Rare 16th century ‘upside-down’ map of the East Indies

An unusual depiction of the Far East, orientated with north to the bottom of the map. Thus it shows the Ganges, Sumatra (also titled Taprobana) and the Malay Peninsula on the right; Java Major and Minor, Amboine, Timor and the Philippines in the top left quandrant; and China (with Canton marked) and Japan (here called Cympagu, after Marco Polo), bottom left. This is the first European map to mention the Philippines ('Filipina') and it is often referred to as the country's 'birth certificate'. The crossed-out town is 'Chiamay', on the banks of Lake Chiamay, a mythical lake in northern Burma, the source of four great rivers, including the Indus and Ganges. The lake makes its first appearance on this map and was shown on other maps for several centuries. This is a very rare map: after it appeared in the first edition of Ramusio's 'Delle navigationi et viaggi' the block was destroyed in a fire at the printing house the following year and was replaced by a copper-engraved version, also by Gastaldi.