Brasil Nuova Tavola.

First state (1561) of Girolamo Ruscelli (1504-1566) rare engraved map of Brazil. This is one the earliest obtainable maps of Brazil.

This first state is identified by not having a plate mark at top of the sheet which was later corrected in later editions.

Issued in the Venetian edition by Valgrisi of Ptolemy’s Geographia edited by Ruscelli. The map is one of the earliest separately engraved maps devoted specifically to Brazil. The map is oriented to the west and depicts the eastern coastline of South America from the mouth of the Amazon southward, with coastal capes, rivers, and settlements identified in Italianised toponymy, while the interior remains sparsely detailed, reflecting the limited European knowledge of the continent’s inland geography in the c.15th. Prominent rivers, including the Amazon are shown, and the coastline is articulated with bays and promontories. As a “Nuova Tavola,” the map represents a modern addition to the classical Ptolemaic corpus, integrating recent discoveries into the authoritative framework of ancient geography. Ruscelli’s edition of Ptolemy was influential in disseminating updated world geography to a broad European readership, and his maps of the Americas are among the earliest obtainable printed representations of these regions.

Italian text on the verso.

From: Ruscelli, Girolamo (1518-1566), La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo Alessandrino Nuovamente tradotta di Greco in Italiano, … Con Espositioni del medesimo, particolari di luogo, & universali sopra il libro, et sopra tutta la Geografia, o modo di sar la descrittione di tutto ilmondo. Translated by Girolamo Ruscelli Venice: Vincezo Valgrisi, 1561