Ptolemaei Tabulae Cosmographicae

Johann Reger was a printer and agent representing the interests of the Venetian bookseller and publisher Justus de Albano in Ulm. When Lienhart Holl ran into financial difficulties in 1484, he sold the printing press, typefaces, plates, etc. that he had used to make the first German Ptolemy print in 1482 to de Albano. Reger was then commissioned by de Albano with the creation of a second print in 1486, which differs from the first edition only with respect to the color of the water: Holl’s map is dark blue while Reger’s is golden brown, which was probably intentional. They are based on an Italian manuscript of Ptolemy’s Geography, which was edited by the cosmographer Donnus Nicolaus Germanus and was in the possession of the Truchsesses or stewards of Wolfegg Castle ca. 1470 before it was acquired by Holl. The beautifully illustrated printed codex served as the basis for the modern development of German cartography.