Sumatra, by G.B. Ramusio. 1563
Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Treviso, 1485 - Padua, 1557)
Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate of the Venetian city-state. In 1505 young Giovanni took a position as secretary to Aloisio Mocenigo of the patrician Mocenigo family, then served as the Republic's ambassador to France. Ramusio would spend the rest of his career in Venetian service. He was keenly interested in geography, and his position ensured he would receive news of all the latest discoveries from explorers around Europe as they were sent back to Venice. A learned man, fluent in several languages, he began to compile these documents and translated them into Italian, then the most widely understood of the European languages.
Ramusio compiled a collection of voyages which are the most highly valued of the sixteenth century. It is composed of accounts of voyages which had already been published, translated from French, Spanish and Latin, and also of manuscript accounts which appear for the first time. It enjoyed great success, and each of the three volumes appeared in several editions, some containing more narratives than others and minor differences in the maps.
Sumatra.
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Item Number: 26313 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > Asia > Southeast Asia
Old, antique map of Sumatra, by G.B. Ramusio.
Cartographer: Giacomo Gastaldi
Date of the first edition: 1556
Date of this map: 1563
Woodcut, printed on paper.
Size (not including margins): 27 x 37cm (10.5 x 14.4 inches)
Verso: Blank
Condition: Repairs to tears and wormholes in the middle, new left upper corner (outside the image).
Condition Rating: B
References: Suarez (SE Asia), p.157 & Fig.77; Nordenskiold 3, 641 II (7)
From: Terzio Volume Delle Navigatione et Viaggi ... Venice, 1563.
"The first separate map of any Southeast Asian island to be based on actual observation" (Suarez).
Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Treviso, 1485 - Padua, 1557)
Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate of the Venetian city-state. In 1505 young Giovanni took a position as secretary to Aloisio Mocenigo of the patrician Mocenigo family, then served as the Republic's ambassador to France. Ramusio would spend the rest of his career in Venetian service. He was keenly interested in geography, and his position ensured he would receive news of all the latest discoveries from explorers around Europe as they were sent back to Venice. A learned man, fluent in several languages, he began to compile these documents and translated them into Italian, then the most widely understood of the European languages.
Ramusio compiled a collection of voyages which are the most highly valued of the sixteenth century. It is composed of accounts of voyages which had already been published, translated from French, Spanish and Latin, and also of manuscript accounts which appear for the first time. It enjoyed great success, and each of the three volumes appeared in several editions, some containing more narratives than others and minor differences in the maps.
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