Map of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbeidzjan / Verso: Map of Cyprus, Holy Land, Syria, Arabia, Middle East

This early map engraving with original hand-coloring is from Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy) and Giovanni Antonio Magini’s Geografia cioè descrittione universale della Terra partita in due volumi. The work was published in Padua by Paolo Francesco Galignani between 1620 and 1621. This is considered the second edition of the Italian translation of Magini’s Ptolemy

This work is considered a later published ediiton of Ptolemy (Ptolemaeus)’s Geographia. The work was considered one of the most influential cartographic accounts of the ancient world and served as inspiration for all Renaissance mapmakers. He compiled what was known of the world’s geography in the Roman Empire during his time (circa 90-168 AD). Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet. The earliest known manuscripts of Geographia date to 1300 and was first printed in 1477.