The Sunderland Collection

The title page is printed in red, which indicates that the copy is a third issue, like most surviving copies of this work. The work’s patron, Federico Montefeltro, died on 10 November 1482, and the printing must therefore have been finished before that date. The identity of the engraver of the maps remains uncertain but it is believed by some to be Francesco Rosselli, who was one of the earliest known map sellers and was active in Florence until his death in 1513. These maps were sometimes sold separately or issued in sets without text. 

The atlas features thirty-one print maps that are among the first examples of maps made using new copperplate printing technologies. The world map depicts the known world at the time of Ptolemy: the Roman Empire, centred on the Mediterranean Sea, Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The use of a homeotheric or 'beehive' projection, acknowledges the spherical nature of the Earth. 

Francesco Berlinghieri’s Italian version of Claudius Ptolemy’s 'Geographia' is one of the earliest European printed atlases produced in a vernacular language, and using 'terza rima' verse. The maps within the atlas were created with considerable skill by a master engraver thought to be Francesco Rosselli (1448–c.1513) and include contemporary maps of Spain, France, Italy, and the Holy Land. This is the first time these 'modern maps' appear as copper-engravings, updating the woodcut maps that feature in Lienhart Holl's Ulm Edition of 'Cosmographia' released in the same year. Smudges, excess ink, and even the printer’s thumbprints appear as charming fifteenth century 'makers marks' that point to the fact that copperplate printing was still a new technology

Berlinghieri’s edition of Ptolemy’s 'Geographia', was published in Florence in 1482. It was the third printed European atlas, and the first in vernacular Italian language with a commentary composed in 'terza rima' verse.

The finely engraved maps are often attributed to Francesco Rosselli (1448–c.1513), one of the leading engravers, painters, and map sellers of his day. He was influenced by the great Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and the cardinal windheads surrounding the world map are reminiscent of the Zephyr depicted in Botticelli’s masterpiece 'The Birth of Venus' (c.1480s).

Ptolemaic world map with windheads

Ptolemaic map of Great Britain

Ptolemaic map of Spain

Ptolemaic map of France (Gaul)

Ptolemaic map of Germany

Ptolemaic map of Slovenia and part of Italy

Ptolemaic map of 15th century France

Updated version of Ptolemy's map of Spain

Ptolemaic map of Italy

Updated version of Ptolemy's map of Italy

Ptolemaic map of Sardinia and Sicily 

Ptolemaic map of northeastern Europe showing Poland, the Baltic, Russia, Ukraine 

Ptolemaic map of the Balkans including Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia

Ptolemaic map of Greece including Macedonia, Crete and Cyprus 

Ptolemaic map of Northwest Africa and the Balearic Islands and the western Mediterranean 

Ptolemaic map of the North of Central Africa including Libya, Tunisia and the Mediterranean Sea

Ptolemaic map of Egypt

Ptolemaic map of central Africa including Ethiopia, Libya, and Egypt

Ptolemaic map of Turkey and Cyprus 

Ptolemaic map of Samaria (Black Sea region)

Ptolemaic map of Caspian Sea including Armenia, Turkey, and Georgia 

Ptolemaic map of Palestine, Syria, and Cyprus

Map of the Holy Land

Ptolemaic map of modern Iran 

Ptolemaic map of modern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman

Ptolemaic map of modern Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan 

Ptolemaic map of modern China and Mongolia 

Ptolemaic map of modern Pakistan and Afghanistan 

Ptolemaic map of modern India 

Ptolemaic map of Southeast Asia

Ptolemaic map of Taprobana (modern Sri Lanka)

Berlinghieri’s atlas was the first to present Claudius Ptolemy’s 'Geographia' in Italian as well as in any vernacular language. The atlas features thirty-one print maps that are among the first examples of maps made using new copperplate printing technologies. Additionally, the provenance of this example has a rich history that begins in the sixteenth century with the wealthy Amadi Family who were silk merchants in Venice.

Geography

Geographia

Berlinghieri's 'Geographia'

of Francesco Berlinghieri the Florentine, in 'Terze' Rhyme in the Language of the Tuscan Dialect with Plates of Various Sites and Provinces According to the Maps of Ptolemy

di Francesco Berlinghieri Fiorentino in Terza Rima et Lingua Toscana Distincta con le sue Tavole in Varii Siti et Provincie Secondo la Geographia Distinctione dele Tavole di Ptolomeo 
