1574 Isola Cuba Nova

This important Ruscelli map of Cuba from his work La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo Alessandrino, is based on Gastaldi’s earlier map of the same region, dated 1548. Although the overall shape and orientation of the island are not entirely correct, many details are topographically accurate. Trinidad is in its place on the southern shore, and the island’s mountainous topography is carefully delineated. Many cities are named and myriad small islands surrounding Cuba are depicted. Jamaica is in the lower centre, and the Cayman islands are quite well defined, including nomenclature and topographical features.  The verso contains descriptive text in Italian. Girolamo Ruscelli (1500s-1566) was an Italian polymath, humanist, editor, and cartographer active in Venice during the early 16th century. Ruscelli is best known for his important revision of Ptolemy's Geographia, published posthumously in 1574.