map and book in a case


978-88-98813-05-6

Price: € 1.700,00

 
MAP OF GIOVANNI LEARDO
and letter of PRESTER JOHN




This facsimile edition presents two documents (half of the 15th century) that, even if differently, attest the rising humanistic interest for the discovery of new borders of the world.
Manuscript 3119 is a map of the world dated 1442 and signed by Giovanni Lear­­do, Venetian cartographer. The parchment measures 28,1 × 42,8 cm. The map, set with East on top, shows Europe, Asia and Africa.
Manuscript 398 is a vulgarization of the Letter of Prester John, mighty king in the Eastern lands, about which people dreamt for at least four centuries. The codex (32 folios, size 18,8 × 13,8 cm) is written with a polished calligraphy in the way of Feliciano; the binding is in green leather with 4 strings and reproduces the original one.

Giovanni Leardo, contemporary of other important Venetian cartographers, like Andrea Bianco and Fra Mauro, left three maps: the Mapa Mundi of Verona (1442) and the planispheres of Vicenza (1448) and of the American Geographical Society in New York (1452). These maps are all “systematical” planispheres that, though based upon Ptolemaic theories, follow the modern Arabic geographic theories and the new knowledge deriving from discoveries and travel reports.

The Letter of the Prester John is one of the most interesting documents of the Middle Ages: appeared towards the end of the 12th century and addressed to the powerful of the time, it was quickly translated and spread into different languages and became extraordinarily popular. The wonders it described and the expectations risen around Prester John – Christian king of some kind of Earthly Paradise – pushed Europe to go in search of his kingdom; therefore this legend can be seen as an element that stimulated the great geographical discoveries.

The facsimile edition
The two manuscripts in facsimile are presented in a special case, created to show completely the World Map and to hold in its drawers the Letter, the commentaries and the certificate of authenticity.
499 copies numbered and certified.


 
 
 

Il Bulino Edizioni d'arte - Via Bernardino Cervi, 80 - 41100 Modena (MO) Italy - Email: ilbulino@ilbulino.com - Privacy