DEPICTING THE WORLD

ATLAS - PTOLEMAEUS, CLAUDIUS (PTOLEMY, C.).

La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo Alessandrino, Già tradotte di greco in italiano da M. Giero. Ruscelli: & hora in questo nuoua editione da M. Gio. Malomba ricoretta, & purgata d'infiniti errori: come facilmente nella Prefatione a Lettori può ciascuno vedere. Con L'Espositioni del Ruscelli...& sopra tutta la Geografia, o Modo di fare la descrittione del Mondo...Et con un Discorso di M. Gioseppe Moleto...3 Parts (all).

Venetia (Venice), Giordano Ziletti, 1574-(73).

4to. Hcalf from ab 1820. Gilt back. Slight rubbing to spine. (78),350 pp. and 65 double-page engraved maps with text on verso of plates (130) pp,56,65 pp. 6 textlvs. at end with brownspots in right margin, sometimes a little browning to pages, few brownspots and a few textlvs. with minor wormtracts. Complete with all 65 maps called for, each measuring ab. 19 x 26 cm. A great part of the maps have some background shadowing from the printers ink, mainly due to the fact, that this is the third Ruscelli-edition, where the plates have been used before. 3 printer's wood-cut devices and 20 smaller and larger woodcuts in the text. 2 woodcuts with Ptolemy shown observing.

Third edition of Ruscelli's translation from Venice, 1561. The maps are printed from the same plates, with the exception of Ptolemy's map of the world, for which Malomba had returned to the original conical projection of Ptolemy. Moreover, one map is added: the map of "Territorio di Roma".
In general the maps are enlarged copies of Gastaldi's maps from the edition of 1548 which came out in 8vo. The Ruscelli translation contains an important innovation, namely the division of the world map into two parts, one for the Old World and one for the New, as seen on the plate "Tavola Universal", depicting the 2 hemispheres.

The atlas contains 27 ptolemaic maps and 38 new. 1 World, 1 Hemisphere, 10 Europe, 4 Africa, 12 Asia and 38 others. 10 of the maps relate to America.

Philipps I:380. Sabin 66505. Nordenskiöld Nr. 34 (p.27).

Order-nr.: 18848