Tabula Asiae II.

Article description

Woodcut map, finely hand colored in wash by a later hand. Verso illustrated with a decorative colored woodcut illustration.Woodcut map, finely hand colored in wash by a later hand. Verso illustrated with a decorative colored woodcut illustration. A highly decorative woodcut map by famous mapmaker Sebastian Münster published in his Ptolemy edition 1552 in Basel at Heinrich Petri. The decorative woodcut bordures verso were probably cut by the famous 16th century woodcutter Hans Holbein. Nearly none of the captivating woodcut borders verso are repeating, they are mainly shaped by allegoric scenes, coat of arms or wonderful initials. A rare and early mid 16th century woodcut map showing Italy, the Adriatic Sea, Illyria, Dalmatia, parts of the Balkan and parts of Macedonia, Epirus and Sicily published in Sebastian Münster s Ptolemy edition 1552 (Latin text) in Basel. The beautiful map is ornated with a Putto riding on a dolphin through the Thyrrenium Sea, also with a large table listing place names the various regions of this map. The interesting woodcut map has still miniature city views as engraved woodcut silhouettes, also rivers and mountain chains are schematic shown. An interesting and highly decorative map for the collector of rare maps of the antique Italy.