1620/21 Ptolemy's Geografia 63 Maps WITH The Ultra Rare World Map GEOGRAPHY

Geografia 1620-1621, 12 by 8 5/8 inches. [2], 62, 21, [15], 212, [30] leaves, page 211 is provided in manuscript which did contain one map, so one half page map is missing BUT WITH THE ULTRA RARE DOUBLE WORLD MAP!!  63 maps in all. Front cover detached and first 6 leaves sprung from binding.  Foxing ranges from non existent to heavy a few times. About 60 pages with heavy foxing. Mostly moderate to light.  Repair to title page. Two pages with handling tears.

The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy, also known by the Latin names Geographia and Cosmographia, is a geographical guide, an atlas and a cartographic treatise that collects the geographical knowledge of the Roman Empire of the 2nd century. Originally written in Greek in Alexandria around 150 AD, the work was a revision of a now lost atlas by Marinos of Tyre, using additional Roman and Persian gazetteers and new principles. Its translation into Arabic in the 9th century had a great impact on the geographical knowledge and cartographic traditions of the Islamic world. Together with the works of Islamic scholars and the commentaries containing revised and more accurate data from Alfraganus, Ptolemy's work greatly influenced medieval and Renaissance Europe. It combines astronomical observation with mathematical expertise, revolutionizing the concept of cartography. His work introduced the notion of latitude and longitude, the flat coordinate system that establishes the positions of different lands, mountain ranges and bodies of water on the spherical Earth.

An important edition of Ptolemy's Geography with additions and commentary by the cosmographer and mathematician Giovanni Antonio Magini. A native of Padua, Magini graduated in philosophy at Bologna in 1579 and nine years later was appointed to the chair of mathematics there, being preferred to Galileo. He produced the first atlas devoted entirely to Italy (Bologna, 1620) and the double-hemisphere map included in this work is described by Shirley as "an exceptionally fine engraving in its own right".

Literature: Sabin 66508; Shirley 193-196