Fig. 1—The Leardo Map of the World, 1452 or 1453.
High-resolution Color Image

AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

LIBRARY SERIES NO. 4

THE LEARDO MAP OF THE WORLD

1452 OR 1453

In the Collections of the

American Geographical Society

BY

JOHN KIRTLAND WRIGHT, Ph.D.

Librarian, American Geographical Society

WITH A NOTE ON THE REPRODUCTION OF THE MAP

BY

A. B. HOEN

AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

BROADWAY AT 156TH STREET

NEW YORK

1928

COPYRIGHT, 1928

BY

THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

RUMFORD PRESS

CONCORD, N. H.

CONTENTS

PAGE

The Leardo Map of the World, 1452 or 1453 1

The Calendar and the Inscription Beneath It 2

The Map Disk 4

Sources of Leardo’s Geography 6

The Known World According to Leardo 10

Asia 10

Africa 15

The Mediterranean 16

Europe 17

Notes 21

Appendix: Detailed Comments on the Map 31

Explanation 31

I. Northern Asia 32

II. Far Eastern Asia 35

III. India 37

IV. Central Asia 40

V. Persia 41

VI. Mesopotamia and Syria 42

VII. Arabia 44

VIII. Asia Minor 45

IX. Armenia, Caucasia, and Southeastern Russia 46

X. Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea 47

XI. Southern Africa 47

XII. Middle and Lower Nile Region 49

XIII. Upper Nile Region and West Africa 50

XIV. North Africa 52

XV. Black and Mediterranean Seas 54

XVI. Southwestern Europe 55

XVII. Atlantic Ocean and Islands 56

XVIII. Central Europe 56

XIX. Italy 57

XX. Southeastern Europe 57

XXI. Baltic Sea 58

XXII. Scandinavia 58

XXIII. Eastern Europe 59

XXIV. Far North 60

List of References 63

The Reproduction of the Leardo Map, by A. B. Hoen 71

ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. PAGE

1. The Leardo map of the world, 1452 or 1453 frontispiece

2. Passage from mid-eighteenth century manuscript of the Doge Marco Foscarini referring to Leardo map of 1447 23

3. Passage from mid-eighteenth century manuscript of Giovanni Agostini referring to Leardo map of 1447 23

4. General key map at end of book

5. Detailed key map; northeastern section at end of book

6. Detailed key map; east-central section at end of book

7. Detailed key map; southeastern section at end of book

8. Detailed key map; northwestern section at end of book

9. Detailed key map; west-central section at end of book

10. Detailed key map; southwestern section at end of book

THE LEARDO MAP OF THE WORLD

1452 OR 1453

The notes will be found on pp. 21-28.

In 1906 Archer M. Huntington, Esq., presented
to the American Geographical Society one of three
known maps of the world signed and dated by the
Venetian, Giovanni Leardo. Of these, the oldest,
as well as the crudest and simplest, is preserved in
the Communal Library at Verona and carries the
date 1442.[1] The second (1448), somewhat more
elaborate in design, belongs to the Civic Museum at
Vicenza.[2] The Society’s map,[3] the largest of the
three, bears the signature in the lower right-hand
corner: Johanes Leardus de Venetteis me fezit abano
domini 145[?]. The last digit in this inscription
is partly mutilated; the date, however, is probably
either 1452 or 1453.[4]

The Society’s map is of primary interest as revealing
a conception of the earth’s surface typical
of the century preceding the discovery of America.
In its blending of colors and pleasing general composition
it forms a work of art of no slight decorative
value. Furthermore, the encircling calendar and
many details on the map proper are distinctly
unusual.[5] The Society has therefore undertaken the
publication of a full-sized colored facsimile, in explanation
of which the present book was prepared. Drawn
on a piece of parchment measuring 28½ by 23⅜
inches (72.4 × 59.4 cm.), the original is in a fair state
of preservation except for two pieces torn from the
left-hand side, for discolorations, and for the fading
2
of some of the inscriptions. Fortunately, no part
of the map itself has been seriously injured.

