This is a unique and rare opportunity to acquire an original antique map from only the second ever printed atlas, Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini philosophi Geographiam Romae. published by Arnold Buckinck in Rome, 1478. The atlas is based on the text of the 1st century cartographer Claude Ptolemy.
There are no printed maps older than this available to the collector. All 26 editions of the first atlas published in 1477 are in institutional hands.
This 1478 Rome edition of Ptolemy's Geographia was republished in 3 other editions 1490, 1507 & 1508.

Incredible to imagine but this map was published, in an atlas, only 23 years after the first major book, "The Gutenberg Bible" was printed on the first moveable type printing press, invented and published by Johannes Gutenberg, in 1455. This invention is without doubt one of the most significant in mankind's history. It signalled the end of selective learning and the beginning of mass education and thought.

This map of what is today Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of India, the 9th in the Asian series of Ptolemy's 27 maps, was published by Arnold Buckinck after the death of his predecessor Conrad Sweynheym, in 1478.
Considering this is one of the earliest atlases published the typeface and characteristics of the maps and text are extraordinary. Of the engraved editions of Ptolemy’s Geographia the maps in the Rome edition are the finest fifteenth century examples, and second only to Mercator’s maps, from his 1578 edition of 'Geographia'. 
This large map is in fine condition, on strong sturdy and stable paper the printing is heavy and clear. The colour is original, clear and bright. There is some light discolouration to the paper, along with some light soiling two thirds down the center of the map with some show-through on the verso. As these early maps were printed in two separate halves, they have been professionally re-joined, overall in fantastic condition and a great addition to any collection.

Background of Ptolemy's Geographia: The first published edition of Ptolemy's ‘Geographia’ with maps, engraved by Taddeo Crivelli, was issued in Bologna in 1477.  Unusually, this edition contained 26 maps, with one of the Asia maps divided up among three neighbouring sheets. With the exception of Palestine, these are the first regional maps of any of these various countries.
Unfortunately for the undertakers, this atlas seems not to have been a commercial success, and today only twenty-six examples of the atlas are recorded, with all but one in institutional libraries.
One explanation of the failure is that the publishers do not seem to have been fully mastered the intricacies and problems of engraving, and printing from, copper-plates, an art, which, after all, was very new and experimental. These problems were more successfully addressed by a German printer, Conrad Sweynheym, who was working on an edition of Ptolemy in Rome in the same period. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the volume appear, but his successor, Arnold Buckinck, saw the atlas through the press, in 1478.
The Rome Ptolemy contained 27 maps, with the same geographical coverage as the 1477 Ptolemy. Of the engraved editions of Ptolemy’s ‘Cosmographia’ the maps in the Rome edition are the finest fifteenth century examples, and second only to Mercator’s maps, from his 1578 edition.  One explanation for this was the use of individual punches to stamp letters onto the printing plates, rather than engraving them.  This allowed much greater uniformity than lettering-engravers were able to achieve, and gives a very pleasing overall effect. The atlas proved popular, and three successive editions (to 1508) followed, although only about forty examples of the first edition are recorded today.

Claudius Ptolemy(90 A.D.-168 A.D.) was a celebrated astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who lived in Alexandria in the 2nd century AD. Although his thinking influenced contemporary Arab geographers, little was known of his work in the West until manuscripts from Constantinople reached Italy in about 1400.  These manuscripts were written in Greek and contained the names of every city, island,  mountain and  river known to the many travellers interviewed by Ptolemy. In addition, the latitude and longitude of each of the resulting eight thousand locations were also recorded. They were translated into Latin by 1401 and appeared in print by 1475.  The earliest Byzantine manuscript maps, drawn by analysing the Ptolemy figures, date from the twelfth century. A number of hand-drawn copies were made in Italy throughout the early fifteenth century to accompany Ptolemy's text.
Ptolemy stressed the importance of accurate observations in order to calculate latitude and longitude, and  laid down the principals of systematic cartography that remain to this day. Obviously there are many errors in Ptolemy's maps, due to the limited extent of basic geographic information at that time and the lack of a method of determining accurate longitudes. Judged by modern standards, the basic shortcoming of the Ptolemy world map is the small area it portrays. The Mediterranean is fairly well depicted, but is greatly exaggerated in length (Longitudinally). The effect of this, combined with Ptolemy's disregard for Eratosthenes' extremely accurate estimate of the earth's circumference (c. 200 B.C.) and the use of a Posidonius' much smaller flawed estimate (c.50 B.C.) implied a much shorter distance across that part of the unknown earth's surface not drawn on the map. Columbus and his contemporaries based their exploratory ventures on Ptolemy's calculations and, like him, had no idea of the vast New World to the west, interposed between Europe and Asia.

Work on the first “printed” atlas from the text of Ptolemy was started in 1473 and finally published in 1478. A crude copy of this atlas was produced and published by some dissident workers in 1477 in order to be ‘first’. However, the plates for the 1478 were done prior to the pirated issue and thus the 1478 atlas holds the title of the first Atlas of the world. There are very few surviving examples of this atlas and individual maps. (Ref: Stevenson; Tooley; M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, blue, pink, brown.
General color appearance: - Authentic and fresh
Paper size: - 22 1/4in x 16 1/2in (565mm x 420mm)
Plate size: - 22 1/4in x 16 1/2in (565mm x 420mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (6mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light discolouration, restoration to top join above title.
Plate area: - Centerfold re-joined, discolouration 2/3rds down center
Verso: - None

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