Carte Universelle de Ptolomee.

Scarce, c.18th hand coloured world map presenting the ancient world according to the geographical system of Claudius Ptolemy. This map was issued in Paris in 1749 for Noël-Antoine Pluche’s widely read Spectacle de la Nature.

The map depicts the Ptolemaic inhabited world as understood in classical antiquity, while also incorporating modern corrections explained in the accompanying French note beneath the image. Europe, North Africa and Asia extend eastward to the land of the Seres and the Malay Peninsula, all contained within a single northern-oriented hemisphere framed by a graduated graticule. The engraving is restrained in design, relying on typography rather than ornament. Large capitals identify the principal continents of AFRIQUE, ASIE and EUROPE, while ancient geographical names appear throughout, including Chersonese d’Or, Inde au delà du Gange and Taprobane, the latter exaggerated in size off the coast of India. Across the southern extremity stretches the speculative landmass Éthiopie imaginaire, reflecting the enduring Ptolemaic belief in a great southern continent enclosing the Indian Ocean.

The map accompanied Pluche’s discussion of ancient geography in volume IV of Le Spectacle de la Nature, where he contrasted the geographical knowledge of antiquity with that of the eighteenth century. Heavy engraved lines distinguish regions known to Ptolemy, while fainter outlines indicate later amendments to coastlines and longitude. Such comparative historical cartography formed part of the mid-eighteenth-century fascination with reviving and popularising the geographical ideas of classical antiquity.

From: Noel Antoine Pluche; Le Spectacle de la Nature