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).

Based on the interpretations of Solinus and Munster, this Ptolemaic map covers the region roughly of Thailand and Malaysia. An oddly shaped Malaysian peninsula lies to the east of the Ganges River, while the China Sea (Sinus Magnus) and another landmass lies to the east of that. This depiction embodies the legacy of Ptolemy's idea of a landlocked Indian Ocean. Engraved on copper by Giulio and Livio Sanuto in the unmistakable Italian style. Italian text on verso.

References: Mickwitz & Miekkavaara #216-56; Shirley (BL Atlases) T.PTOL-10a.

Condition: B+

On watermarked paper with faint dampstaining that enters the map image at bottom. There are a few worm tracks in the top blank margin that have been infilled.