N
8715
1.S84
1908
Ptolemy's Geography
مانه موش
****
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF ALL THE
PRINTED EDITIONS
DOWN TO 1730
. .
!
BY HENRY N. STEVENS, F.R.G.S.
氤
​1

ARTES
1837
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
PLURIBUS
UNUM
TCEBOR
SI-QUÆRIS PENINSULAM-AMŒKAM
CIRCUMSPICE
Z
8715
:584
1908
A
1
१.

PTOLEMY'S GEOGRAPHY
1

PTOLEMY'S GEOGRAPHY
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF ALL THE
PRINTED EDITIONS
DOWN TO 1730
WITH NOTES ON SOME IMPORTANT VARIATIONS
OBSERVED IN THAT OF ULM 1482
INCLUDING THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF
THE EARLIEST PRINTED MAP OF THE WORLD
YET KNOWN ON MODERN GEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPTIONS
IN WHICH SOME ATTEMPT WAS MADE
TO DEPART FROM ANCIENT
TRADITIONS
ATON
By HENRY N. STEVENS, F.R.G.S.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
SECOND EDITION
LONDON
HENRY STEVENS, SON AND STILES
39 GREAT RUSSELL STREET
OVER AGAINST THE SOUTH-WEST CORNER OF
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
1908
CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON
:
1
1
06-9-218m
い
​,

1
1
Dec. 727 BE
1
27
T
PREFATORY NOTE
The first edition of this little Essay
was privately printed in an édition de luxe
of only Twenty copies, as a descriptive
handbook to the HENRY STEVENS
COLLECTION of the various editions
of Ptolemy's Geography, now preserved
in the Library of Mr. Edward E. Ayer of Chicago. Every
one of these twenty copies included a set of the original
impressions of the Sixty Bookplates, each of which had
been separately and specially prepared for insertion in the
particular volume of the Collection to which it appertained.
I had no intention of publishing these Notes until
several friends urged me to do so, on the ground that the
information as to the curious variations in the Ulm Ptolemy
of 1482 and the recently discovered early World Map,
was of sufficient interest and importance to students of early
typography, bibliography and cartography to be worthy of
being placed on record.
Having agreed to print only Twenty copies of the sepa-
rate Bookplates, it has not been possible to reprint them
here in their original form. I have therefore contented
vii
376291
!
:


vill
Ptolemy's Geography
myself with reproducing the first as a specimen, and adding
merely the descriptive text as it appeared on the remainder,
so as to form as it were a brief chronological List of the
various editions of Ptolemy's Geography with the salient
points of each.
HENRY N. STEVENS.
39, Great Russell Street,
London, W.C.
20 October, 1908.

༦

THE HENRY STEVENS PTOLEMY
COLLECTION

His magnificent Collection was
commenced by my late father about the
year 1848, shortly after he first came to
London from Vermont on bibliographical
investigations intent. His general design
was to illustrate cartographically the pro-
gress of modern geographical discovery and knowledge, by
a series of the editions of Ptolemy's Geography (as many
as he could obtain) from pre-Columbian down to com-
paratively recent times. More particularly was he desirous
of tracing the gradual cartographical "evolution of America
from the sea of darkness." The Collection was originally
intended for his own use in his general researches in this
direction; and by the time of his death in 1886 he had
acquired perhaps thirty different editions. At the same
time, while collecting for himself, he largely built up the
splendid sets of Ptolemy's Geography in the Libraries of
Mr. James Lenox of New York, Mr. John Carter Brown
of Providence, and the British Museum.
#
B
2
The Henry Stevens

dealing with my father's Library
after his death, as his literary executor, it
seemed a pity to disperse a series of books
which had been gotten together with such
patient care; so I formed the design of
endeavouring to complete it as a Henry
Stevens Memorial Collection. During the next nine or ten
years some sixteen more editions were added, and as the
volumes were in all sorts of bindings, good, bad, and in-
different, it was thought that the Collection would be much
improved and be more likely to be kept intact if the whole
was in uniform binding. I accordingly conferred with my
old friend Mr. Pratt, who, by the way, with his father before
him, has bound for me and my father for upwards of fifty
years. After much consultation, a fairly plain and sub-
stantial binding rather than a showy one was decided on;
olive green morocco of the finest possible quality, elegantly
tooled in blind and gold. Owing to the great difference in
size and shape of the various editions between the smallest
octavo of Cologne 1540 and the largest folio of Amsterdam
1730, it became necessary to design a pattern which would
expand or contract to suit the various shapes and sizes of
octavo, quarto, and folio; and the ornamenting tools had to
be cut in several sizes to correspond.
the time the binding of the forty-sir
volumes had been completed in the
spring of 1898, the expense was getting
altogether beyond my means, especially
so as there were still some very im-
portant and expensive editions yet to
be acquired if the idea was to be carried
to a successful conclusion. Accordingly I began to look

Ptolemy Collection
3
round for a patron who would be willing to co-operate
with me, not only by purchasing the Collection as it stood,
but who would also undertake to keep it intact and add to it
when opportunity offered. Mr. Edward E. Ayer of Chicago
happening to be in London about this time, the matter was
mentioned to him, and very speedily the business was
concluded to our mutual satisfaction, especially so to mine,
for he at once very cordially fell in with my desire to per-
petuate the Henry Stevens Collection and to add to it.
Since it was transferred to him in 1898, Mr. Ayer has nobly
redeemed his promises, with the result that fourteen most
valuable editions or variations have been added, bringing
the total number of volumes up to sixty. At the present
time only one or two editions of importance are still wanting.

E
Uery volume contains a specially
designed Memorial Bookplate, each one
recording briefly the salient points of the
particular edition to which it appertains.
The border of this Bookplate, in the
Holbein style, was copied and adapted
from one of the map borders of the Basle Edition of 1540.
In the preparation of the short abstracts on each Bookplate,
free use has been made of Mr. Wilberforce Eames's biblio-
graphy of Ptolemy's Geography,' and I have great pleasure
in taking this opportunity of expressing my obligation to
him and tendering my thanks. The reader is cordially
referred to Mr. Eames's valuable work for the further
details of each edition, which the limited capacity of the
Bookplates and the following Essay necessarily excluded.
A reproduction of the first Bookplate is appended hereto
1 Eames (Wilberforce) A List of the Editions of Ptolemy's Geography,
1475-1730, New York, 1886, also included in Sabin's Dictionary.
4
The Henry Stevens Ptolemy Collection
as a specimen, followed by the descriptive text as it appeared
in similar style on the remainder. This, it is hoped, will
form a handy chronological reference list to the various
editions of Ptolemy's geography. From this list it will be
seen how marvellously full the Collection is, and it is to be
hoped the very few remaining "desiderata" may yet be
acquired.
be following Essay traces briefly in
narrative form the origin and history of the
various editions of Ptolemy's Geography,
dividing them into sections or groups and
particularising the most important. It
amplifies the information given on the
Bookplates, and shows how the maps gradually increased
in number from twenty-seven to sixty-nine. It is to be
understood that all the editions hereinafter referred to are
represented in the Collection unless otherwise stated. Of
special interest will be found the new information relating
to recently discovered variations in the map of the world,
and in the text of the Ulm Edition of 1482.


IVCEM EPO

TE
N
"
PTOLEMY'S GEOGRAPHY

ET us go back for a moment and survey
the little old world as it appeared about
the middle of the fifteenth century. Ac-
cording to Ptolemy, the best recognized
authority, whose geography had stood the
hundred years, the then known world
was a strip of some seventy degrees wide, mostly north
of the equator, with Cadiz on the west, and farthest India
or Cathay on the east, lying between the frozen and
burning zones, both impassable by man."
test of thirteen
HENRY STEVENS, in Historical and
Geographical Notes, 1869.
?


&

PTOLEMY'S GEOGRAPHY

Rior to the year 1475, when the
first printed edition with a definite date
appeared at Vicenza (without maps), the
geography of Ptolemy in manuscript
form had for centuries been regarded as
the standard work on the subject of
geography in general. Several of these
early manuscripts of almost priceless value are still pre-
served, and some of them, or others of a similar nature, no
doubt formed the bases for the maps found in the earliest
printed editions. Professor Joseph Fischer, in a recent
work,¹ gives a long and interesting account of a number
of these manuscripts, to which the reader is referred. No
sooner had the idea been conceived of printing Ptolemy's
text with maps, than four separate and distinct editions
appeared almost simultaneously, three in Italy and one in
Germany. These four sets of maps comprise four dis-
tinct types, differing not only in number but in design,
1
Fischer (Joseph), The Discoveries of the Norsemen in America with
special relation to their early cartographical representation. London. Henry
Stevens, Son & Stiles. 1903. Roy. 8vo, xxiv + 132 pp. + 10 facsimiles
of old maps.
8
Ptolemy's Geography
projection and the character of the engraving. They are
found in the Rome edition of 1478 (27 maps); in the met-
rical version of Berlinghieri, first issued at Florence about
1480 (31); in the Bologna edition of 14621 [supposed
error for 1472 or 1482](26); and in the Ulm issue of 1482
(32). In the first three of these the maps are engraved on
copper plates, and authorities disagree greatly in their
opinions as to their respective priority, owing to the differ-
ing character of the engraving and the great uncertainty of
the dates of issue of the Florence and Bologna editions.

