The first edition, first issue of Girolamo Ruscelli’s modern map of the British Isles published in the ‘Geographia’, 1561. The cartography is directly derived from George Lily’s exceedingly rare map published in Rome, 1546, considered the first modern map of the British Isles. Elizabeth I had just ascended the throne of England only three years earlier. The border contains figures or latitude and longitude, the ‘G’ in the corners most likely standing for the Latin ‘gradus’ for degrees. This map is one of two that were engraved on the same plate, printed here by masking the lower map seen by the lack of a plate mark below.

Girolamo Ruscelli (c.1504-66) edited the Latin text for this quarto edition of Claudius Ptolemy’s classic work ‘Geographia’ which included newly engraved copper plates by the brothers Giulio (fl.1540-88) and Livio (c.1520-76) Sanuto. The work was published by Vincenzo Valgrisi in Venice. The map appeared in the Latin edition of 1562, and both the Italian and Latin issues of 1564. In 1574 the two maps were separated, and it continued in use until the final edition of 1599. Provenance: Marco Perini 1999; private English collection. Nordenskiold (1979) 216; Shirley (1991) 68; Shirley (2004) T.Ptol 10a; Tooley’s Dictionary.