Woodcut, 260 x 430 mm, hand-painted. Latin text on the verso. From “Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini geographicae enarrationis libri octo,” an edition of Ptolemy’s “Geographia” edited by Michael Servetus, known as Villanovanus, based on the 1522 edition by Laurent Fries, which in turn replicates Waldseemueller’s famous 1513 edition, whose maps are abridged here. Fries’s 1522 maps were reprinted identically in all editions, with notable changes to the title, the lateral text, and the verso. Originally written around 150 AD, Ptolemy’s “Geographia,” known as the “Father of Geography,” laid the foundations of scientific geography. Rediscovered during the Renaissance and introduced throughout Europe, translated into Latin from Greek, the work represented a cornerstone of cartography for centuries. A fine example, with light traces of surface dirt, minimal restorations to the central fold.