The mythical Island of Taprobana

A fine example of the Fries reduction of Wäldseemüller's Ptolemiac map of Taprobana, the mythical island in the Indian Ocean that has been associated with both Ceylon and Sumatra. Here it is depicted on the Equator, west of India. This map was originally intended not for a Ptolemy edition but for a new 'Chronica mundi' being written by Wäldseemüller. His death c.1520 caused the project to be shelved, so the woodcuts were used to publish a smaller sized and so cheaper edition of the 'Geography', first published in 1522. On the reverse is a Latin text in a plain printed border.