PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c. 100-178 AD) - photo 1
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c. 100-178 AD) - photo 2
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c. 100-178 AD) - photo 3
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c. 100-178 AD) - photo 4

PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c. 100-178 AD)

Lot 131
10.07.2024 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 107 100
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1249893
Lot 131 | PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c. 100-178 AD)
Estimate value
£ 30 000 – 50 000
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (c. 100-178 AD)
Cosmographia. Translated from the Greek into Latin by Jacobus Angelus. Edited by Nicolaus Germanus. [With Registrum and De locis ac mirabilibus mundi of Donnus Nicolaus]. Rome: Petrus de Turre, 4 November 1490.
Second Rome edition. 'This handsome edition is a reprinting of the copper-plate [engraved] maps of the 1478 Ptolemy [the first Rome edition by Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Buckinck, whose] maps are considered the finest Ptolemaic ones produced up to the time that the great Mercator engraved his Ptolemy of 1578 [...] It is believed that Sweynheym was the one who first thought of applying the very new art of copper-engraving to the printing of maps, and he might have taken a hand in the actual engraving of them himself' (World Encompassed). While the Bologna edition of 1477 was the first atlas to use copperplate maps, the present series is generally regarded as superior for its clear captions, accurate projections and overall design and there are indications the Bologna edition was hurried through the press. The captions were not engraved but stamped into the plates. The early Italian Ptolemys, particularly the Rome editions, are 'superb testimonials of Italian craftsmanship without the picturesque but unscientific monsters of the medieval maps or the addition of the adventitious decoration of later work, relying for their beauty solely on the delicacy of their execution and the fineness of the material employed' (Tooley). Goff P-1086; HC 13541; BMC IV, 133; BSB-Ink P-861; Bod-Inc P-530; Campbell 121-147; NMM III, 6; Nordenskiöld II, 201; Phillips Atlases 355; Sabin 66474; The World Encompassed 40; GW M36372; ISTC ip01086000.

Super-royal folio (419 x 284mm). 174 unnumbered leaves. Roman type, 27 double-page engraved maps, woodcut diagrams in the text (brown stain at upper corner of first 8 text leaves [quire 2a] with slight tears, some repaired, and fraying at edges, other occasional stains and light spotting, maps with plate-tone from the production process, occasional small stains, some dust- or finger-stains). 20th-century limp vellum, spine in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in pen and ink on the spine, calf ties (one torn), title in ink on lower edge. Note: this copy is complete, however the text and maps have been bound in the following order: a10, b-g8, h4; [i-o8, p6]; A-C8, D-E6; 2a-b8, c6. Provenance: faint inscription at foot of 2a2r, a few early marginal notes in ink.
Place of origin:Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Books and manuscripts, Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
10.07.2024 – 10.07.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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