The Calendar and the Inscription Beneath It

The calendars encircling Leardo’s three maps
constitute exceptional additions. Of these calendars,
the one on the Society’s map is the most interesting.
The inscription in the panel below the circles, in
part an explanation of the calendar, is somewhat
awkwardly phrased in the Venetian dialect of the
fifteenth century, but, although it lacks the beginning
of each line, the meaning is fairly clear,
especially when certain of the missing lines are
reconstructed from the corresponding inscription on
the map in Vicenza.[6]

In the first two lines the cartographer makes an
excursion into the realm of theology. According
to Dr. Arthur C. McGiffert, to whom the present
writer submitted the passage, this part of the inscription
is “evidently not the work of a theologian,
for it makes God the creator ‘of all things created
and uncreated’ (the credal phrase is ‘things visible
and invisible’), and in the next clause runs the
Trinity (‘three persons and one common substance’)
and the person of Christ together as if they were the
same thing. There are reminiscences of the Nicene
creed, but the whole is theologically a hodge-podge.”

This passage is followed by a statement that the
map shows how the land and islands stand in
relation to the seas and how the many provinces
and mountains and principal rivers are distributed
3
on the land. Then, on the asserted authority of
Macrobius, “a very excellent astrologer and geometrician,”
figures are given for the dimensions of the
earth and of various heavenly bodies. These are
quite fanciful, bearing little relation to the corresponding
figures actually cited by Macrobius.[7]

The astronomical details are followed in the third
paragraph by the explanation of the calendar.
The latter consists of eight concentric circles, of
which the innermost gives the dates of Easter for
ninety-five years, from April 1, 1453, to April 10,
1547; when Easter falls in April, A is written in the
small compartment, when in March, M; leap years
are designated by B (“bissextile years”).

The second circle shows the names of the months,
beginning with March, which was officially reckoned
the first month of the year in the Republic of Venice
until as late as 1797[8]; it also tells the day, hour,
and minute when the sun enters each of the twelve
signs of the zodiac.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth circles enable
one to calculate the phases of the moon. In the
third circle the first nineteen letters of the alphabet
represent in order the years of the Metonic lunisolar
cycle. These years were usually designated by the
golden numbers, but before the Gregorian reform
letters were frequently employed in place of the
numbers. Leardo explains that C stands for 1453,
D for 1454, and so on until T is reached, after which
we begin over again at A.[9] A letter is placed
opposite the figures (in the fourth, fifth, and sixth
4
circles) showing respectively the day of the month,
the hour of the day, and the “point of the hour” at
which the “conjunction of the moon” (i. e. new
moon) will take place in the years to which the letter
refers. For example, there will be a new moon on
April 8, 1453, at 16 hours, 200 points.[10] Leardo
adds that there are 1080 points in an hour.[11]

The seventh circle gives the dominical, or “Sunday,”
letters; these are indicated opposite the days
of the month (fourth circle) on which Sunday falls
in the years designated by the seven first letters of
the alphabet. If we know the dominical letter for
any particular year, we may thus determine the
days of the week.[12] Leardo, however, does not
specify the years to which the dominical letters in
his calendar refer.

The eighth and ninth circles give the lengths of
the days in hours and minutes.[13] From this we see
that the vernal equinox fell on March 11, inasmuch
as the calendar was constructed before the Gregorian
reform. Finally, in the tenth circle saints’ days and
other religious festivals are shown.[14]

The four figures in the spaces between the calendar
and the outer edge of the parchment represent the
four evangelists: the lion for St. Mark, the bull for
St. Luke, the angel for St. Matthew, and the eagle
(of which only the head shows) for St. John.[15]

The Map Disk

It should be noted first that east is at the top of
the map and Jerusalem at the center; hence the long
5
axis of the Mediterranean runs vertically up the
southern half of the disk.