W
Hichever of these three editions may
be the earliest, suffice it to say that all the
maps, except the modern ones in Berlin-
ghieri, were doubtless derived or redrawn
from manuscripts then extant, examples
of which still survive.2 These manuscripts
probably in their turn were derived from one common
prototype lost in antiquity. The maps in the Ulm edition
of 1482 are again quite distinct in character, and are en-
graved on wood instead of on copper. In the case of this
Ulm edition it is fortunately possible to identify almost
positively the actual manuscript from which it was derived,
as described later. These four issues then may be stated
to form the printed prototypes of the ancient maps in most
of the later printed editions, for as the printed versions
came more and more into general use, the old manuscripts
dropped more and more into disuse. Each of these four
editions had been prepared by different editors (as de-
tailed in the appended list), and no doubt tended largely
3
¹ This edition has yet to be secured for the Collection.
2 Cf. Fischer, op. cit.
3 Vide page 30.
Ptolemy's Geography
9
to sow the seeds of future geographical research. The
demand for knowledge of the progress of modern geogra-
phical discovery became so great that during the next 250
years Ptolemy's Geography, in its constantly improved
form, still continued to be the standard work on the sub-
ject, so much so that upwards of fifty more editions or
collateral works appeared before 1730. To gather these
all in one chronological sequence has been our aim in
forming the Henry Stevens Collection.

Lmost every succeeding edition was
re-edited, improved and expanded by new
text, annotations and commentaries by the
most prominent geographical savants of
their times, and of various nationalities.
The old maps were continually redrawn
to suit the shape and size of the new editions, and new
maps were added from time to time as the progress of
modern discovery and knowledge rendered necessary.
It is interesting to trace rapidly the effect of the four
printed prototypes already referred to. But these four must
first be subdivided into two important groups-one in
which were included only the ancient maps as found in the
old manuscripts, and the other in which some attempts
were made to show the advance of modern geographical
knowledge by the addition of modern maps. In the former
of these two groups we have the editions of Bologna, 1462
[1472 or 1482?], and Rome, 1478, while in the latter we
have Berlinghieri's metrical version [c. 1480], and the Ulm
issue of 1482. To the Ulm volume has usually been as-
signed the merit of being the first edition in which an
attempt had been made to bring Ptolemy up to date by the
introduction of modern maps, but that honour undoubtedly
C
ΙΟ
Ptolemy's Geography
of
belongs to Berlinghieri's work,' where we find new maps.
Italia, Hispania, Gallia and Palestina. It is also noteworthy
as the only edition in which the old Ptolemeian maps are
reproduced on the original projection with rectangular and
equidistant meridians or parallels as used in the earliest
manuscript maps. In the editions of Rome, Bologna and
Ulm, the maps are all redrawn on new projections with
slanting or curved meridians and parallels.
D follow exactly the derivatives from
the maps in the Berlinghieri and Bologna
editions is somewhat difficult, but doubt-
less they exercised some effect on later
issues. But the influence of the maps of
Rome 1478, and Ulm 1482, is clear and
distinct, and each of these editions was the parent of many
subsequent ones. The Ulm edition of 1482 shows con-
siderable advance on Berlinghieri's, for it contains five new
maps instead of the four mentioned above. The new addi-
tion is a most important map of Northern Europe show-
ing Greenland, which fact Scandinavian geographers make
much of as proving that the new world was known long
before the discoveries of Columbus. The Ulm map of the
world is also most noteworthy, for it is the first in which
any attempt is made to depart from the old Ptolemeian re-
presentation by showing modern discoveries. This map is
further remarkable from the fact that it is the first to bear
an inscription denoting the engraver's name, "Insculptum
est per Johanně Schnitzer de Armszheim." Even this has
led to differences of opinion, for some authorities regard
Schnitzer as a surname, while others more properly regard
¹ Cf. Nordenskiöld (A.E.). Facsimile Atlas. Stockholm. 1889. Folio.
Pp. 12-14.

Ptolemy's Geography
I I
it as the trade description of John of Armszheim. Re-
specting an earlier state of this map without the engraver's
name I have something further to say, and revert to it
later¹ in describing more particularly the two different
copies of the book in this Collection. The maps in this
Ulm edition were the work of the editor Donnus Nicolaus
Germanus, who is often erroneously cited as "Donis.'
2
In 1486 there appeared the second edition of Ulm, re-
printed there with the same thirty-two maps, but with
the addition of a Registrum and a new treatise De Locis,
usually ascribed to the original editor Donnus Nicolaus
Germanus. Fischer, however, points out that the Registrum
was certainly the work of Iohann Reger, whose name ap-
pears in the Colophon, and he holds it possible that Reger
was also the author of the treatise De Locis as well, but in
any case Donnus Nicolaus Germanus was not.3
It is said by most authorities that both the index and
treatise had already been added (in a different and earlier
impression than that of 1486) to some copies of the 1482
edition, but I have not as yet succeeded in finding a copy
containing them.
Dllowing in chronological sequence
we next have the second Rome edition,
reprinted there in 1490, with the addi-
tion of the index and treatise, copied
from the Ulm edition of 1486. The
maps, which comprise only the twenty-
seven ancient ones, are reprinted with-
out alteration from the same copperplates as used in 1478.
In 1507 appeared the third Rome edition revised and re-
2 Cf. Fischer, op. cit., p. 72, etc.

¹ Vide pp. 28-29.
3 Fischer, op. cit., pp. 77-78.
12
Ptolemy's Geography
edited. The twenty-seven old maps re-appear, again printed
from the old plates, but six new modern maps are now
added, viz., Northern Europe, Spain, France, Poland etc.,
Italy, and the Holy Land. In 1508 the remaining stock of
the edition of 1507 was re-issued at Rome with a new
title-page, and with the addition of a treatise by Beneven-
tanus, in which the New World is first described in any
edition of Ptolemy's Geography. This re-issue of 1508
also contained the famous new map of the world by Johann
Ruysch which, until the recent discovery in 1901 of the
large Waldseemüller map of 1 507,¹ was considered to be the
earliest printed map showing any part of the New World.
Now it can only be described as the first
map in any edi-
tion of Ptolemy's Geography showing the New World.
Our book-plate for the edition of Rome, 1508, having been
printed prior to the discovery of the Waldseemüller map,
requires modification to this extent.

Dme authorities hold that Ruysch's
map was issued in some copies of the
edition of 1507, in fact the copy in this
Collection contains it. But it is now gener-
ally supposed that the map was not really
issued till 1508, but that parties who had
already purchased the edition of 1507 obtained copies sub-
sequently for insertion in their books. Two states of this
map are known, one with and one without the words.
Plisacvs Sinus off the eastern coast of Asia; but authorities
differ as to which is the earlier. Both the copies in this
collection contain the words. Personally, I am inclined to
1
¹ Cf. The oldest map with the name America of the year 1507, etc.
Edited by Prof. Jos. Fischer, S.J., and Prof. Fr. R. v. Wieser. London.
Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles. 1903. Folio.
Ptolemy's Geography
13
think the state with the words is the earlier, on account
of the curious hatching on the plate which does not contain
them. One would expect to find just such an appearance
if the words had been hammered out on the copper plate
and the resulting blank space roughly shaded over.
2 1511 appeared the first Uenice
edition, edited by Bernardus Sylvanus.
The twenty-seven ancient maps were re-
engraved in quite a new guise, and printed
in red and black. A new map of the
world drawn on a heart-shaped projection
was added, and this, until the recent discovery of the
Waldseemüller map of 1507, was considered to be the first
printed map to contain the delineation of any part of the
Northern Continent of the New World. This statement
must now be qualified as applying only to any edition of
Ptolemy's Geography, and our bookplate for this edition
requires modification accordingly. As far as known no
further editions were issued in Italy until an entirely new
series was commenced in 1548.


