The circular world map that appeared in the 1475 Latin edition of ''Rudimentum Novitorium'' and its subsequent French translations is considered the first printed map of the world. Drawn in the tradition of Medieval manuscript mappa mundi and T-O world diagrams, it represents the world, oriented to the East, as a circle divided into three continents. However, it is more than a schematic diagram, since it displays more than 100 place names and geographical features positioned in relatively good spatial relationships to each other. While the location of Jerusalem at the center of the three land masses is implied in T-O diagrams, Judea and Palestine are clearly positioned as the map's central focus. Interestingly, the only other map in this volume is one of the Holy Land, also the first printed map of that region.
Exhibited: "Journeys of the Imagination" organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, 2006.
Exhibited: "Crossing Boundaries: Art // Maps" organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, 2018-2019.
IIIF Manifest