With the exception of the Red Sea, appropriately
colored, the seas are uniformly blue. The lands
are left the natural color of the bleached parchment
except for a fiery red region in the far south bearing
the legend: “Desert uninhabited because of heat,”
and a dreary brown waste in the far north marked:
“Desert uninhabited because of cold.” Islands
are tinted either red or yellow, with green patches
in the interior of Great Britain and Ireland. The
only other natural features depicted are mountains,
rivers, and lakes, although certain deserts are
mentioned in legends. Mountain ranges are represented
by rows of mounds, alternately red, green,
and blue, and each rising symmetrically in two or
three steps. Rivers are blue and, as frequently on
medieval maps, sometimes connect one sea with
another, or at least have common sources. A yellow
lake, labeled “Sandy Sea,” lies in the midst of the
Sahara.

Vignettes of castles, walled towns, and churches
stand for cities, kingdoms, and regions. In most
cases the names have been written upon the vignettes
themselves; since the latter are also colored
pink or green, the letters are frequently obscured
and quite illegible. Many towns and districts are
shown by red dots beside which the names are
written in ink, once black but now faded with age.
These names were inserted after the vignettes were
drawn, for in many instances they are tilted or compressed
6
to fit the available space. The draftsman
did not venture to write any name to the left of the
dot to which it belongs; as he could not write on the
blue of the seas, he was obliged to invert the map in
the case of places on south-facing coasts. Names
of islands and seas, which had to be written on water
surfaces, are inclosed in small yellow panels. The
names of the continents, the two inscriptions relating
to the polar and equatorial deserts, and the words
“Terrestrial Paradise” are in red capitals; but all
other names are in minuscule, usually without an
initial capital. Besides place names there are a
few longer legends.

Winds blowing from the four cardinal and four
intermediate points of the compass are shown by
eight faces around the edge of the disk. Those to
the north, northwest, and northeast are blue, suggesting
cold blasts from these quarters; the other
faces are ruddy.

Although decorative, the Leardo map lacks
many of the pictorial elements—animals, birds,
preposterous monsters—that enliven the blank
spaces on other medieval maps. With the exception
of the eight wind faces and the symbolic figures of
the evangelists no living creatures, whether animals
or men, are graphically represented.

Sources of Leardo’s Geography

Briefly stated, the sources of Leardo’s geography
are to be sought in the information accumulated by
the Greeks and Romans, as added to and altered
7
during the early Middle Ages by the Church
Fathers on the basis of the interpretation of the
Bible and as later augmented by the work of medieval
travelers, merchants, and sailors.

At a very early period the Greeks developed the
idea (borrowed, perhaps, from the Babylonians[16])
that the earth is a flat disk surrounded by the Ocean
Stream. This conception seems to have given rise
to a cartographic tradition followed by certain
ancient and medieval map-makers who had long
outgrown the belief that the earth is actually flat.
Thus Leardo draws a circular land mass, or oikoumene,
surrounded by a narrow hem of water. We
cannot, however, question his belief in the sphericity
of the earth, for otherwise he could hardly have
held the views expressed in the panel below the
calendar. Furthermore, his two legends relating
to the fiery and frozen deserts echo a theory that
was propounded in classical times and based on the
hypothesis of a spherical earth. This theory,
worked out in detail by Crates of Mallos, is briefly
as follows.[17] Around the equatorial circumference
of the globe is a fiery zone so intensely hot that no
man can cross it. This zone cuts off all communication
with the southern hemisphere. The north and
south polar caps are uninhabitable because of the
cold. An ocean encircling the globe from north to
south intercepts communication with the half of the
northern hemisphere opposite the oikoumene. Many
maps were made in the Middle Ages to illustrate
this conception. Leardo presumably had it in mind
8
and did not intend to represent either a flat disk or a
complete hemisphere but merely a circular portion
of the earth’s surface lying north of the equator.