Lthough not actually an edition of
Ptolemy's Geography, there appeared
at Cracow in 1512 a little geographical
treatise by Ioannes de Stobnicza en-
titled Introductio in Claudii Ptholomei
cosmographiam which has always created
the greatest interest to modern geogra-
phers by reason of the curious map of the world which it
contains. The book is an excessively rare one, and has
so far eluded our search for this Collection. Of the map it
is believed only two copies are known, one at Vienna and
14
Ptolemy's Geography
the other at Munich. Until the recent discovery of the
Waldseemüller map of 1507, this Stobnicza map was held
to be the earliest in print in which the North and South
Continents of the New World were joined. It has always
been a puzzle to geographers as to the source from whence
Stobnicza derived his ideas, and great credit has been given
to him, not only for his portrayal of the New World at
that early date, but also for his supposed new method of
projection in two hemispheres. We now know that the
Polish savant made merely an almost exact copy of the
two inset hemispheres at the top of the large Waldsee-
müller map
of 1507.¹ It is not quite certain when
Stobnicza's work was first published, as copies seem to
vary, but it was certainly reprinted in 1519, a copy of which
edition is in this collection. It is uncertain whether the
map was re-issued with this second edition, at all events
no known copy of the book contains it. A facsimile of
the map as found in the 1512 edition has however been
added to the copy of the 1519 edition in this Collection for
the purpose of reference and comparison.
2
Ert we come to the Strasburg
edition of 1513, which is generally con-
sidered to be the most important of all,
by reason of the twenty modern maps
which it contains. The true history of
this most interesting edition has yet to
be written. Suffice it to say here that
probably no other early geographical work has led to so
¹ Cf. The Waldseemüller map facsimiles, also the facsimile of the
Stobnicza map in Nordenskiöld's Facsimile Atlas, Plate XXXIV.
2 G. Winsor, A Bibliography of Ptolemy's Geography, 1884, p. 10, and
Nordenskiöld's Facsimile Atlas, p. 68, etc.

Ptolemy's Geography
15
much discussion, and to so many differences of opinion
amongst modern geographical writers. Most of these
opinions can be traced to the curiously different deductions
drawn from certain passages in the book, each authority
having translated them differently to suit the various
theories he was desirous of proving.
But on one point all writers seem agreed, and that is
that this edition was actually projected and commenced by
Martin Waldseemüller and his confrères at St. Dié as early
as 1505. Many authorities say that some of the maps
were actually engraved at that period. In support of these
contentions it may be mentioned that some few years ago
I discovered a map of the world¹ which was evidently an
earlier impression than the one found in the 1513 Strasburg
Ptolemy. This map I believe was prepared by Waldsee-
müller at St. Dié prior to 1507 for the then projected
edition of Ptolemy, and it is doubtless the earliest printed
map not only to show the New World discoveries, but also
to bear the name America. When Professor Fischer's dis-
covery in 1901 of the large Waldseemüller map of 1507
was first announced, my friend Mr. Basil H. Soulsby,
Superintendent of the Map Room, British Museum, im-
mediately set forth my theories in an article in the "Geo-
graphical Journal" for February, 1902, to which the reader
is referred. Since the publication of the Waldseemüller
facsimiles I have devoted much time to a re-study of the
whole matter by the light of the newly discovered map,
but see no reason for altering my opinion that my map is
earlier than the large map of 1 507, and consequently is the
earliest printed map yet discovered which shows and names
America. I can only hope that I may in time find sufficient
leisure from business to enable me to complete and pub-
1 Now in the John Carter Brown Library, Providence.
16
Ptolemy's Geography
lish my essay on this most important subject. Whether I
be right or wrong I can promise a mass of new information
of a most interesting nature.

Everting to the Strasburg Ptole-
its importance is readily to
my
of 1513,
be observed. The work is divided into
two parts, the first being confined to the
text of Ptolemy with the twenty-seven
ancient maps re-drawn and re-engraved
on wood somewhat after the style of
the Ulm maps of 1482 and 1486; while the second part
includes the twenty modern maps specially prepared for
this edition. The modern maps include the Tabula Terre
Nove, one of the earliest maps devoted specially to the
New World.
In 1520 appeared the second Strasburg edition, contain-
ing the same forty-seven maps printed from the same
woodblocks, but several omissions are made in the text.
The third Strasburg edition, somewhat smaller in size,
was published in 1522, re-edited by Laurentius Fries, with
some additions to the text. The maps were entirely re-
drawn and re-engraved on wood on a reduced scale (except
Asia V), and three new ones added, bringing the total up to
fifty. The map of the world is noteworthy as being the
first in any edition of Ptolemy's Geography to bear the
name AMERICA.
In 1525 the fourth and last Strasburg edition was issued,
newly translated and re-edited. The fifty maps are from
the same blocks as in the 1522 edition except that Asia V
has now been re-engraved the same size as the others.
Although no more editions were published at Strasburg,
the woodblocks of the fifty maps were transferred to Lyons
Ptolemy's Geography
17
and used again in 1535 in the first edition edited by
Michael Villanovanus, better known as Servetus. The map
blocks were again used in 1541 in the second Servetus
edition printed at Vienne in Dauphiné, by Gaspar Trechsel.

Eantime, during the currency of the
Strasburg-Lyons-Vienne editions (1513-
1541), several versions of Ptolemy's
text without maps had appeared. In
1514 Joannes Stuchs printed at Nurem-
berg a new Latin translation by Joannes
Werner, with the addition of several
geographical treatises by modern writers. In 1533 the
Greek text was published for the first time, having been
printed by Hieronymus Froben at Basle in a handsome
quarto volume. This Greek text was newly translated into
Latin by Joannes Noviomagus, and printed in 8vo form
at Cologne in 1540 by Ioannes Ruremundanus.

W
Ith the year 1540 an entirely fresh
series of maps was inaugurated by the
appearance at Basle of a new and important
edition, re-edited by the celebrated geo-
grapher Sebastian Münster, and printed
by the famous printer Henricus Petri.
The maps, forty-eight in number, were entirely redrawn
and re-engraved, and comprise the twenty-seven ancient
ones according to Ptolemy, and twenty-one new ones in
which the modern discoveries are more correctly laid down
than in any of the preceding editions. These maps were
probably engraved on wood, but the letterings are appa-
rently printed from metal type.
A second Basle edition appeared in 1542 from the same
D
18
Ptolemy's Geography
press, reprinted without alteration. A third edition was
issued by the same printer in 1545 with the addition of
six new maps, raising the total to fifty-four. Münster's
work was evidently very popular, for a fourth edition be-
came necessary in 1552. This was also printed by Petri
at Basle, with the same fifty-four maps as in the third issue,
but with some additions to the text.
Münster died in 1552 and it is somewhat remarkable
to find, after a lapse of nearly twenty years, that twenty-
four of the maps which he had prepared to illustrate
Ptolemy's Geography, were printed again from the old
blocks to illustrate a Latin edition of Strabo's Geography,
published by Petri at Basle in 1571. The famous Greek
geographer Strabo flourished a century or more before
Ptolemy, and a copy of this 1571 edition of his work has
been added to this Collection, not only to show the use
made of Münster's Ptolemy maps in illustrating that work,
but also to afford an opportunity of comparing the texts
of Strabo and Ptolemy.

B
Etween the third and fourth editions
of Münster (1545 and 1552) Ptolemy's
text had been translated into Italian and
published for the first time in that lan-
guage¹ at Venice in 1548 in a thick small
8vo volume. The maps, sixty in number,
comprise twenty-six ancient, and thirty-four modern ones,
all elegantly engraved on copper in an entirely new style.
They were designed by Jacopo Gastaldo, and are based for
the most part on the maps of Münster, but with consider-
able additions. This edition does not seem to have been
1
Berlinghieri's work of 1480 (?) did not contain the actual text of
Ptolemy.
Ptolemy's Geography
19
reprinted, probably the size was found to be too small for
practical purposes.
New and important Italian edition,
edited by Girolamo Ruscelli, was pub-
lished by Valgrisi at Venice in 4to form
in 1561. The maps, based for the most
part on those of Gastaldo of 1548, were

A
redrawn and re-engraved on copper on a
larger scale, and the number increased to sixty-four, of
which twenty-seven were ancient and thirty-seven modern.
The second edition of Ruscelli, in Italian, was published by
Giordano Ziletti in 1564. It is an edition of considerable
rarity, in fact Nordenskiöld confesses to not having seen
it.¹ It contains the same sixty-four maps as in the edition
of 1561. A third Italian edition of Ruscelli's version, re-
vised and corrected, was issued by Ziletti at Venice in
1574. It includes the same sixty-four maps, with the ad-
dition of a new one of Rome. A fourth Italian edition of
Ruscelli's version, revised, enlarged, and re-edited by
Gioseppe Rosaccio, was published by the heirs of Melchior
Sessa at Venice in 1598-1599. The maps include four en-
tirely new ones, increasing the number to sixty-nine, the
remaining sixty-five being from the same plates as last used
in 1574, but retouched and figures of ships, fishes, etc.,
introduced.

