Ptolemy Atlas

Ptolemy Atlas

The astronomer, mathematician, and geographer Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria composed a concise treaty on the mathematics of geography in the 2nd century, which contained a projection theory as well as the names and coordinates of 8,000 locales of the world as it was then known. His treatise, which was appended with maps at a later time, counts among the first maps or atlases of the world. Long considered to be lost, Ptolemy’s treatise – known by the title Geographia – reemerged ca. 1400 in Italy. Under the title Cosmographia the manuscript was translated from Greek into Latin by Jacobus Angelus de Scarperia and initially distributed across Europe in numerous transcripts and reprints. The edition at hand is a Ptolemaic atlas of the Biblioteca General e Histórica de la Universidad in Valencia.

Claudius Ptolemy the Scholar

Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek mathematician, geographer, astronomer, astrologer, music theorist, and philosopher. His three works on astronomy, geography, and astrology in particular were considered to be important collections of data and standard works of science in Europe during the early modern period. Aside from the comprehensive canon of important cities, in his Geographia, Ptolemy composed a geographical treatise in which the known world and its inhabitants are recorded**. His definition of latitudes in the work is still good today. Ptolemy merely transmitted written instructions and tables for the creation of maps, but only made a few rough sketches himself. Later, geographical treatises were written in his name and were appended by numerous maps over the centuries. The Ptolemy Atlas is one of the most splendid and precious reprints of his work.

A Renaissance Masterpiece

The splendid Atlas manuscript in the University Library of Valencia was produced in Italy between 1460 and 1477. It features 27 uniquely beautiful land and sea maps, the work of the renowned cartographer Nicolaus Germanus. He revolutionized early Italian cartography through his adaptation of Claudius Ptolemy’s Geographia. Among other things, Germanicus invented a trapezoid projection—the so-called “Donis projection”—which paved the way for a more realistic, two-dimensional representation of the Earth’s curvature. MS BH 963 is one of the oldest surviving Ptolemy manuscripts in which this novel and innovative projection was used. The maps also shine in vibrant colors and are framed with shiny frames made of fine gold leaf. All map titles are written in colored and gold-embellished script, and the text of the work is structured by numerous bright red initials and markings at important passages.