Claudius Ptolemy (ca. 100–ca. 170)
Nicolaus Germanus (ca. 1420–ca. 1490), cartographer
Geographia
ca. 1460–1470
Renaissance and Medieval Manuscripts Collection, Manuscripts and Archives Division
Geographia
Claudius Ptolemy was a 2nd-century Greek astrologer, astronomer, cosmographer, geographer, and mathematician, considered by many to be the father of Western cartography. Also known as the Codex Ebnerianus, this lavishly illustrated manuscript copy of Ptolemy’s major work reflects the cosmographical beliefs of the Roman era, many of which were still relevant to 15th-century thought, and contains a translation from the Greek by Jacopo di Angelo da Scarperia.
One of the innovations that Ptolemy introduced in Geographia is a grid system of latitude and longitude, employed to plot the coordinates of the geographic locations of the known world, or oikumenē, derived primarily from Roman, Greek, and Persian sources. Ptolemy also revealed in this work his development of three important map projections, or mathematical methods of depicting a three-dimensional sphere on a flat surface.
: Renaissance and Medieval Manuscripts Collection, Manuscripts and Archives Divis…
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