Claudius Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer and geographer who worked in Alexandria, then a part of the Roman Empire, in the 2nd century AD. One of the most learned and influential men of his time, his theories dominated both astronomy and geography for nearly 1500 years. His writings were kept alive by Arabic scholars during the Middle Ages and reemerged in Europe during the Renaissance. The birth of printing led to wide dissemination of his great works on astronomy and geography. There were a number of editions of his Geographia beginning in 1477. These early editions contained maps based on his original writings, known as Ptolemaic maps. As geographic knowledge increased with the explorations of Columbus, Magellan, Cabot and others, maps of the New World were added, and maps of the Old World were revised. Ptolemy's Geographia continued to be revised and published by some of the most important cartographers including Martin Waldseemuller, Sebastian Munster, Giacomo Gastaldi, Jodocus Hondius, and Gerard Mercator (whose last edition was published in 1730).

A. Claudii Ptolemaei Cosmographia, by Hier et Demain, published 1976, printed color (12.6 x 18.3"). This handsome facsimile reproduces the 27 maps from the manuscript of Ptolemy's Cosmographia as found in the National Library of Naples. Each of the double-page maps are in vivid full color and housed in a cardboard case with a red faux-leather spine. It also includes a booklet of notes on Ptolemy by Lelio Pagani. No. 460 of 999 examples. Condition: Maps are in very good condition. The cardboard case is bumped with light shelf wear and some minor soiling. (B+)

B. Claudius Ptolemy - The Geography, by Edward Luther Stevenson, published 1991, black & white (9.3 x 12.3"). This is the Dover Publications, Inc. reprint of Edward Luther Stevenson's original 1932 English translation of Ptolemy's Geography. In addition to the eight books of Ptolemy that Stevenson has translated here, there are reproductions of the 27 maps from the Codex Ebnerianus, Donnus Nicolaus Germanus' copy of the Geography. The Ruysch map from the 1508 edition and the New World map from the 1522 edition, with America named in present day South America, are included as well. The book features a fascinating introduction by Joseph Fischer, the German cartographer who at one point in time was thought to have forged the Vinland Map. 167 pp. plus the maps. Soft illustrated covers. Conditon: A hint of shelf wear, otherwise fine. (A)

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See description above.