Nona Europe Tabula [The Balkans] [from:] Cosmographia
by 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)
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- See description
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New York, New York, United States
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About This Item
Ulm, Germany: Lienhart Holle, 1482. Map. 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). A beautiful incunable map of the Balkans, including Constantinople, from the 1482 Ulm edition of Ptolemy's "Geographia." This map is from 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 incunable is one of the earliest obtainable maps to picture the Balkans. 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. Already political delineations are indicated by color: the Kingdom of Dardania, present-day Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Albania, is green, whereas Misia Inferior (eastern Serbia, northern Bulgaria, southern Ukraine, et al) and Iasyes Metanaste are washed in yellow. Ptolemy's map centers Datia, or Roman Dacia, a province of the Roman Empire from 106-275 AD that consisted of Romania and the Banat region. The Carpathian mountains are noted in the north and the Dardanelles are rendered in tan amorphous shapes in the south. In the lower right-hand corner of the map is the tip of Turkey (Asie Minoris Pars) and Constantinople (Istanbul). The Adriactic Sea (Adriatici Pars), Aegean Sea (Maris Egei Pars), and Black Sea (Ponti Evxini Pars) are all captured in luxurious lapis lazuli blue. 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]
Bagrow/Skelton, History of Cartography, Second Edition, p.91. Berggren and Jones, Ptolemy's Geography, passim. BMC, II, 538.IC.9305. Campbell, Earliest Printed Maps, pp.121-147, 179-210; Early Maps, pp.12-13. Copinger 4976. Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana, 392. Dilke, Greek and Roman Maps, pp.72-86, 154-166. Dufour/Lagumina 49. Hain-Copinger 13539. JCB, 1919, I, 11. Lynam, First Engraved Atlas of the World, passim. Nebenzahl, Atlas of Columbus and the Great Discoveries 1. Nordenskiöld 199. Panzer, III, 535, no.28. Phillips, Geographical Atlases, 353. Sabin 66472. Scammell, World Ecompassed 37. Schreiber 5032. Shirley, British Library, T.PTOL-4a-e; Mapping of the World 10. Skelton, "Introduction to the Facsimile to Ptolemy's Cosmographia," (Amsterdam: Israel/Meridian, 1963). Winsor, Bibliography of Ptolomy's Geography, p.5.
This rare incunable is one of the earliest obtainable maps to picture the Balkans. 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. Already political delineations are indicated by color: the Kingdom of Dardania, present-day Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Albania, is green, whereas Misia Inferior (eastern Serbia, northern Bulgaria, southern Ukraine, et al) and Iasyes Metanaste are washed in yellow. Ptolemy's map centers Datia, or Roman Dacia, a province of the Roman Empire from 106-275 AD that consisted of Romania and the Banat region. The Carpathian mountains are noted in the north and the Dardanelles are rendered in tan amorphous shapes in the south. In the lower right-hand corner of the map is the tip of Turkey (Asie Minoris Pars) and Constantinople (Istanbul). The Adriactic Sea (Adriatici Pars), Aegean Sea (Maris Egei Pars), and Black Sea (Ponti Evxini Pars) are all captured in luxurious lapis lazuli blue. 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]
Bagrow/Skelton, History of Cartography, Second Edition, p.91. Berggren and Jones, Ptolemy's Geography, passim. BMC, II, 538.IC.9305. Campbell, Earliest Printed Maps, pp.121-147, 179-210; Early Maps, pp.12-13. Copinger 4976. Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana, 392. Dilke, Greek and Roman Maps, pp.72-86, 154-166. Dufour/Lagumina 49. Hain-Copinger 13539. JCB, 1919, I, 11. Lynam, First Engraved Atlas of the World, passim. Nebenzahl, Atlas of Columbus and the Great Discoveries 1. Nordenskiöld 199. Panzer, III, 535, no.28. Phillips, Geographical Atlases, 353. Sabin 66472. Scammell, World Ecompassed 37. Schreiber 5032. Shirley, British Library, T.PTOL-4a-e; Mapping of the World 10. Skelton, "Introduction to the Facsimile to Ptolemy's Cosmographia," (Amsterdam: Israel/Meridian, 1963). Winsor, Bibliography of Ptolomy's Geography, p.5.
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Details
- Seller
- Donald Heald Rare Books (US)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 4807
- Title
- Nona Europe Tabula [The Balkans] [from:] Cosmographia
- Author
- 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)
- Format/Binding
- Map
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Lienhart Holle
- Place of Publication
- Ulm, Germany
- Date Published
- 1482
- Bookseller catalogs
- North America; Europe;
Terms of Sale
Donald Heald Rare Books
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About the Seller
Donald Heald Rare Books
Biblio member since 2006
New York, New York
About Donald Heald Rare Books
Donald Heald Rare Books, Prints, and Maps offers the finest examples of antiquarian books and prints in the areas of botany, ornithology, natural history, Americana and Canadiana, Native American, voyage and travel, maps and atlases, photography, and more. We are open by appointment only.
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- Verso
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- Facsimile
- An exact copy of an original work. In books, it refers to a copy or reproduction, as accurate as possible, of an original...
- Recto
- The page on the right side of a book, with the term Verso used to describe the page on the left side.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...