D
Uring the currency of Ruscelli's Italian
editions, 1561-1599, several Latin issues had
appeared. In 1562 there was published by
Valgrisi at Venice a new edition in 4to, revised
by Josephus Moletius. This contained the same sixty-four
1 Facsimile Atlas, p. 26, No. 32.
20
Ptolemy's Geography
copperplate maps which had already been used in Ruscelli's
first Italian edition issued by the same publisher in the
previous year. The unsold stock of this Latin edition of
1562 was reissued at Venice in 1564 by Ziletti, with the
same sixty-four maps, only the first sheet comprising the
title and dedication having been reprinted. This re-issue
is excessively rare, and appears to have escaped the notice
of Eames, but is mentioned by Nordenskiöld,¹ and is
described on our Bookplate.
In 1578 Gerardus Mercator issued at Cologne a folio
volume containing twenty-eight maps to illustrate Ptolemy,
with an index, but Ptolemy's text was not included. These
maps were beautifully engraved on copper, with orna-
mental borders. They were re-issued again in 1584, this
time with Ptolemy's text, the version of Pirckheymer edited
by Arnoldus Mylius, by whom the work was dedicated to
Abraham Ortelius. A new edition in 4to, with new maps,
edited by Giovanni Antonio Magini of Padua, was pub-
lished at Venice in 1596. The maps, sixty-four in number,
were re-engraved by Girolamo Porro on a somewhat smaller
scale than those in the Italian and Latin editions of Rus-
celli and Moletius, 1561-1574. Magini's second edition,
also in 4to, appeared at Cologne in 1597 with the same
sixty-four maps. Some copies of this edition have a colo-
phon Armhemii apud Ioannem Iansonium Bipliopolam on
the verso of the last leaf. Copies of both issues are in the
Collection. A third edition of Magini's work in similar
form was published at Cologne in 1608 with the same
sixty-four maps, and in 1617 a fourth edition was issued,
this time with the imprint of Armhem, re-edited by Gaspar
Ens, also with the same sixty-four maps.
1
Facsimile Atlas, p. 27, No. 33.
Ptolemy's Geography
21

P
Drro's maps had in the meantime
been used in an Italian translation, by
Leonardo Cernoti, of Magini's work,
issued in folio by the Brothers Galignani
at Venice in 1597-8. A second edition
of Cernoti's work, in which the same sixty-
four maps were used for the sixth time was published by
the Galignanis at Venice in 1621, also in folio. Between
these two Italian editions of Cernoti, there was the fourth
Italian edition of Ruscelli of 1599 already mentioned.
There were also the two large folio Latin editions issued
at Amsterdam in 1605 and 1618-19, which require especial
mention. The issue of 1605 was the first to exhibit the
Greek and Latin text together, and it contained the twenty-
eight maps of Mercator which had already been used in
the Cologne edition of 1578 and 1584. In the preface, the
publisher, Hondius, explains that the plates had been pur-
chased from the heirs of Mercator. There are three copies
of this fine edition in the Collection. One bears the im-
print Frankfurt on the title, the second has Amsterdam,
while the third has an additional printed title-page which
appears to be hitherto unrecorded. In 1619 a very im-
portant edition was published by Hondius at Amsterdam
in large folio, the work having been printed by Isaac El-
zevir at Leyden. It contained both the Greek and Latin
texts, and was edited by the celebrated geographer Petrus
Bertius, who had also assisted in the preparation of the
previous edition of 1605. The maps are extended to forty-
seven in number, of which twenty-eight are those of Mer-
cator which had previously been used in the editions of
1578, 1584 and 1605. Of the remainder, fourteen are by
Abraham Ortelius, and had already done duty in various
editions of his Theatrum. With this Amsterdam issue of
22
Ptolemy's Geography
1619, and that of Venice of 162 1, the long series of editions
of Ptolemy's geography, revised and extended as text books
of modern geography, seems to have come to an end.
Afterwards we have only the issues 1695, 1698, 1704 and
1730 of the twenty-eight Mercator maps which applied
solely to Ptolemy's ancient geography. The reason for the
dropping of Ptolemy would seem to be that as the science
of geography, and the knowledge of modern discoveries
became more generally known and studied, modern text-
books came more and more into vogue. Thus on the ashes
of a dead past rose the modern Atlases of Lafreri, Mercator,
Ortelius, De Judaeis, Wytfliet, Blaeu, and many others,
while Ptolemy became only a classic authority on ancient
geography.

F these modern Atlases only that of
Wytfliet comes within the scope of this
Collection, firstly, because he specially
describes his work as a Supplement to
Ptolemy, and secondly, because it is the
first general Atlas of America. The popu-
larity of the work must have been very considerable, for
at least seven editions, in small folio, in Latin or French,
appeared between 1597 and 1615, all of which are in this
Collection. The first edition, which was in Latin, was
printed at Louvain in 1597, and contained nineteen maps,
all relating to America. The work was reprinted or re-
issued at Louvain in 1598, and again at Douay in 1603.
In 1605 it was translated into French and published at
Douay with the addition of a second part relating to the
East Indies, by Giovanni Antonio Magini of Padua and
others. The nineteen maps of America were repeated, and
four new ones of the East Indies added. A second French
Ptolemy's Geography
23
edition was issued at Douay in 1607, with the same twenty-
three maps as in 1605, but with some additional text. The
work was again issued in French at Douay in 1611, with
the same twenty-three maps, but with the text somewhat
differently arranged. In 1615 a new Latin edition was
published at Arnhem by Joannes Jansson, with the original
nineteen maps, but without the additional text and maps
found in the French editions. This issue of 1615 appears
to have been hitherto unrecorded. Both Winsor and
Nordenskiöld¹ refer to an English edition of 1597, but so
far this has escaped my observation.
M

Ention should here be made of a few
other works which have been thought of
sufficient collateral interest to be included
in the Collection. Firstly, there is a fine
copy in contemporary binding of Pom-
ponius Mela's De Situ Orbis, printed at
Vienna in 1518. This volume contains twenty-six manu-
script maps of the same character as those illustrating
Ptolemy's geography at this period. They were probably
copied from an earlier Ptolemy MS., because, although
somewhat similar, they do not agree entirely with the maps
in any printed edition.
Secondly, we have the edition of Strabo, with Munster's
Ptolemy maps as already referred to."
2
Thirdly, the second edition of the famous English work
on Navigation, Thomas Blunderville's Exercises, printed
at London in 1597. This contains "a briefe description of
universal Maps and Cards and of their use, and also the
use of Ptolomey his Tables together with the true order
of making the saide Tables," etc., etc.
1
¹ Winsor, op. cit., p. 38; Nordenskiöld, op. cit., p. 29. 2 Vide p. 18.
24
Ptolemy's Geography
Lastly, we have Abbé Halma's translation of part of
Ptolemy's Greek text into French. The introduction and
the appendices relating to the history and methods of
ancient geography cause this book to be generally con-
sidered the best handbook to the scientific study of Pto-
lemy's Geography.


THE ULM PTOLEMY OF 1482
T now only remains to revert to a
more particular description of the two
copies of the Ulm edition of 1482 in the
Collection, as already briefly referred to
in their chronological sequence.¹ This
edition exhibits many points of great in-
terest to the bibliographer. Authorities agree in mention-
ing the fact that two issues of the book exist, but the details
given are very meagre. In one, the recto of the last or
colophon leaf is printed from a wood block, while in the
other the same page is printed from type. The descriptions
printed on the backs of the maps also exist in two distinct
impressions, and the ornamental borders of these pages,
which are of two distinct patterns, are often changed about
or rearranged.
Several copies of the book, printed on vellum, are known,
and it is believed that all these are exactly alike in the im-
pressions of the map-descriptions, and also in the fact that
the recto of the last leaf is printed from a woodblock. The
copies on vellum also seem to agree exactly with those
printed on paper, which have the woodblock last leaf;
at least that is my experience after comparing seven

¹ Vide ante pp. 8-11.
E
26
Ptolemy's Geography
copies. Judging from the sharper appearance of the orna-
mental borders to the map-descriptions in those copies with
the woodcut end leaf, whether on vellum or paper, as com-
pared with the borders in the issue with the type-printed
end leaf, there can be little doubt that the former are the
first issue.

B
Ut when we come to examine critic-
ally the issue with the end leaf printed
from type, we immediately meet with a
startling bibliographical and typographical
puzzle which, it is believed, is here re-
corded for the first time. Out of twelve
copies of the book personally examined, or of which written
descriptions have been obtained, no two have been found
exactly alike! That is to say, the above mentioned two
separate impressions of the map-descriptions have been
found mixed in various proportions in every copy of the
book (with the type-printed end leaf) which has come under
notice. Twenty-seven of these leaves seem to have been
reprinted, the only one of which no reimpression has been
found being Asia XII. Of the twelve copies of the book
examined, one has as many as nineteen original impressions
and eight reprints, while two others have only four originals
and twenty-three reprints. The average of the twelve copies
is eighteen or nineteen reprints out of the total of twenty-
seven. Curiously enough the two copies containing twenty-
three reprints do not agree, as each contains two not in the
other copy. And amongst the twelve copies whenever the
total number of reprints seems nearly to correspond, they
are by no means the same leaves which constitute that total.
How the sheets of the two impressions came to be mixed
in such an extraordinary manner is a puzzle which has so
Ptolemy's Geography
27
far escaped a reasonable solution. In the twelve copies
examined the total number found of each of the twenty-
seven leaves was widely different, varying from four to
eleven, the average being between eight and nine.
When endeavouring to tabulate the two states of the
twenty-seven leaves, four copies were examined before I
succeeded in securing particulars of them all. Excluding
the two copies in the British Museum included in the four
mentioned above, it would have taken the next seven copies.
examined to have made another perfect set. The whole
twelve copies would only make four perfect sets if actually
broken up for the purpose. I trust at some future time
to publish tabulated descriptions of these curious and so
far inexplicable variations.

