About This Object
The “Universalior cogntit orbis tabula,” a world map by the astronomer and cartographer Johannes Ruysch, was included in the 1507 Rome edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia. The map documents the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot and includes information from Portuguese sources as well as information taken from Marco Polo’s account of his travels.
* Currently on Exhibit
Claudius Ptolemy (ca. AD 100–ca. 170). “Universalior cogntit orbis tabula” [Map of the world more universally known] in In hoc opere haec continentur Geographiae Cl. Ptolemaei a plurimis uiris utriusq[ue] linguae doctiss [Continuations of the Geographiae of Cl. Ptolemaeus by many learned men in their own languages]. Rome: Bernardinum Venetum de Vitalibus, 1507. Facsimile. Thacher Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (145.02.00)