Duodecima Asiae Tabula

Early woodcut map of Sri Lanka named Taprobana from the second edition of Martin Waldseem�ller&#8217s Geographie Opus Novissima Traductione e Grecorum Archetypis, published by Johann Schott in Strasbourg in 1520. Waldseem�ller&#8217s Geographia is considered the finest of the Ptolemaic atlases to include several regional maps in addition to the original Ptolemy collection. Publishers began adding these regional maps to their atlases during the first two decades of the sixteenth century in response to the increasing demand for up-to-date information as a result of European maritime expansion. In compiling his atlas, Waldseem�ller combined information from Spanish and Portuguese sources with extensive research undertaken in the Basel and Strasbourg university libraries, resulting in a publication of a quality not to be surpassed until the publication of Ortelius&#8217s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum in 1570. Claudius Ptolemy was a celebrated astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who lived in Alexandria from about 90AD to 168AD. Little was known of his work in Europe until manuscript copies reached Italy from Constantinople in about 1400. The first two printed editions of Ptolemy&#8217s Geographia, respectively published in 1477 and 1478, both contained a world map showing present-day Sri Lanka, named Taprobana, located within a landlocked Indian Ocean. At the same time, confusion arose as to the positioning of Sri Lanka and Sumatra on medieval maps following the publication of Marco Polo&#8217s scribed accounts of his travels Il Milione which had revolutionised Europe&#8217s early knowledge of the East. Situated at the convergence of numerous trade routes between East and West and being a source of cinnamon and ivory, Sri Lanka had been an important stop for Arab and Chinese traders since ancient times and was later home to the sea ports of various European powers. Reflecting this colourful history, Sri Lanka possessed a variety of names Ptolemy called it Taprobana, the Arabs referred to it as Serendib, the Portuguese named it Ceil�o and during the Dutch and British periods, it was named Ceylon. References: Allen p.30, Moreland p.78, 286-287, Stevens p.46, Suarez (A) p.109.