In its orientation, with east and the Terrestrial
Paradise at the top and with Jerusalem at the center,
the map follows the Christian tradition of the
earlier Middle Ages. Other features reflecting the
influence of the Scriptures are Noah’s Ark resting
on top of Mt. Ararat, Mt. Sinai, the exaggerated
length of the River Jordan, and an inscription in the
far northeast referring to Gog and Magog.

Later medieval contacts between Europe and
remote lands are revealed in names derived from
Marco Polo and possibly from other Western travelers
who had visited the Orient, as well as in the Arabic
names in Asia and Africa.

Medieval navigators’ charts also influenced
Leardo. Towards the close of the thirteenth
century sailors in the Mediterranean—particularly
Italians and Catalans—began making marine maps
(known as portolan charts) that far surpassed all
earlier maps in the accurate delineation of coast
lines. The majority of these show the Mediterranean
and Atlantic coasts of Europe and of north
Africa but little of the interior of the continents and
nothing of the farther parts of Asia. Some, however,
were used as the basis for maps of the world.
On the latter the shore lines were derived from the
navigators’ charts, and the remaining regions were
compiled from other sources. The Leardo map
belongs in this category.

Among the existing maps dating from the fourteenth
and early fifteenth centuries our Leardo map
is very closely related to the group of maps drawn
by the famous Catalan cartographers of Majorca
in the Balearic Islands. In its general outlines it is
so strikingly like a Catalan map of about 1450 now
preserved in the Este Library at Modena[18] that we
must assume a common cartographic ancestor at
no great distance back. There are, however, certain
legends on the Este map that Leardo does not give,
particularly the long inscriptions and a multitude
of place names on the Mediterranean and Atlantic
coasts. Leardo’s map, on the other hand, has features
not shown on the Este map. These are of
two sorts: (1) place names in Asia and Africa, the
counterparts of which may be found on other
Catalan[19] and Italian[20] maps of the period; and (2)
river, mountain, and province names taken directly
from Ptolemy. There are also not a few names
whose origins or counterparts on other maps I have
been unable to trace.

Ptolemy’s Geography had been neglected during
the earlier Middle Ages, but the enthusiastic interest
in Greek literature which characterized the early
Renaissance had led to its translation into Latin
shortly before Leardo’s time.[21] A strict interpretation
of Ptolemy’s data would have necessitated
a complete redrafting of the outlines of the continents,
as was done on the Ptolemaic atlases of the
mid- and late fifteenth century. Leardo made no
such attempt. The extent of his concession to the
10
Ptolemaic geography was to sprinkle a few of
Ptolemy’s names over a medieval base and to add
the Rivers Indus and Oechardes in eastern Asia.[22]

The Known World According to Leardo

The numbers in parentheses correspond to the reference numbers in the Appendix (pp. 32-60) and on the key maps at the end of the book.

In the Appendix (pp. 31-67) I have tried to
identify as many as possible of the names and other
features shown on the Leardo map with existing
places, or at least with corresponding features on
other maps of the period. Here I propose to conduct
the reader on a rapid sight-seeing tour around
the map, pointing out some of the most interesting
details only.

Asia

In the extreme north (left-hand side) there is a
large structure which looks like an Italian church
with its campanile (13). The legend beneath,
suggested ultimately by a passage from Marco Polo,
runs about thus: “[This is] the sepulcher of the
[Grand Khan] and they do this when he comes to be
carried for interment: he comes accompanied by
many armed men who kill those whom they find
on the roads, and they say that the souls of these are
blessed because they accompany the soul of the
Grand Khan to another life.” Marco Polo adds
that at the time of the funeral of Mangou Khan
20,000 persons were thus slain! The actual place
of burial of the Mongol Khans was in Cathay, far
away from northern Russia where Leardo, following
11
the model of Catalan maps, draws it. European
cartographers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
seem to have known and cared little about
the relative positions of places in Asia; as Italian
merchants by this time had established contacts
with the Mongols in southern Russia, what was
more natural than to place the Mongol overlord’s
tomb in the hinterland of the Black Sea? Here there
was more available space than in the Far East, and
here on Leardo’s map the Grand Khan’s tomb could
be made symmetrically to balance Prester John’s
palace across the map in Africa (299).

