1574 Gallia Nova Tabula

This splendid Ruscelli map is from his work La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo Alessandrino.  Ruscelli based much of his work on that of Claudius Ptolemy and the atlas maps of Giacomo Gastaldi. This map focuses primarily on the territory including the Lowlands, and part of what would eventually become modern day France. Some regions of German, Italy, Spain, and Cornwall and a portion of England are also included. Cities are depicted with miniscule fortresses, castles and religious edifices, sized according to the population and importance of each city. Mountains, including the Pyrenees, are depicted beautifully. River systems are denoted. Large bodies of water are stippled. There is descriptive Italian text on the verso. Girolamo Ruscelli (1500-1566) was an Italian cartographer, polymath, humanist and editor, active in Venice during the early 16th century. Ruscelli is best known for his important revision of Ptolemy's Geographia, published posthumously in 1574. Claudius Ptolemy (85-165 CE