He first copy in this Colle&ion is of
the earlier issue with the woodcut end leaf.
The second copy has the type-printed
end leaf, and sixteen original impressions
of the map-descriptions, out of the twenty-
seven. The remaining eleven leaves are
reprints, as may be seen on comparison with the first copy,
viz. Europe I, IV, VI, VII, New Italy, Africa II, III,
Asia I (1st leaf), III, IV, and X. But this curious and
interesting typographical puzzle by no means ends here,
for in searching through the twelve copies to see if two
could be found alike, a third distinct variation of three
leaves was discovered. The first is merely a rearrangment
of the border of Europe I. The second is a distinct re-
impression of Africa II, first found in a copy purchased
a few years ago for the John Carter Brown Library at
Providence, and also found in the second copy in this Collec-
tion. The third is a similarly distinct reimpression of
28
Ptolemy's Geography
Europe VI, so far only found in the second copy in this
Collection.
The type used in the first and second issues is appar-
ently the same throughout, but differently set up, but in
these third impressions of Europe VI, and Africa II, the
type of the capital letters is absolutely different, and may
be described as of a fancy ornamental character in contra-
distinction to the usual plain Roman. The late Mr. Robert
Proctor, the typographical expert at the British Museum,
was greatly interested in this type. He informed me that
it was entirely new to him, and after considerable search
he failed to find it used in any other work. It was his in-
tention to look fully into the matter after that fatal vacation
of 1903, from which, alas, he never returned. He was in-
clined to think that this type might even represent an
earlier impression than the other two varieties. This point
I commend to typographical experts and bibliographers as
well worthy of further investigation.
At all events, the borders of these two pages appear to
be sharper than any appearing in either of the so-called
first and second issues, and this fact points to an earlier
impression.

Wen now the most interesting and
important new variation in regard to this
remarkable book, remains to be announced
and described.
In 1901, in the aforesaid copy purchased
for the John Carter Brown Library, I dis-
covered a map of the world which was entirely different,
and evidently earlier than the usual one found in the work.
In place of the usual straight lettering-scrolls along the tops
or bottoms of the Heads of the Winds, the letterings are en-
Ptolemy's Geography
29
closed in scrolls partly encircling the heads in the form of
halos. The usual engraver's inscription, "Insculptum est
per Ioanne Schnitzer de Armszheim" does not appear, and
the
map does not contain so many names of places as the usual
one. It is evidently from an entirely different and earlier
woodblock. The importance of this map is readily to be per-
ceived, for it is, as far as yet discovered, the earliest printed
map in which an attempt is made to lay down the figure of
the World on modern geographical conceptions beyond the
limits of the old Ptolemeian maps. So far no other specimen
of this valuable map has been found, but it is quite possible,
now that it has been identified, others may be discovered
hiding in copies of the work in out-of-the-way libraries.
Very probably also, other leaves printed in the fancy type
like Europe VI and Africa II may similarly be discovered
now their existence has been pointed out.
I shall be extremely grateful to any person who will com-
municate to me particulars of any other copies of the early
map or of additional leaves in the fancy type. It is my hope
and intention, after further investigation, to publish facsimiles
of the early map and fancy type leaves, together with a
tabulated record of, and the necessary details for identifying,
the variations of the map-descriptions as far as yet found.
Some such table is of course indispensable for identifying
the various states, as it is obviously impossible to get copies
from various libraries together for comparison.
Mr. Eames,' quoting from Hoffmann's Lexicon Biblio-
graphicum, records that a copy of this Ulm Ptolemy of 1482
on vellum is preserved in the Rhediger Library at Breslau,
in which the name of the engraver is omitted from the
map, and also the names of the place and printer from the
colophon. I wrote to the librarian at Breslau to see if this
1
¹ Op. cit.
30
Ptolemy's Geography
indicated another copy of the early map. In a most courteous
reply he informed me that the Rhediger Library was now
incorporated with the University, and that on a close ex-
amination of the map it was found to be merely the ordinary
impression, but that the name of the engraver at the top
had been cut off; further, that the omission in the imprint
was presumably due to an erasure, traces of which were
apparent.

N September, 1903, on the invita-
tion of His Highness Prince Waldburg,
I paid a visit to Wolfegg Castle, in com-
pany with my friends Mr. Soulsby, Super-
intendent of the Map Room in the British
Museum, my partner Mr. Stiles, and the
Rev. Prof. Joseph Fischer of Feldkirch, for the purpose of
seeing the marvellous maps of Waldseemüller of 1507 and
1516, which the lucky hand of the learned Professor had
recently awakened from the slumber of centuries in the old
Castle.1
Amongst the numerous other treasures which the good
and kindly Prince delighted in showing us, was a magni-
ficent illuminated manuscript of Ptolemy's Geography on
vellum, the maps of which the Professor had already identi-
fied as the prototypes of those in the Ulm printed volume
of 1482. He gives a most interesting account of this MS.
in his recent book The Discoveries of the Norsemen.2
If further proof were wanted that this MS. is the veritable
prototype of the Ulm printed editions, it is found in the
fact that the map of the world in the MS. agrees almost
exactly with my early printed map now in the John Carter
1
¹ Vide the facsimiles as already cited on p. 12 note.
2 Norsemen, p. 76 note, etc.
Ptolemy's Geography
31
Brown Library. In both, the Heads of the Winds have the
inscriptions encircling them instead of being in straight
lines.
Prof. Fischer mentions that my printed map contains
more names than in the Wolfegg MS., but the printed
map has numerous insertions in contemporary manuscript
which are almost indistinguishable from print in the small
photograph which was then available. It would be interest-
ing to actually compare the printed map with the Wolfegg
Codex, but unfortunately the former had already gone to
the John Carter Brown Library before my visit to Wolfegg.
Prof. Fischer gives a reduced facsimile of the Wolfegg
MS. map in his book on the Norsemen, Plate V, which,
until the facsimile of my printed map is published, will give
a very good idea of its general characteristics, in contradis-
tinction to the usual printed map found in the Ulm
Ptolemys of 1842 or 1846.¹
From the above brief notes it will readily be realized what
an extremely important work the Ulm Ptolemy of 1482
really is, and what a field for further research it offers to
the student, whether his interests be bibliographical, carto-
graphical, or typographical.
39, GREAT RUSSELL STREET,
1
LONDON, W.C.
20 October, 1908.
HENRY N. STEVENS.
Vide facsimile in Nordenskiöld's Facsimile Atlas, Plate XXIX.

EPILOGUE

M_conclusion it is very gratifying to
learn from Mr. Ayer, while this Essay has
been in the Press, that when in the fullness
of time the Collection must necessarily pass
into other hands, he has already arranged
for it to be preserved intact, by transferring
it to the Newberry Library at Chicago. But let us hope
he may long be spared to enjoy the personal pos-
session of this grand set of books, which
in the distant future, as the
STEVENS-AYER PTOLEMY COLLECTION,
may well form a lasting memorial to
HENRY STEVENS OF VERMONT
who conceived the idea, and to
EDWARD EVERETT AYER OF CHICAGO,
by whose generous patronage it has been
brought to a successful
completion.

PTOLEMY'S GEOGRAPHY
A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
OF THE EDITIONS
REPRESENTED
IN THE
STEVENS-AYER COLLECTION
WITH BRIEF DESCRIPTIVE NOTES
REPRINTED
FROM THE BOOKPLATES

LI
F

AEVROPA
ASIA
AFRICA

CL.PT.
CLAVDIVS
2nd
century
PTOLEMÆVS
THE HENRY STEVENS
Ptolemy Collection
Begun in 1848 and since his death in 1886
continued by his son Henry Newton
Stevens until acquired in 1898 by
EDWARD E. AYER
ISI
b.1819
d.1886
མ
IBLIOGRAPHY-
This book was printed at VICENZA in 1475
by Hermanus Levilapis, i.e. Herman
Lichtenstein of Cologne
No Maps
The text of this the first printed edition had already
been translated into Latin from the original Greek by
Jacobus Angelus of Scarparia about 1409, and dedi-
cated to Pope Alexander V. It was edited for the Press
by Angelus Vadius and Barnabas Picardus of Vicenza
Bound by
W.PRATT
ས་་་།
EAS
A FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST BOOKPLATE

NOTA BENE

N THE STEVENS-AYER COLLECTION EACH
OF THE FOLLOWING NOTES APPEARED
ON A SEPARATE BOOKPLATE IN THE STYLE
OF THE FOREGOING SPECIMEN. THE TITLES
AND COLLATIONS WERE NOT GIVEN FOR
THE OBVIOUS REASON THAT THEY COULD BE SEEN IN
THE BOOKS THEMSELVES. FOR FULL TITLES AND COL-
LATIONS, WITH FULLER DESCRIPTIONS THAN SPACE
PERMITTED TO BE GIVEN ON THE BOOKPLATES, THE
READER IS REFERRED TO THE BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF
EAMES, NORDENSKIÖLD AND WINSOR ALREADY CITED
(Vide Notes on pp. 3, 10 and 14 ante).


