C.Ptolemy / N.Germanus

Nona Asie Tabula

      Pakistan, Ulm, 1482 -1486, woodblock, Original colour. 55 x 41cms [21.75 x 16ins] A fine example of one of the first printed maps of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Based on classical Ptolemaic cartography, the map is in lovely contemporary bold wash colours. Just trimmed at lower edge and with minor centrefold defects nevertheless very acceptable for an incunable cartographic artefact. Maps derived from Claudius Ptolemy's tabulations were first published in Italy in 1477. Five years later, at Ulm in southern Germany, Lienhart Holle and Nicolas Germanus produced the first woodblock series of these foundation maps. Published in two editions the maps are distinguished by their bold woodcut lines and typical strong contemporary colours emphasising natural features such as mountain chains, rivers and so on.