Copperplate engraving, hand-painted, mm 190x263. Taken from the Venetian edition of Ptolemy's "Geographia" edited by Ruscelli. This is the "ancient" map relating to Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf,Yemen, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar. On the verso interesting and curious descriptive text in Italian. Taken from the Venetian edition of Ptolemy's "Geographia" edited by Ruscelli. The map is based on Gastaldi's 1548 map published in his edition of "Geography" a few years earlier. Girolamo Ruscelli (1500-1566) was born in Viterbo and was an important writer and publisher, who after studying in Padua spent his career between Rome and Naples, where he died. Excellent copy in charming Ptolemaic-style coloring.