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Antique map of British Isles by Ptolemy 1478

Claudius Ptolemy   (c.100 – c.170 AD)

Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek-speaking scholar who lived in Alexandria during the second century CE, under Roman rule. Active around 100–170 CE, Ptolemy is regarded as one of the most influential astronomers, geographers, and mathematicians of the ancient world. His writings shaped scientific thought for more than a thousand years and formed a cornerstone of both Islamic and European scholarship during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Ptolemy is best known for two monumental works: the Almagest, which presented the geocentric model of the universe, and the Geographia, a systematic study of world geography. In the Geographia, he compiled coordinates for thousands of places and introduced methods for projecting the curved surface of the earth onto a flat map. Although many of his measurements were inaccurate by modern standards, his use of latitude and longitude established a scientific framework that profoundly influenced the history of cartography.

Ptolemy’s works survived through Byzantine and Islamic scholars before being rediscovered in Renaissance Europe, where they inspired a renewed interest in mathematics, astronomy, and mapmaking. Printed editions of the Geographia, including the famous Ulm editions of 1482 and 1486, brought his ideas to a wider audience and became foundational texts in the development of early modern geography.

Today, Ptolemy is remembered not only for the accuracy of his observations but also for his ambition to organise and describe the known world through mathematics and reason. His legacy marks a crucial bridge between the scientific traditions of antiquity and the intellectual revival of the Renaissance.

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Prima Europa Tabula

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Item Number:  20923 Authenticity Guarantee

Category:  Antique maps > Europe > British Isles

First available printed map of the British Isles based on trapezoidal prototype map of Nicolaus Germanus. Engraved under supervision of Conrad Sweynheim. Published in Rome by Buckinck.

Copper engraving, printed from two plates.
Size (not including the title and letterpress in margins): Size: 38 x 42cm (15 x 17 inches)
Sheet size: 41.5 x 57.5cm (16.3 x 22.6 inches)
Verso: Blank
Condition: Old coloured, small repair in the middle of the upper margin.
References: Shirley (BI to 1750), 2; Karrow, 32/7; Nordenskiöld, 197; Shirley (Brit.Lib.), T.Ptol.2a

From: Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini philosophi Geographiam Romae. Rome, 1478.

"The new copper plates engraved at Rome for the 1478 edition of Ptolemy's 'Geography' are much superior in clarity and craftsmanship to those of the Bologna edition. There is evidence that work on the Rome edition had been started in 1473 or 1474, and several of the plates may well have been engraved before those printed at Bologna in 1477. The printing was carried out by two skilled printers of German origin: Conrad Sweynheym and his successor Arnold Buckinck; the publisher was Domitius Calderinus. Many consider the Rome plates to be the finest Ptolemaic plates produced until Gerard Mercator engraved his classical world atlas of 1578." (Shirley)

"Until the 1477 edition was definitively dated, this edition was thought to be the oldest engraved atlas. It was printed by Arnoldus Buckinck, and is thought to be the only known book with his imprint. At first the engraving was supervised by a German, Conrad Sweynheym of Main (d. 1477). His method of using a printingpress for the copperplate maps, together with the fine engraving, produced an excellent result. The text was edited by Domitius Calderinus of Verona; he collated various Latin manuscript in the translation by Jacobus Angelus with an ancient Greek Manuscript, which had been emended by Geirgius Gemistus (d. 1450). Calderinus was a careful worker, and his edition had been much admired for the correctness of the text, the fine typography and the brilliant engraving. Christopher Colombus owned a copy of this edition, which he annotated. The run of the edition is not known, but it is considered to be scarce, and is therefore rare and important. ..." (Nordenskiöld)

Claudius Ptolemy   (c.100 – c.170 AD)

Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek-speaking scholar who lived in Alexandria during the second century CE, under Roman rule. Active around 100–170 CE, Ptolemy is regarded as one of the most influential astronomers, geographers, and mathematicians of the ancient world. His writings shaped scientific thought for more than a thousand years and formed a cornerstone of both Islamic and European scholarship during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Ptolemy is best known for two monumental works: the Almagest, which presented the geocentric model of the universe, and the Geographia, a systematic study of world geography. In the Geographia, he compiled coordinates for thousands of places and introduced methods for projecting the curved surface of the earth onto a flat map. Although many of his measurements were inaccurate by modern standards, his use of latitude and longitude established a scientific framework that profoundly influenced the history of cartography.

Ptolemy’s works survived through Byzantine and Islamic scholars before being rediscovered in Renaissance Europe, where they inspired a renewed interest in mathematics, astronomy, and mapmaking. Printed editions of the Geographia, including the famous Ulm editions of 1482 and 1486, brought his ideas to a wider audience and became foundational texts in the development of early modern geography.

Today, Ptolemy is remembered not only for the accuracy of his observations but also for his ambition to organise and describe the known world through mathematics and reason. His legacy marks a crucial bridge between the scientific traditions of antiquity and the intellectual revival of the Renaissance.

References: Shirley (BI to 1750) - 2; Karrow - 32/2; Shirley (Brit.Lib.) - T.Ptol.2a
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