Cosmography of Claudius Ptolemy

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his illuminated manuscript is one of the most famous masterpieces of the Estense Library in Modena. It was bought in 1466 for 100 gold florins by duke Borso d'Este (to whom it is dedicated) directly from the author, the German humanist Nicholas "Germanico". This new Latin version of Ptolemy's "Cosmographia" by Jacopo Angelo da Scarperia was accompanied by the 27 traditional maps re-elaborated by the author by using trapezoid projections. The text, written in two columns, is in humanistic characters, with the headings in gold capital letters underlined in red and illuminated initial letters. The text is divided into eight books; the first deals with theoretical subjects and representation of the globe while the others cover the regions of the earth. The double paged maps are framed by a gold border. The first plate shows the planisphere of the world while the other plates, preceded by an explanatory text, show the individual regions of the earth as they were then known. (445x610 mm).

Florentine illuminated manuscript, 1466, in Latin, 128 folios = 256 pages, atlas size (cm 45x31), decorated leather binding; boxed; printrun: 999 copies. Commentary volume in Italian by E. Milano, with transcriptions of the maps.

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