Partia Extendit ult Yygri Usque ad Indu Fluvium u India t'miat et Claudit Itrase Assyriam; (Eastern Mediterranean)
Hanao, Germany: Johann Bongars, 1611.
Map. Engraving in Eli Wilner gilt frame 14 3/8 by 18".
This outstanding rare engraved map of the Levant, including Cyprus, the Nile River, and Mesopotamia, is a remarkable historical artifact based on a 14th-century medieval portolan by Pietro Vesconte. The map is oriented with East at the top, following the traditional medieval cartographic convention. In very good condition with some toning.
Pietro Vesconte, (1310-1330) a Genoese cartographer, was among the earliest and most influential creators of portolan charts. His work represents some of the first attempts at accurate, empirical nautical mapping in the Mediterranean world.
This map was engraved as part of a series by Jacques Bongars, (1554-1612), a notable French diplomat, classical scholar, and historian. Bongars is best remembered for his compilation "Gesta Dei per Francos," a collection of primary source documents chronicling the Crusades. His contribution to historical scholarship and cartography is reflected in these engraved maps, which merge medieval geographic knowledge with early modern engraving techniques.
Bongars' adaptation of Vesconte's charts for print represents a significant moment in the transmission of medieval geographic knowledge into the early modern period. The inclusion of Cyprus, the Nile, and Mesopotamia demonstrates the wide geographical scope of medieval interest in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially in the context of Crusader routes and pilgrimage destinations. Its survival offers a fascinating glimpse into the intellectual and artistic currents that bridged the medieval and Renaissance worlds.
Language: Latin
Price: $3,850.00
Item #328759