"Tabula nona d Asia", Ptolemy/Berlinghieri

This extremely rare map of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan is likely the earliest obtainable map of the region. The map appeared in an edition of Berlinghieri's Ptolemaic atlas, one of the first with maps engraved on copper. They were also the only maps drawn on the original projection, with equidistant meridians and parallels. Francesco di Nicola Berlinghieri paraphrased Ptolemy in Italian terza rima (a poetic form ), making this from the first atlas in vernacular Italian. The map is beautifully engraved with stippled seas and a unique depiction of the mountain ranges.

References: Mickwitz & Miekkavaara, (Nordenskiold Vol. 2) #198:26; Imago Mundi, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 152-169.

Condition: B

There are some worm tracks and paper damage affecting the left neatline and side margins that has been repaired and the map is backed with Japanese tissue.