or 1407 by Jacobus Angelus in Florence, Italy, under the name Geographia Claudii Ptolemaei and first printed in Venice 1475 by Hermanus Levilapis (Herman Lichtensein of Cologne) without maps. This was followed in 1478 by a Roman edition with twenty seven maps printed by Arnoldus Buckinck. In 1482 the famous Ulm edition was translated by Leonardus Hol with 32 woodcut maps, 5 of which were new modern maps. In 1513 one of the most important editions was issued by Martin Waldseemuller with 47 woodcut maps of which 20 were new modern maps including one devoted to the new world. In 1540 a new and important edition, titled Cosmographia was revised and edited by Sebastian Munster and printed by Henricus Petri at Basle. Munster redesigned the maps and added a geographical appendix. The Geography continued to be issued by various publishers who included new geographical information to the maps.
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