"Taprobana Ins.", Ptolemy/Fries
Subject: Sri Lanka
Period: 1535 (published)
Publication: Ptolemy's Geographia
Color: Hand Color
Size:
14 x 11 inches
35.6 x 27.9 cm
Great early woodblock map of the island of Ceylon. The map is largely based on the 1513 map by Walseemuller, with the addition of more of the spurious Indian coastline and more small islands to the east of Ceylon. The compiler of this edition, Michael Servetus, was subsequently tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1553, ostensibly because of derogatory comments in the atlas about the Holy Land.
References:
Condition: A
Fine sharp impression with old color. Illustrations on verso are also partially colored. Expert restoration of missing paper in margin, well away from the map.
