Sixth Map of Asia (Sexta Asiae Tabula), Rome Edition

Caption

Sixth Map of Asia (Sexta Asiae Tabula), Rome Edition. Claudius Ptolemy; Konrad Sweynheim; Arnold Buckinck, Rome, 1478. Qatar National Library; World Digital Library, Library of Congress, WDL 17587; LCCN 2021668710.

Catalog notes

This Rome edition translates Ptolemaic geography into one of the earliest printed maps of the Arabian Peninsula. Two engraved plates meet at the center, enclosing classical place names and stylized mountains within a coordinate framework. The sheet preserves an inherited geographical model rather than a modern survey. Seen beside later maps of Arabia, it reveals both the durability of classical authority and the changes brought by printing, travel, and observation.

Original catalog record, source and attribution