A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE
PRINTED EDITIONS OF
PTOLEMY'S GEOGRAPHY
1475-1730
ALL IN LATIN UNLESS OTHERWISE DESCRIBED
[1475 folio]
Printed at VICENZA in 1475 by Hermanus Levilapis,
i.e., Herman Lichtenstein of Cologne
&
No Maps

HE text of this, the first printed edition, had
already been translated into Latin from the
original Greek by Jacobus Angelus of Scarparia,
about 1409, and dedicated to Pope Alexander V. It was
edited for the Press by Angelus Vadius and
Bernardus Picardus of Vicenza.
38
A Chronological List of the Printed
[1478 folio]
Printed at ROME in 1478 by Arnoldus Buckinck
27 Copperplate Maps

L
All
HE translation of Jacobus Angelus, edited, with
the emendations of Georgius Gemistus, by Domi-
tius Calderinus of Verona. The first edition with
maps. An account of the origin and progress of this edition
is given in the Preface. The maps are generally supposed
to be the first examples of copperplate engraving for books.
This volume is the only known work bearing
the imprint of Buckinck.
203
[c. 1480 folio]
Believed to have been printed at FIRENZE
(Florence) by Nicolo Todescho
about 1480
31 Copperplate Maps on 60 leaves
[In Italian]
HE excessively rare first issue of Francesco.
Berlinghieri's metrical paraphrase of Ptole-
my's Geography, having the recto of the first
leaf and the entire last leaf blank. A later issue
has a Register with an undated colophon of Nicolo Todescho
printed on the recto of the last leaf, blank in this first edition;
whilst a considerably later re-issue has the further addition
of a new title-page in red ink printed on the recto of the
front leaf previously blank. A copy of this third issue is
also in the Collection. Some authorities think the first
edition may have been published as early as 1477, in which

Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
39
case the maps may be earlier than those of the Rome edition
of 1478, from which they are quite distinct in character and
inferior in the quality of the engraving.
[c. 1480 (re-issued c. 1500) folio]
Printed at FIRENZE (Florence) by Nicolo Todescho
about 1480, and re-issued, probably after 1500,
with a title-page
31 Copperplate Maps on 60 leaves
[In Italian]
RE-ISSUE of Francesco Berlinghieri's me-
trical paraphrase of Ptolemy's Geography first
published about 1480, a copy of which is in
the Collection. In the original edition the
recto of the first leaf and the entire last leaf were blank,
This re-issue contains a title-page in red ink printed on
the recto of the original first leaf, and a Register and
Todescho's Colophon on the recto of the last leaf. Accord-
ing to the Register the first leaf should be blank (“ Prima
Alba"), from which it would appear that at an intermediate
period copies were issued with the Register before the title-
page was finally added. Todescho is believed to have
printed between 1477 and 1486, so that the Register was
presumably added before the latter date. But the title-page
was probably not added till after 1500, as the type is un-
questionably more modern in character than that of the
rest of the book. The text and the Maps are the
same as the original issue.

40
A Chronological List of the Printed
[1482 (first issue?) folio]
Printed at ULM in 1482 by Leonardus Hol
32 Woodcut Maps
HE translation of Jacobus Angelus, edited by
Donnus Nicolaus Germanus, who also re-
drew, corrected and improved the Maps and
added 5 new modern ones, of which one con-
tains the first printed representation of Greenland. This
book exhibits many points of interest to the bibliographer.
The recto of the last leaf is in some copies (like this)
printed from a wood-block, while in others (like the second
copy in the Collection) it is printed from type. All the
descriptions printed on the backs of the maps exist in two
(and in some cases three) distinct impressions. In all copies
with the woodcut end leaf the map descriptions are of the
same impression, presumably the first; but in those copies
with the printed end leaf, the impressions are unaccount-
ably mixed in various proportions as more particularly
noted on the Book-Plate to the other copy
in this Collection.

GENE
[1482 (second issue?) folio]
Printed at ULM in 1482 by Leonardus Hol
32 Woodcut Maps
HE translation of Jacobus Angelus edited by
Donnus Nicolaus Germanus, who also re-
drew, corrected, and improved the Maps,
and added 5 new modern ones, of which one
contains the first printed representation of Greenland. In
this issue the recto of last leaf is printed from type, whereas

Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
4I
in the first copy in the Collection it is printed from a wood-
block. All the descriptions on the backs of the Maps exist
in two (and in some cases three) distinct impressions. In
copies with the woodcut end leaf the descriptions appear to
be of the first issue and all copies are believed to be alike;
but in this second issue the various impressions are un-
accountably mixed in various proportions. In this copy
eleven leaves will be found to differ from the first issue.
The leaves Europe VI and Africa II are of a third variety,
and so far no other copy of Europe VI has been observed
and only one other copy of Africa II.
[BOLOGNA 1462 (1482?) folio]
[N.B.-This edition not being represented in the Col-
lection, the reader is referred to the description given by
Mr. Eames (vide ante, p. 3, note).]
джово
[1486 folio]
Printed at ULM in 1486 for Justus de Albano de
Venetiis by Johann Reger
32 Woodcut Maps

HE translation of Jacobus Angelus, edited by
Nicolaus Donis. The second edition of Donis,
with the addition of an Index in 42 leaves and
a new treatise "De Locis" in 24 leaves. The maps are
from the same blocks as the first Donis edition of 1482.
[N.B. Since this Note was prepared for the Bookplate, Prof. Fischer
has shown that "Donis" has for centuries been an erroneous citation
of Donnus Nicolaus Germanus. (Cf. p. 11, ante, and
Fischer Norsemen, p. 72, etc.)]
G
42
A Chronological List of the Printed

[1490 folio]
Printed at ROME in 1490 by Petrus de Turre
27 Copperplate Maps
HE translation of Jacobus Angelus, accompanied by
the Index and Treatise of Nicolaus Donis (see Ulm,
1486). The second Rome edition. The maps are from the
same plates as those in the edition of 1478.
[N.B.-As to "Donis," see Note to 1486.]
[1507 folio]
Printed at ROME in 1507
by Bernardinus Venetus de Vitalibus
33 Copperplate Maps (and the Ruysch Map)
NEW edition of the translation of Jacobus
Angelus, revised and edited by Marcus Bene-
ventanus and Joannes Cota of Verona. The
27 maps from the editions of 1478 and
1490 are repeated and 6 new modern maps added. This
copy has the advantage of being one of those occasionally
found, in which is inserted an impression of the famous
Ruysch map, which is believed not to have been really
issued till 1508. (See 1508.) It is the second
map in this book.

Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
43

[1508 folio]
S
Printed at ROME in 1508
by Bernardinus Venetus de Vitalibus
34 Copperplate Maps

RE-ISSUE of the edition of 1507, with a
new title-page and the addition of Beneven-
tanus's description of the New World in 14
leaves, and the new Map of the World by
Johann Ruysch. This is the first edition containing any
account of the New World, and Ruysch's map is (as far as
has yet been definitely ascertained) the first printed map
delineating any part of the New World. It is the second
map in the book.
[N.B.-Since this Note was prepared for the Bookplate, the Waldsee-
müller Map of 1507 has been discovered (vide ante, p. 12, note).
Ruysch's Map can, therefore, now only be described as the first
in any edition of Ptolemy's Geography to delineate
any part of the New World.]
[1511 folio]
Printed at VENICE in 1511
by Jacobus Pentius de Leucho
28 Woodcut Maps

HE version of Jacobus Angelus edited and
remodelled by Bernardus Sylvanus of Eboli.
The maps are entirely fresh wood-blocks,
with the letterings type-printed in red and
black. The edition is principally esteemed for the New
44
A Chronological List of the Printed
World Map (the last in the book), drawn on a heart-shaped
projection, which contains the first printed delineation of
any part of the North American continent.
[N.B.—For reasons given in footnote to 1508, the words "in
any edition of Ptolemy's Geography" must now
be added to the above.]
[1512 4to]
[Stobnicza's Introduction to "Ptolemy's Geography,"
First Edition printed at Cracow in 1512. No copy in the
Collection. Vide 1519 for second edition.
Cf. ante, pp. 13-14.]
[1513 folio]
Printed at STRASSBURG in 1513 by Joannes Schott
47 Woodcut Maps

P
ERHAPS the most important of all the
editions. It was commenced by the famous
St. Dié geographer, Martin Waldseemüller,
possibly as early as 1505, and, after much
delay, finally edited and published by Jacobus Eszler and
Georgius Ubelin of Strassburg in 1513. The maps are all
from fresh wood-blocks, and 20 new modern maps in a
Supplement here first appear. These include a modern
Map of the World, "Orbis Typus universalis," and the
“Tabula Terre Nove," the latter being one of the earliest
maps devoted specially to the New World.
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
45

[1514 folio]
Printed at NUREMBERG in 1514 by Joannes Stuchs
No Maps
NEW translation by Joannes Werner, with para-
phrases and annotations, and with the addition of
other geographical treatises by Werner, Georgius Amirutzes
and Regiomontanus.
педа
[1518 folio]
Printed at VIENNA in 1518 by Joannes Singrenius
for the famous publisher Lucas Alantsius
26 Maps added in Manuscript
FINE copy in contemporary binding of the
"Libri de situ orbis tres" of Pomponius
Mela, edited with annotations by Joachim.
Vadianus. This volume is included in the
Ptolemy Collection because it contains at the end 26 maps
in manuscript of the same character as those illustrating
Ptolemy's Geography at this period. They have probably
been copied from an earlier Ptolemy MS., because, although
very similar, they do not agree entirely with any printed.
edition. They comprise the usual 10 maps of Europe,
4 of Africa, and 12 of Asia, but the map of the
World is not included.

