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).

This is a well-produced facsimile of Francesco Berlinghieri's edition of Ptolemy, published in Florence circa 1482. It was the first atlas published in vernacular Italian and the first to include modern geography, with 4 new maps drawn from contemporary sources: Novella Italia, Hispania Novella, Gallia Novella, and Palestina Moderna et Terra Sancta. The maps of Berlinghieri’s edition are unique among editions of Geographia in that they are the only ones to adhere to the original Ptolemaic projection with equidistant parallels instead of curved ones. There are 31 double-page maps. Introduction by R.A. Skelton. Part of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Series of Atlases in Facsimile Third Series - Volume IV. 372 pages. Elephant folio, green cloth covered boards with gilt insignia on the cover and title on spine, and an illustrated dust jacket.

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Condition: B

Contents are very good with minor toning and foxing and some creased corners. Covers are bumped and worn with light water damage. Dust jacket is chipped with light shelf wear.