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Description

Shirley 1. Third Edition.

A beautiful example of the Isidorus of Seville T-O World Map, here in a complete example of his Etymologiae De Summon Bono, published in Venice in 1483.

The woodcut map on page 68 of the Etymologiae is an attractive example of a kind of mapmaking that predominated in Europe in the Middle Ages. East is depicted at the top of the map. Through its center runs the Mediterranean, flanked on either side by the Tanais (Don) and Nilus (Nile) Rivers. Europe is in the lower-left of the map, and Africa in the lower-right. The upper half is dominated by Asia. Each of the continents bears a name of one of Noah's three sons: Shem, Japeth, and Ham.

Isidorus of Seville, also Saint Isidore, was the Bishop of Seville in the seventh century A.D.  He compiled a manuscript encyclopedia of the knowledge of the ancients, helping preserve classical knowledge after the fall of the Roman Empire.

The first edition of the Etymologiae, which was accompanied by a woodcut T-O map, was published in 1472.

For a detailed description of the incunable T-O maps, see Campbell, The Earliest Printed Maps 1472-1600 (this is an example of number 80).

Condition Description
17th- or 18th-century full vellum remboitage. Complete. [*4], [blank], a9, b-h10, i12, k10, [†2], A-B10, C8. (136 leaves.)
Reference
Shirley 1; Goff I184; HC 9279; BMC v 379; BSB-Ink I-630; Bod-inc I-038; GW M15272; Klebs 536.4; Sander 3526