46
A Chronological List of the Printed

[1519 4to]
Printed at CRACOW in 1519 by Hieronymus Vietor
Woodcut Map in two sheets (in facsimile)
HE second edition of Joannes de Stobnicza's
Introduction to Ptolemy's Geography, etc.
The first edition was printed at Cracow in
1512, and was accompanied by a map of the
world in two sheets. This map has always created great
interest because, until the discovery in 1901 of the original
Waldseemüller map of 1507, it was the earliest known in
which the North and South American continents were
joined. The Stobnicza map turns out to be a slavish copy
of Waldseemüller's (cf. the Waldseemüller map facsimiles).
It is doubtful whether the map was reissued with this
second edition of Stobnicza's text, as no known copy
contains it; but the facsimiles here added will
enhance the interest of this volume.
[Cf. ante, pp. 13-14.]

[1520 folio]
Printed at STRASSBURG in 1520 by Joannes Schott
47 Woodcut Maps
ECOND Strassburg edition, edited by Georgius
Ubelin, one of the editors of the 1513 edition, of
which this is mainly a reprint with certain omissions.
مد الله
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
47

[1522 folio]
Printed at STRASSBURG in 1 522 by Joannes Grüninger
50 Woodcut Maps
HE third Strassburg edition, edited by Laurentius
Fries or Phrisius. The maps are re-engraved on a
smaller scale, and three new ones added. The last is re-
markable as the first map bearing the name "America”
that appeared in Ptolemy's work.
[1525 folio]
Printed at STRASSBURG in 1 525 by Joannes Grüninger
50 Woodcut Maps
HE fourth Strassburg edition, re-translated by Bili-
bald Pirckeymher, with the annotations of Regio-
montanus, and said to have been edited by Johann Huttich.
The maps are the same as those in the 1522 edition.
Sunf
[1533 4to]
Printed at BASLE in 1533 by Hieronymus Froben
No Maps
HE first edition of the Greek Text of Ptolemy's
"Geography."
48
A Chronological List of the Printed

ZERGMONDE
[1535 folio]
Printed at LYONS in 1535
by Melchior and Gaspar Trechsel
50 Woodcut Maps
DITED by Michael Villanovanus, better known
as Servetus. The woodcut borders and orna-
ments are said to be the work of Hans Holbein
and Graf of Basle. Many copies of the book are said to
have been burned by the order of Calvin at the time of
the execution of its editor Servetus in 1553. The maps
are the same as in the editions of 1522 and 1525.

[1540 folio]
Printed at BASLE in 1540 by Henricus Petri
48 Woodcut Maps
NEW and important edition, revised and edited
by Sebastian Munster, who designed the maps anew
and added a geographical appendix.
[1540 sm. 8vo]
Printed at COLOGNE in 1540
by Joannes Ruremundanus
No Maps
NEW Latin translation from the Greek text, by
Joannes Noviomagus (Johann Bronchorst).
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
49

[1541 folio]
Printed at VIENNE in Dauphiné in 1541
by Gaspar Trechsel
50 Woodcut Maps
HE second edition, edited by Villanovanus (Servetus),
newly revised and corrected. The maps are from
the same blocks as the editions of 1522,
1525 and 1535.
gh
[1542 folio]
Printed at BASLE in 1542 by Henricus Petri
48 Woodcut Maps
HE second edition of Sebastian Münster, reprinted
from the edition of 1540 without alteration or
addition. The maps are from the same blocks, but the
descriptions have been reset and the borders.
changed about.
[1545 folio]
Printed at BASLE in 1545 by Henricus Petri
54 Woodcut Maps
HE third edition of Sebastian Münster, with 6 new
maps added. The remaining 48 maps are from the
same blocks as the editions of 1540 and 1542, but
with the descriptive text reset, and the
borders changed about.
H
50
A Chronological List of the Printed

[1548 sm. 8vo]
Printed at VENICE in 1548 by Nicolo Bascarini
60 Copperplate Maps
HE first edition in Italian. Translated by Pietro
Andrea Mattioli of Siena. The maps designed by
Jacopo Gastaldo, mostly after those of Münster, but with
many important additions.
[1552 folio]
Printed at BASLE in 1552 by Henricus Petri
54 Woodcut Maps
HE fourth edition of Sebastian Münster, with an
additional treatise and enlarged indexes. The maps
are from the same blocks as the edition of 1545 with some
of the letterings and descriptive text altered.
[1561 4to]
Printed at VENICE in 1561 by Vincenzo Valgrisi
64 Copperplate Maps
series of maps.
Edited with a long
""
NEW and important edition in Italian, with a new
Edited with a long "Exposition"
by Girolamo Ruscelli, and with a further addition of a
"Discourse" by Gioseppe Moleto.
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
51

[1562 4to]
Printed at VENICE in 1562 by Vincenzo Valgrisi
64 Copperplate Maps
NEW edition, revised and annotated by Josephus
Moletius. The maps are the same as in the
Italian edition of 1561.
St
[1564]
Published at VENICE in 1564 by Giordano Ziletti
64 Copperplate Maps
N Italian. The second edition of Girolamo
Ruscelli, the first having been issued in 1561
by Vincenzo Valgrisi. Ziletti also published
in this same year (1564) the second edition of the Latin
Ptolemy edited by Josephus Moletius. Both the Latin
and Italian editions of this year are very scarce.

[1564 4to]
Published at VENICE in 1564 by Giordano Ziletti
64 Copperplate Maps

T
HIS edition is so rare that neither Eames nor
Winsor mention it in their Bibliographies.
It is a re-issue, by a fresh publisher, of the
new Latin edition of Josephus Moletius
first published at Venice by Vincenzo Valgrisi in 1562.
52
A Chronological List of the Printed
Only the first sheet, comprising the Title and Dedication,
was reprinted; the editor's name being omitted from the
title-page. Ziletti also published in this same year the
second edition of Ruscelli's Ptolemy in Italian,
which is also extremely rare.
ما
[1571 folio]
Printed at BASLE in 1571 by Henricus Petri
24 Woodcut Maps (+ 3 repeated = 27)

""
HIS Latin edition of Strabo's "Geography"
is included in this Collection because it con-
tains 24 of the Maps designed by Sebastian
Münster to illustrate Ptolemy's "Geography,'
and which were used in his four editions of 1540, 1541,
1545 and 1552, all by the same printer, Petri. Münster
died in 1552, and after nearly twenty years it is curious
to find the same maps from the same wood-blocks again
appearing in an entirely different work by the same
printer. The famous Greek geographer,
Strabo, died about A.D. 20.
[1574 4to]
Printed at VENICE in 1574 by Giordano Ziletti
65 Copperplate Maps
N Italian. The third edition of Girolamo Ruscelli,
revised and corrected by Gio. Malombra. One
is added (Roma); the others are the same as in
the editions of 1561, 1562 and 1564.
new map
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
53

[1578 folio]
Printed at COLOGNE in 1578 by Godefridus Kempen
28 Copperplate Maps
HE first edition of Mercator's Maps for Ptolemy's
Geography," but issued without the text.
(6
[1584 folio]
Printed at COLOGNE in 1584 by Godefridus Kempen
28 Copperplate Maps
HE first edition of Ptolemy's "Geography" with
Mercator's Maps. The text is the version of
Pirckeymher, edited by Arnoldus Mylius. The maps are
the same as in the edition of 1578.
[1596 4to]
Printed at VENICE in 1596
by the Heirs of Simone Galignani de Karera
64 Copperplate Maps
NEW (Latin) edition with new maps, edited by
Giovanni Antonio Magini of Padua.
54
A Chronological List of the Printed

[1597 4to, first copy]
Printed at COLOGNE in 1597 by Petrus Keschedt
64 Copperplate Maps
HE second edition of Giovanni Antonio Magini of
Padua. The maps are the same as in his first
edition of 1596.
ARBE
[1597 4to, second copy]
Printed at COLOGNE in 1597 by Petrus Keschedt
64 Copperplate Maps
HE second edition of Giovanni Antonio Magini
of Padua. The maps are the same as in his
first edition of 1596. This copy has the addi-
tional imprint on the verso of the last leaf: "Arnhemii,
Apud Joannem Jansonium Bibliopolam Anno MDXCVII.'
The other copy in the Collection does not bear
this imprint.

