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C1561
Carta Marina Nuova Tavola.
Mapmaker:
This is the rare first state of Ruscelli’s world map included in his translation of Ptolemy’s Geographia, printed by Vincenzo Valgrisi. It features a stipple engraved sea and numerous rhumb lines radiating from seventeen focal points. The map is based … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
Carta Marina Nuova Tavola.
Date:
C1561
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Copper engraving.
Image Size:
244mm
x 180mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1561
Description:
This is the rare first state of Ruscelli’s world map included in his translation of Ptolemy’s Geographia, printed by Vincenzo Valgrisi. It features a stipple engraved sea and numerous rhumb lines radiating from seventeen focal points. The map is based on Gastaldi’s world map of 1548 which he designed for use in maritime navigation and was engraved by Giulio and Livio Sanuto. The map contains only minimal interior detail but includes several important ports and trading posts including, Zanzibar on the east coast of Africa and Cambay, one of India’s two main ocean ports, visited by Marco Polo in 1293. The Magellan Strait, at the southern tip of South America is labelled and Tierra del Fuego is shown as a very large island. Curiously, the large southern continent of Terra Australis Incognita that appears in other maps of the period is not depicted. The map records the changing nature of cartography in the sixteenth century as mapmakers began to escape the influence of Ptolemy’s Geographia which had been the main source of geographical knowledge for some 1,500 years. Gilolo, the largest island in the Moluccas (Spice Islands) is shown, although incorrectly positioned. After the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, Spain and Portugal agreed that all newly discovered lands to the east of the Cape Verde Islands belonged to Portugal and those to the west to Spain. Initially, the ‘line’ did not encircle the world but after Portugal discovered the Moluccas in 1512, which were the only sources of nutmeg and cloves in the world, Spain claimed that the islands fell within their hemisphere. The issue was settled with the Treaty of Zaragoza in 1529 with Spain agreeing to relinquish its claim to the islands for a payment of 350,000 ducats by Portugal. From Ruscelli’s La Geografia de Claudio Tolomeo Venice. References: Burden p.34, Schilder p.123, Shirley 111, pl.95, Stevens p.50, Suarez (A) p.130.
Girolamo Ruscelli (1504 - 1566)
Girolamo Ruscelli was a prominent c.16th Italian polymath, mathematician, cartographer, and alchemist. Born in Viterbo and lived in various cities during his life including; Aquilea, Padua, Rome, Naples, and finally settled in Venice until his death.He wrote on a wide range of subjects and often worked on behalf of third parties, including a partnership with publisher Plinio Pietrasanta until 1555 when he was tried by the Inquisition for the unlicensed publication of a satirical poem. Most of his later works were published by Vincenzo Valgrisi. He wrote an immensely popular book on alchemy under the pseudonym Alessio Piemontese, published in 1555. The book, De Secreti Del Alessio Piemontese, included recipes for alchemical compounds, cosmetics, dyes, and medicines and was translated into numerous languages. Ruscelli's translations of various classics, including the Decameron and Orlando Furioso, were also popular. His translation of Ptolemy's, Geografia included 69 maps, 40 of which were contemporary and based on maps compiled by Giacomo Gastaldi in 1548. Ruscelli also compiled a Rimario (rhyming dictionary) that remained in use until the 19th century.
