Ptolemy 1513
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| NOTES from WALDSEEMULLER'S PTOLEMY MAP of the BRITISH ISLES, 1513 | ||
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These notes are taken from the map of the British Isles, a
Ptolemy map, by Martin Waldseemuller, Strasbourg, 1513. The
map studied is in the Map Room, British Library, call number
BL:Maps C.1.d.8
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The map size is: wxh, sheet = 60x45.5cm. This is a double
page spread in its atlas which is a leather bound volume
33x46.5cm. The atlas title, embossed on the spine, is:-
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PTOLEMAEI / GEOGRAPHIA / JOANN SCHOTT / ARGENTINE / 1513
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The header page of the atlas is the same (exactly?) as that
used by Martin Waldseemuller in his 1513 atlas with his own
woodcut maps. NB remember that these notes are written for
local interest; they are not any sort of reasoned analysis
of Ptolemy maps of the British Isles!
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| MAP FEATURES | ||
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| title |
Printed at the top:-
TABULA PRIMA EUROPAE |
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lat and long
lat and long scales |
The map is drawn within a trapezium. There are scales of
latitude and longitude for a trapezoid projection on the
borders; graduated and labelled in degrees. The map includes
from 8d to 33d E longitude (left to right), from 52d to 63d
N; the British Isles with Scotland more badly distorted than
the rest, Ireland, parts of the coast of Europe, and
scatters of northern islands. Be very careful reading
figures off the map, their shapes are not the familiar
shapes of today's numbers. The prime meridian about 20d W of
London, probably the Canary Isles in the Atlantic.
I do not intend to deduce anything from measurements of the scales, but:- at 52d N 26d longitude = 563 mm at 63d N 10d longitude = 150 mm 11d latitude = 364 mm There are labels alongside the left border. At 63d N:- 1 gradus longitu. i~hoc pal. co~tinet miliaria 28 1/2 fere at 58d N:- miliaria 42 1/2 which seems wrong? The '4' is quite clear, in the expected shape for the date of the map, perhaps a little old fashioned. at 53d N:- miliaria 32 1/2 |
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