[1597 folio]
Printed at LOUVAIN in 1597 by Joannes Bogardus
19 Copperplate Maps all relating to America
""
HE first edition in Latin of Cornely Wytfliet's Sup-
plement to Ptolemy's "Geography." It relates
entirely to America, and is the first general
American Atlas.
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
55
[1597 4to]
Printed at LONDON in 1597 by John Windet
Numerous woodcut diagrams (some movable)

HE second edition of Thomas Blundeville's
"Exercises,” the best English work of the
period on Astronomy, Geography and Navi-
gation. Seven editions appeared between
1594 and 1636. The book finds a place in the Ptolemy
Collection by reason of the contents of folios 362-392:
"A briefe defcription of univerfall Maps and Cards and
of their uſe, and alſo the uſe of Ptolomey his Tables to-
gether with the true order of making the faide Tables, and
of all other Mappes and Cardes as well univerfall
as particular."
ਅਤੇ
[1597-8 folio]
Printed at VENICE in 1597-8
by the Brothers Galignani
64 Copperplate Maps
TRANSLATION into Italian by Leonardo Cernoti
from Magini's Latin edition of 1596, and with the
same maps.
[1598 folio]
Printed at LOUVAIN in 1598 by Gerardus Rivius
19 Copperplate Maps the same as in
the edition of 1597
HE second edition in Latin of Wytfliet's Supple-
ment to Ptolemy's "Geography."
56
A Chronological List of the Printed

[1598-9 4to]
Printed at VENICE in 1598-9
by the Heirs of Melchior Sessa
69 Copperplate Maps

N Italian. The fourth edition of Ruscelli's
Ptolemy, revised, enlarged, and edited by
Gioseppe Rosaccio. The maps are mostly from
the same plates as the editions of 1561, 1562, 1564 and
1574, but the plates have been retouched and figures of
ships, fishes, etc., introduced. Five entirely new
maps have also been added.
[1603 folio]
Printed at DOUAY in 1603 and published
by François Fabri
19 Copperplate Maps as in the editions of 1597
and 1598
LTHOUGH called Second Edition on the title,
this appears really to be the third edition of Wyt-
fliet's Supplement to Ptolemy's "Geography."
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
57
[1605, first copy, folio]
Printed in 1605 at the expense of Cornelius Nicolaus
and Jodocus Hondius, and published at AMSTERDAM
and FRANKFURT. Copies occur with the imprint of
either town. This has Frankfurt
28 Copperplate Maps
HE first edition of the Greek and Latin text to-
gether. Edited by Petrus Montanus. The Preface
by Hondius contains an account of the origin of this edi-
tion. The maps are the same as in the editions
of 1578 and 1584.
[1605, second copy, folio]
Printed in 1605 at the expense of Cornelius Nicolaus
and Jodocus Hondius, and published at AMSTERDAM
and FRANKFURT. Copies occur with the imprint of
either town. This has Amsterdam, but a copy of the
Frankfurt issue is also in the Collection, as well as
a third
copy containing a printed title-page
in addition to the engraved one
28 Copperplate Maps
HE first edition of the Greek and Latin text together.
Edited by Petrus Montanus. The Preface by
Hondius contains an account of the origin of this edition.
The maps are the same as in the editions of
1578 and 1584.
......
58
A Chronological List of the Printed
[1605, third copy, folio]
Printed in 1605 at the expense of Cornelius Nicolaus
and Jodocus Hondius, and published both at AMSTER-
DAM and FRANKFURT. Copies with the imprint of
each town are in the Collection. This copy bears
the name of both places on the engraved title, and
has, in addition, a printed title-page with the imprint
of Amsterdam, 1605. This printed title appears to
be unknown to bibliographers. Judging by the
type it appears to be of a somewhat later date,
and may possibly have been used for a
re-issue of the original stock
28 Copperplate Maps
HE first edition of the Greek and Latin text to-
gether. Edited by Petrus Montanus. The Preface
by Hondius contains an account of the origin of this
edition. The Maps, by Mercator, are the same as
in the editions of 1578 and 1584.
[1605 folio]
Printed at DOUAY in 1605 and published
by François Fabri
19 large Copperplate Maps in the First Part and
4 small ones in the Second Part
TRANSLATION of Wytfliet's Supplement to
Ptolemy into French, with the addition of a
second part by Giovanni Antonio Magini of
Padua and others, relating to the East Indies, with 4 new
maps. Scarce edition, not mentioned by Winsor.

Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
59
[1607 folio]
Printed at DOUAY in 1607 and published
by François Fabri
19 large Copperplate Maps in the First Part and
4 small ones in the Second Part
W
r
YTFLIET'S Supplement to Ptolemy and Magini's
History of the East Indies" translated into
French and much enlarged from the edition of 1605, with
a new treatise, entitled "La Suite de l'histoire
des Indes Orientales."
Fuch
[1608 4to]
Printed at COLOGNE in 1608 by Petrus Keschedt
64 Copperplate Maps
HE third edition of Giovanni Antonio Magini of
Padua. The maps are the same as in his first edition
of 1596 and second of 1597.
[1611 folio]
Printed at DOUAY in 1611 and published
by François Fabri
19 large Copperplate Maps in the First Part and
4 small ones in the Second Part

W
YTFLIET'S Supplement to Ptolemy and Ma-
gini's "History of the East Indies" translated
into French. In this edition the "Discours de
la Conversion des Indiens occidentaux " is placed at the end
of the first part, instead of at the end of the third
part as in the edition of 1607.
60
A Chronological List of the Printed
་
[1615 folio]
Printed at ARNHEM in 1615 by Joannes Jansson
19 Copperplate Maps as in the editions
of 1597, 1598 and 1603
SCARCE edition of Wytfliet's Supplement to
Ptolemy, not mentioned by Winsor. According
to the title it purports to be newly revised and
corrected.
вяров
[1617 4to]
Published at ARNHEM in 1617 by Joannes Jansson
64 Copperplate Maps
HE fourth edition of Giovanni Antonio Magini of
Padua, edited by Gaspar Ens. The maps are the
same as in the preceding editions of 1596,
1597, and 1608.
[1618-19 folio]
Printed at LEYDEN in 1618-19 by Isaac Elzevir and
published at AMSTERDAM by Jodocus Hondius
47 Copperplate Maps
ON important edition, re-edited by Petrus Bertius,
with many new maps and additions. Contains
the Greek and Latin text in parallel columns.
28 of the maps are Mercator's, the same as in the editions
of 1578, 1584, and 1605, while 14 of the new maps are
by Ortelius, from various editions of his

"Theatrum."
Editions of Ptolemy's Geography
61

[1621 folio]
Printed at PADUA in 1621 by the Brothers Galignani
64 Copperplate Maps
HE second edition of Cernoti's translation into
Italian of Magini's Ptolemy. The maps are the
same as in the first edition of 1597-8. The present copy
is remarkable as being perfectly uncut.
[1695 folio]
Published at FRANEKER and UTRECHT in 1695
28 Copperplate Maps
NEW issue of the 28 Mercator maps without
any text. Printed apparently from the old
plates, but with the titles re-engraved, and
with some alterations in the ornamentation. The border
to the World map is entirely re-engraved.

[1698 folio]
Published at UTRECHT and FRANEKER in 1698
28 Copperplate Maps
PPARENTLY a re-issue of the edition of 1695
with a new imprint.
62 A Chronological List of Ptolemy's Geography

[1704 folio]
Published at AMSTERDAM and UTRECHT in 1704
28 Copperplate Maps
PPARENTLY a re-issue of the editions of 1695
and 1698 with a new imprint. Some copies have
Lugduni BatavORUM, etc., on a slip pasted over
the Amsterdam imprint.
A
refers
[1730 folio]
Published at AMSTERDAM in 1730
28 Copperplate Maps
RE-ISSUE of the 28 Mercator Maps as they
appeared in the editions of 1695, 1698 and 1704,
with the addition of a copious index. This is the last
edition of Ptolemy till quite recent times.
DEBBI
[1828]
Printed at PARIS in 1828

SONTAINS the Greek Text of Ptolemy's
Geography translated into French by Abbé
Halma. The introduction and the appendices
relating to the history and methods of ancient geography
cause this work to be generally considered the best hand-
book to the scientific study of Ptolemy's Geography.

CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
MAY 25 1921
"
→
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GRADUATE LIBRARY

MAX
1 1 0 19
MAXZ 11975
DATE DUE
•
DO NOT REMOVE
OR
MUTILATE CARD
1
4