1574 Anglia et Hibernia Nova
DESCRIPTION
This is a superb map is one of the earliest obtainable maps of the British Isles, taken from the 3rd edition of Girolamo Ruscelli's translation of Claudius Ptolemy's "Geographia."
The map features a crude depiction of the islands, especially with regards to present-day Wales and Ireland. The map includes several notable cities such as London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, and in Belgium, the city of Antwerp. Topographical features are limited to mountains and rivers, but are depicted in a tasteful manner.
One feature in the map worth noting is the depiction of Hardian's Wall, which is delineated northwest from the city of Dunel across the island along the River Tyne. The wall was a defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It was built in an effort to keep the barbaric Scotts from invading from the North. Much of the original wall can still be visited today.
This map was printed from a finely engraved copper plate, which was a major advancement in map printing technology. Copper plates proved to be were a great improvement over the rather crude woodcut maps in many of the earlier editions. The timing of this map and others from the atlas are representative of the advances in geographic knowledge taking place in this great era of exploration.
Girolamo Ruscelli (1518–1566) was an Italian mathematician and cartographer active in Venice during the early 16th century. He lived in Aquilea, then in Padua, and later in Rome where in 1541 he founded the "Accademia dello Sdegno". He later moved to Naples, and finally in 1548 he moved to Venice where he published the atlas to which this map originates.
CONDITION
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