Details
PTOLEMAEUS, CLAUDIUS. Liber Geographiae cum tabulis et universalis figura. Venice: Jacobus Pentius de Leucho, 20 March 1511.
Folio, nineteenth-century vellum, modern cloth chemise and morocco-backed slipcase, lacking initial blank leaf, 3 neatly repaired tears to title-leaf, one slightly affecting the last 3 lines of the poem on verso, scattered discreet marginal repairs, corners of most of the maps repaired, woodcut cloud at left fore-margin of the world map very slightly shaved, occasional discoloration to margins, a few light marginal dampstains, slight printing flaws on fol. I7v.
FIRST VENETIAN EDITION, translated by Jacobus Angelus, edited by Bernardus Sylvanus of Eboli, title printed in red, text (in double column) and 28 full-sheet woodcut maps printed in red and black, all but the last printed on both recto and verso, woodcut diagrams in the text, spaces for initials with guide letters.
The maps represent the earliest known example of two-color printing in cartography (and the only known two-color edition of the Geography), the major regional names being printed in red in upper case, while the towns and less important names are in black in lower case, all in letterpress type apparently set into the woodblocks. Recent studies have revealed evidence that the letterpress may have been printed using a stereotype method (cf. David Woodward's introduction to the facsimile edition of the Sylvanus world map, Chicago: Speculum Orbis Press 1983, and his article "Some evidence for the use of stereotyping on Peter Apian's world map of 1530", Imago Mundi, vol. 24, 1970).
Although the maps are arranged in the usual Ptolemaic order, Sylvanus attempted to modify them in accord with recent discoveries, with somewhat limited success, partly because he relied on already outdated information, but also because "the cartography of the new lands and seas was not a high priority for Silvano...[who] was clearly more interested in correcting Ptolemy in the Old World..." (Woodward, op. cit.). Most important is the cordiform map of the world, the first in this projection, and only the second printed map in an edition of Ptolemy to show America. It is also the first map to show [a disproportionately large] Japan. Harrisse 68; Phillips 358; Sabin 77477; Shirley 31-32.
Provenance: Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow, bookplate; long autograph inscription by Henry Harrisse (who acted as Barlow's bibliographical advisor) on front free endpaper, noting discrepancies between this copy and his B.A.V. description and identifying the provenance: purchased by Barlow from Tross (1870 catalogue, no. 529).
Folio, nineteenth-century vellum, modern cloth chemise and morocco-backed slipcase, lacking initial blank leaf, 3 neatly repaired tears to title-leaf, one slightly affecting the last 3 lines of the poem on verso, scattered discreet marginal repairs, corners of most of the maps repaired, woodcut cloud at left fore-margin of the world map very slightly shaved, occasional discoloration to margins, a few light marginal dampstains, slight printing flaws on fol. I7v.
FIRST VENETIAN EDITION, translated by Jacobus Angelus, edited by Bernardus Sylvanus of Eboli, title printed in red, text (in double column) and 28 full-sheet woodcut maps printed in red and black, all but the last printed on both recto and verso, woodcut diagrams in the text, spaces for initials with guide letters.
The maps represent the earliest known example of two-color printing in cartography (and the only known two-color edition of the Geography), the major regional names being printed in red in upper case, while the towns and less important names are in black in lower case, all in letterpress type apparently set into the woodblocks. Recent studies have revealed evidence that the letterpress may have been printed using a stereotype method (cf. David Woodward's introduction to the facsimile edition of the Sylvanus world map, Chicago: Speculum Orbis Press 1983, and his article "Some evidence for the use of stereotyping on Peter Apian's world map of 1530", Imago Mundi, vol. 24, 1970).
Although the maps are arranged in the usual Ptolemaic order, Sylvanus attempted to modify them in accord with recent discoveries, with somewhat limited success, partly because he relied on already outdated information, but also because "the cartography of the new lands and seas was not a high priority for Silvano...[who] was clearly more interested in correcting Ptolemy in the Old World..." (Woodward, op. cit.). Most important is the cordiform map of the world, the first in this projection, and only the second printed map in an edition of Ptolemy to show America. It is also the first map to show [a disproportionately large] Japan. Harrisse 68; Phillips 358; Sabin 77477; Shirley 31-32.
Provenance: Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow, bookplate; long autograph inscription by Henry Harrisse (who acted as Barlow's bibliographical advisor) on front free endpaper, noting discrepancies between this copy and his B.A.V. description and identifying the provenance: purchased by Barlow from Tross (1870 catalogue, no. 529).