Decima Asie Tabula.
Ulm,
Lienhart Holle,
16 July 1482.
Double-page woodcut map, fine original hand-colour, slight damp staining to upper margin slightly affecting image.
420 by 565mm. (16.5 by 22.25 inches).
2093
notes:
This striking map depicts India as envisaged by the second century A.D, cartographer Claudius Ptolemaeus, and is one of the earliest obtainable prints maps of the area. Ptolemy's map bears little resemblance to the India subcontinent. Ptolemy's miscalculation of the length of the Indian coastline, coupled with his under estimation of the circumference of the globe, led the sub-continents distortion, with Ptolemy attempting to cram to much information into too little a space...
bibliography:
Camptell, T., 'Earliest Printed Maps', p. 179-210; Schreiber 5032; Skelton, R.A., Bibliographical note prefixed to the facsimile of the 1482 Ulm Ptolemy
provenance: