A Special Collections Exhibition
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The influence of Ptolemy |
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World
map from the Geography of Ptolemy, 1508
The
original 27 maps of the
Geography were joined in subsequent editions by more up-to-date
maps, the so-called tabulae novae, until eventually the whole collection
was largely renewed. One of rhe additional maps for the 1508 Rome edition was
this extraordinary map by Johannes Ruysch, showing the Old and New Worlds.
At this time only the Caribbean Sea and the north coast of South America
were at all well known to European cartographers,
and it was still hoped that it was possible to sail due west from Cuba
into the fabled lands of Asia.
© Special Collections Division
The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
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