A fine example of Fries’ modern world map

The Fries reduction of Wäldseemüller's modern world map. 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'. As it is a comparison with the Ptolemaic world map it only shows the very eastern edges of the Americas. Of interest are Greenland as a peninsula extending from Russia, the five enthroned kings of Russia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Taprobana and Mursuli, and an elephant just off the coast of Greenland, added by Fries as decoration. The Lyons edition of the 'Geograpia' is rare since it was ordered to be burnt by Calvin, due to alleged heresy contained within.