Tabula Asiae XII

Finely colored example of Magini's map of Taprobana, the island of Ceylon, which was sometimes confused with Sumatra on early maps.

In ancient times, Sri Lanka was known by various names, Ptolemy named it Taprobana, the Arabs Serendib, the Portuguese called it Ceilo and the British Ceylon.

Situated at the centre of numerous trade routes through the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka was always an important trading link between east and west. As a major exporter of cinnamon, Arab and Chinese traders had frequented the island since early times and it served as an important stop for merchants on the maritime route between Asia and Europe. Much confusion existed among medieval mapmakers as to the identities of the islands of Taprobana and Sumatra which arose primarily from the descriptions in the ancient texts which stated that Taprobana was the largest island in the world. This was later contradicted by Marco Polo in his Il Milione in which he stated that it was Java Minor (Sumatra) that was in fact the largest island. As Sumatra was virtually unknown to most medieval mapmakers their primary concern was the placement of Taprobana on maps. Invariably it was incorrectly positioned off the southeast coast of Arabia but once the accounts of Marco Polo were revealed at the end of the thirteenth century, the eastern limits of the Indian Ocean were greatly expanded and the question as to the identity of the islands became more critical for mapmakers.

The Portuguese arrived on the island in 1505 and by 1518 had built a fort in Colombo, enabling them to control strategic coastal areas they had previously captured. Once Portuguese information and charts were copied, the position of Ceylon and the confusion with Sumatra was corrected.

Although, some scholars believe it is actually a depiction of the island of Sumatra. The surrounding islands are located near where Nias, Enggano and Mentawis are relative to Sumatra. The land in the upper-right corner is correct for Malaysia. Several towns and village are located (close to present cities of Lampung, Medan, Sibolga and Banda Aceh. Mountains and waterways are also located - also very near where they are found today.

Map taken from the Geografia cioè descrittione universale della Terra  of Claudio Tolomeo by Giovanni Antonio Magini, first printed in Venice in 1596, at the Heirs of Simon Galignani de Karera.

The Maginian collection contains 64 copper engravings finely carved by Girolamo Porro and was soon copied by Petrus Keschedt, a publisher from Cologne (the maps of the two editions are almost indistinguishable). 

A subsequent reprint of Magini's work, with the translation by Leonardo Cernoti from the Latin text, was printed in Padua by the Galignani brothers in 1621. With this edition of the Geografia “the long series of editions of Ptolemy’s Geography, revised and extended as text books of modern geography, seems to have come to an end” (Stevens, 1972, p. 22).

Etching with fine later hand colour, in excellent condition.