An early map of Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

Thirteen years after Giacomo Gastaldi's 'Geographia' appeared, well-known humanist and founder of the first scientific society, Girolamo Ruscelli (1500-1556), published his own translation of Ptolemy's seminal work. As an author and scholar, Ruscelli was "highly praised by contemporaries as a man of immense erudition, and humanistic writings add substance to these encomiums. Among his works were annotations on Boccaccio and Petrarch, commentaries on the Italian language, books on the design of arms and armour, heraldry, militia, the rules of Italian poetry, history, and a translation of Ptolemy's 'Geography'" (Eamon and Paheau).

Both the first edition of 1561 and his later of 1574, included enlarged versions of Gastaldi's maps engraved by Giulio and Livio Sanuto.