PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c.100-c.178). Cosmographia . Translated from the Greek into Latin by Jacobus Angelus. Rome: Petrus de Turre, 4 November, 1490.
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c.100-c.178). Cosmographia . Translated from the Greek into Latin by Jacobus Angelus. Rome: Petrus de Turre, 4 November, 1490. Super-royal 2° (406 x 278 mm). Collation: A-C 8 D-E 6 (A1 blank, A2r Registrum alphabeticum , E6 blank); a 10 b-g 8 h 4 (a1 blank a2r text, h4 blank); [1-6 8 7 6 (engraved maps, each printed from two copperplates)]; 2a-b 8 2c 6 (2a1r blank, 2a1v registrum super tractum de tribus orbis partibus , 2a2r-2c5r de locis ac mirabilibus mundi et primo de tribus orbis partibus , 2c5r colophon Hoc opus Ptholomei memorabile quidem et insigne exactissima diligentia castigatum iucondo quodam caractere impressum fuit et completum Rome anno a nativitate Domini .M.CCCC.LXXXX die .IV. Novembris. arte ac impensis Petri de Turre , 2c5v-2c6 blank). 170 leaves (of 174, lacking the blanks A1, E6, a1, h4 and 2c6.) Type 1:111R. Double column, 53 lines and headline. Initial spaces. 24 (of 27) double-page engraved maps, 4 woodcut diagrams on a9v, a10r (2), and a10v. (Lacking three maps: 'Decima Asiae Tabula' [India], 'Undecima Asiae Tabula' [Southeast Asia and China] and 'Duodecima et Ultima Asiae Tabula' [ Taprobana , i.e. Sri Lanka]; world map with stain to north-east corner, the maps with some soiling and resized, variable light spotting to text-leaves.) Late 19th-century English brown crushed morocco over wooden boards, covers panelled in gilt and blind, bevelled edges, spine lettered in gilt and tooled in blind, gilt gauffered edges (upper joint cracking). Provenance : H. Thompson (ink inscription on front pastedown dated Aug. 8th 1895). Second Rome edition. 'This handsome edition is a reprinting of the copper-plate maps of the 1478 Ptolemy [the first Rome edition by Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Buckinck, whose] maps are considered the finest Ptolemaic ones produced up to the time that the great Mercator engraved his Ptolemy of 1578... It is believed that Sweynheym was the one who first thought of applying the very new art of copper-engraving to the printing of maps, and he might have taken a hand in the actual engraving of them himself' (World Encompassed ). While the Bologna edition of 1477 was the first atlas to use copperplate maps, the present series is generally regarded as superior for its clear captions, accurate projections and overall design and there are indications the Bologna edition was hurried through the press. The captions were not engraved but stamped into the plates. HC 13541; BMC IV, 133; BSB-Ink P-861; Bod-Inc P-530; Goff P-1086; Campbell 121-147; NMM III, 6; Nordernskiöld II, 201; Phillips Atlases 355; Sabin 66474; The World Encompassed 40.
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c.100-c.178). Cosmographia . Translated from the Greek into Latin by Jacobus Angelus. Rome: Petrus de Turre, 4 November, 1490.
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c.100-c.178). Cosmographia . Translated from the Greek into Latin by Jacobus Angelus. Rome: Petrus de Turre, 4 November, 1490. Super-royal 2° (406 x 278 mm). Collation: A-C 8 D-E 6 (A1 blank, A2r Registrum alphabeticum , E6 blank); a 10 b-g 8 h 4 (a1 blank a2r text, h4 blank); [1-6 8 7 6 (engraved maps, each printed from two copperplates)]; 2a-b 8 2c 6 (2a1r blank, 2a1v registrum super tractum de tribus orbis partibus , 2a2r-2c5r de locis ac mirabilibus mundi et primo de tribus orbis partibus , 2c5r colophon Hoc opus Ptholomei memorabile quidem et insigne exactissima diligentia castigatum iucondo quodam caractere impressum fuit et completum Rome anno a nativitate Domini .M.CCCC.LXXXX die .IV. Novembris. arte ac impensis Petri de Turre , 2c5v-2c6 blank). 170 leaves (of 174, lacking the blanks A1, E6, a1, h4 and 2c6.) Type 1:111R. Double column, 53 lines and headline. Initial spaces. 24 (of 27) double-page engraved maps, 4 woodcut diagrams on a9v, a10r (2), and a10v. (Lacking three maps: 'Decima Asiae Tabula' [India], 'Undecima Asiae Tabula' [Southeast Asia and China] and 'Duodecima et Ultima Asiae Tabula' [ Taprobana , i.e. Sri Lanka]; world map with stain to north-east corner, the maps with some soiling and resized, variable light spotting to text-leaves.) Late 19th-century English brown crushed morocco over wooden boards, covers panelled in gilt and blind, bevelled edges, spine lettered in gilt and tooled in blind, gilt gauffered edges (upper joint cracking). Provenance : H. Thompson (ink inscription on front pastedown dated Aug. 8th 1895). Second Rome edition. 'This handsome edition is a reprinting of the copper-plate maps of the 1478 Ptolemy [the first Rome edition by Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Buckinck, whose] maps are considered the finest Ptolemaic ones produced up to the time that the great Mercator engraved his Ptolemy of 1578... It is believed that Sweynheym was the one who first thought of applying the very new art of copper-engraving to the printing of maps, and he might have taken a hand in the actual engraving of them himself' (World Encompassed ). While the Bologna edition of 1477 was the first atlas to use copperplate maps, the present series is generally regarded as superior for its clear captions, accurate projections and overall design and there are indications the Bologna edition was hurried through the press. The captions were not engraved but stamped into the plates. HC 13541; BMC IV, 133; BSB-Ink P-861; Bod-Inc P-530; Goff P-1086; Campbell 121-147; NMM III, 6; Nordernskiöld II, 201; Phillips Atlases 355; Sabin 66474; The World Encompassed 40.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
