Prima Asie Tabula [Türkiye] [from:] Cosmographia

PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c.90-170 AD, Cartographer), ANGELUS, Jacobus (c.1360-1411, Translator), GERMANUS, Donnus Nicolaus (c.1420-1490, Cartographer, Editor), SCHNITZER, Johannes (fl.1475-1515, Woodcutter)

Published by Lienhart Holle, Ulm, Germany, 1482

About this Item

Double-page woodcut map with fine original hand-coloring and Latin place-names in letterpress type. Carved gold leaf frame with Amiran anti-reflective archival glass with UV protection. Scale: c.1:4,000,000. Sheet (15 1/2 x 22 1/4 inches). Frame: (25 1/2 x 32 1/4 inches). This is one of the earliest obtainable maps of Türkiye. A beautiful incunable from the 1482 Ulm edition of Ptolemy's "Geographia," the first atlas to be printed north of the Alps and the first with woodcut maps. Here with fine period coloring, including lapis lazuli blue seas, not the ochre color of later editions. This rare hand-colored incunable is one of the earliest obtainable maps to picture Türkiye. It is from the 1482 Ulm edition of Ptolemy's Geographia, printed by Lienhart Holle and titled Cosmographia, in which Donnus Nicolaus Germanus adapted Ptolemy's second century cartography and added five modern maps. This Ptolemaic map of Asia Minor depicts an instantly recognizable region, with the Black Sea (Pontvs Evx Invs) to the north, and the Aegean Sea (Egevm Mare) to the west, each captured in luxurious lapis lazuli blue. Significant cities, such as Constantinople (Istanbul), are labeled, and some political boundaries are delineated by color, such as the yellow washes over the two Anatolian provinces of Galatia and Pafflagonia. The Taurus mountain ranges in the south are represented with tan amorphous shapes. The level of detail in this map as opposed to others in the 1482 Ulm conveys the importance of Türkiye to the Mediterranean world of Ptolemy. The 1482 Ulm atlas was a revelation in its manifold innovations: it was the first printed north of the Alps; the first with woodcut maps; the first with maps "signed" by the artist responsible - its world map states "Engraved by Johann, woodcutter from Armszheim" - and his backward "N" was cut into each woodblock used to print the maps; it was the first Ptolemaic atlas with 32 maps; the first to come with publisher's coloring or directions for embellishment; and the first to print text on the verso discussing the map on each corresponding recto. [Shirley] The Cosmographia atlas was the first book printed by Lienhart Holle: a masterful debut. But with its 32 individual hand-colored woodcut maps, all printed with letterpress type, it was very expensive to produce and its publication bankrupted Holle. The remaining sheets, woodblocks, matrices, and type were taken up by another printer in Ulm, Johann Reger, who reissued the work in 1486. Those second edition Reger maps are seen with the less desirable ochre washes over the sea in place of lapis lazuli blue, as here. "Claudius Ptolemaeus is the Latinized name of the geographer and astronomer who is more generally known as Ptolemy and who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, from 90-168 AD. His principal geographic work, the Geographia was transmitted from classical times and was the first atlas to be printed. The text is based on the translation from the Greek by Jacobus Angelus." [Shirley] The five modern maps were based on manuscript projections by the editor of the work, Donnus Nicolaus Germanus, a Benedictine monk from the diocese of Breslau who lived and worked in Florence. Germanus likely invented the trapezoid projection, which became known as the Donis-projection; it allows one to represent a three dimensional, spherical section on a two dimensional page. Campbell concludes that the "major achievement of the Ptolemaic maps was to introduce a formalized grid of longitude and latitude, in conjunction with positions obtained through astronomical observations. By favoring the shortest of various Greek estimates as to the circumference of the earth and arriving at a much reduced value for a degree of longitude, Ptolemy seriously underestimated the distance between western Europe and the supposed position of China." Had Columbus realized the true distance, "it is conceivable that he would never have set out on his first, momentous voyage." [Earliest Printed Maps] Bagro. Seller Inventory # 4806

Bibliographic Details

Title: Prima Asie Tabula [Türkiye] [from:] ...

Publisher: Lienhart Holle, Ulm, Germany

Publication Date: 1482

Binding: Map

Signed: Signed by Author(s)