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Nice example of the scarce second state of Ruscelli's map of the region bounded by the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus in the west and the Euphrates River in the east, based upon Claudius Ptolemy.
Ruscelli's Atlas is an enlarged edition of Gastaldi's smaller format Geographia of 1548, which has been called the most comprehensive atlas produced between Martin Waldseemüller's Geographiae of 1513, and the Abraham Ortelius Theatrum of 1570. Ruscelli and Gastaldi's maps were beautifully engraved on copper, marking a turning point in the history of cartography. From that point forward, the majority of cartographic works used this medium. As it was a harder material than wood it gave the engraver the ability to render more detail.
Gastaldi sought the most up-to-date geographical information available, making the maps in Ruscelli's Geographia among the best maps of the period.
Girolamo Ruscelli (1500-1566) was a cartographer, humanist, and scholar from Tuscany. Ruscelli was a prominent writer and editor in his time, writing about a wide variety of topics including the works of Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Petrarch, Italian language, Italian poetry, medicine, alchemy, and militia. One of his most notable works was a translation of Ptolemy’s Geographia which was published posthumously.
There is limited information available about Ruscelli’s life. He was born in the Tuscan city of Viterbo to a family of modest means. He was educated at the University of Padua and moved between Rome and Naples until 1548, when he moved to Naples to work in a publishing house as a writer and proofreader. He remained in the city until his death in 1566.
![[ Mount of Olives ] Afbeelding Van Den Olyfberg. Volgens de hedendaagsche Reizigers](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/101645.jpg)
![Carte De La Syrie [Shows Cyprus and the Holy Land!]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/61321.jpg)
![[Tribe of Judah] Tribus Iuda id est, pars illa Terra Sanctae quam in ingressu Tribus Iuda confecuta fuit](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/82548.jpg)
