[Indian Ocean]. RAMUSIO, Giovanni Battista. GASTLADI, Giacom - Lot 266

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  3. [Indian Ocean]. RAMUSIO, Giovanni Battista. GASTLADI, Giacom - Lot 266
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Lot n° 266
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[Indian Ocean]. RAMUSIO, Giovanni Battista. GASTLADI, Giacom - Lot 266
[Indian Ocean]. RAMUSIO, Giovanni Battista. GASTLADI, Giacomo. Sumatra. Taprobana. (ca. 1565). A black woodcut map, 26.7 x 36.5 cm, paginated 433–434 in the upper margin, blank reverse (small tear without loss in the lower margin, restored). First state of this map of the island of Sumatra, published in the third volume of the original edition of Giovanni Battista Ramusio’s *Navigationi et Viaggi*. The map is attributed to Giacomo Gastaldi, who produced a large portion of the cartography for the work. The *Navigationi et Viaggi*, a vast collection of exploration accounts published in Venice by Tommaso Giunti beginning in 1550, constitutes one of the great geographical publishing undertakings of the 16th century. Ramusio sought to update the geographical knowledge inherited from antiquity in light of European explorations, particularly in Asia and the Americas, and to provide cartographers with new sources for depicting the known world. The publication of the work was marred by a fire in 1557, which destroyed some of the engraved woodblocks intended for its illustrations. The maps preserved in the volume are generally attributed to Giacomo Gastaldi, who also taught geography to Ramusio’s son. A decorative map featuring ships and sea monsters in the ocean, as well as trees, animals, and figures depicting the daily activities of the island’s inhabitants. This copy features the first state of the map, with the numbers 433 and 434 in the upper margin; copies of this same state bearing the numbers 430 and 434 are also known. A second state, published in 1606, bears the folio number 371 in the corners. This is in fact the same engraved woodblock, with only the numbering having been changed (wear on the woodblock is visible on these second-state prints). A third state, less well documented and believed to have been published as part of the 1606 reprint, corresponds to a new engraving of the map, likely on copper, recognizable by the fineness and reduced number of lines, particularly in the depiction of the sea monster above the equator, with the numbers 430 and 434, hand-corrected to 433 and 434 in the cataloged copies (Barry Ruderman, *Raremaps*). Karrow, *Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and Their Maps*..., 229.
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