South of the sepulcher we see the River Volga
(6, 7) flowing into the northwestern corner of the
Caspian (250). A branch from the east (8), perhaps
the Kama, joins the Volga where the latter bends
at a right angle to the south. East of the lower
Volga is a “desert of thirty days” (10), Polo’s
mysterious demon-haunted desert of Lop, where the
traveler hears ringing bells and other uncanny
sounds (possibly “singing sands”). Like the Grand
Khan’s tomb, this desert is also wofully misplaced,
since the actual desert of Lop lies in eastern Chinese
Turkestan. The responsibility is not Leardo’s,
however, for the Lop desert is in the same place
on the Catalan Atlas of 1375 and on the Este
map.

Farther east, beyond a row of six castles representing
towns on the borderlands of China (35-40),
we come to a gulf of the encircling ocean and to a
great system of mountains. The gulf (11), which
12
contains three islands, appears in almost the same
position and form on the Este map, where there is
a legend explaining that on the islands griffons and
falcons are found and that the natives are not
allowed to kill them without the permission of the
Grand Khan of the Tatars. This is also from
Marco Polo, who writes that the islands where the
gerfalcons are bred lie so far north that the North
Star is left behind you in the south! The mountains
southeast of the gulf make an enclosure shaped
something like a θ (42-47). Inside the northern
half of this θ a legend tells us that “this is the
province of Gog and Magog, where many tribes of
the Jews were shut in” (70), referring to the medieval
tradition that Alexander the Great enclosed
Gog and Magog—the terrible hordes of Antichrist—within
the Caspian Mountains. On many maps
the mountains of Gog and Magog in the Far East
are named thus. Leardo, however, places “M^o
Gaspio” (Caspiae Montes) (4) north of the Caspian
Sea somewhat nearer the position at which Ptolemy
had placed them. To the mountains of Gog and
Magog he assigns names derived from Ptolemy’s
northeastern Asia. Running westward from the
southern basin formed by these mountains Leardo
has added a river (49), the Oechardes of Ptolemy.
Near the point where this river emerges from the
mountain rim we see a red spot labeled “Iron
gate” (72) and, immediately to the west, two short
red marks, “Statues of Alexander” (73). The
iron gate was built by Alexander in the wall enclosing
13
Gog and Magog, and the statues represent
trumpeters set up by Alexander to keep guard
over these unclean hordes. On the Catalan maps
the trumpeters themselves are shown with their
trumpets.

Immediately west of the statues appears “Mount
Tanacomedo” (48), an amusing instance of Leardo’s
carelessness; he has here evidently copied “Montana
Comedorum” from a Ptolemaic map, combining
the last part of the first word with the first part of
the last! At the extreme eastern edge of the world
disk we see the Terrestrial Paradise (63) surrounded
by an enormous wall to keep out curious intruders.
The River Indus flows southwestward to a great
delta near the entrance of the Persian Gulf (84).
Many of the place names in India correspond with
those of the Catalan maps and in turn were derived
from Marco Polo. The scene of St. Thomas’
mission and of the early introduction of Christianity
into India is indicated by the inscription: “Here
preached St. Thomas” (113).

In central Asia, we note two rivers entering the
eastern side of the Caspian Sea, the Jaxartes (117)
and Oxus (118). The Lake of Aral, in which these
great streams actually have their outlet, seems to
have been wholly unknown to the geographers both
of antiquity and of medieval Europe. Moslem
scholars, however, were aware of its existence.
Leardo’s castles of Organa and of Organzia (Urganj)
(120, 121) at the mouth of the Jaxartes and his
place name Orcania (132) on the Oxus recall
14
Matthew Arnold’s description of the Oxus at the
close of Sohrab and Rustum:

The Tigris and Euphrates (165, 166) join, reaching
the Persian Gulf (267) as a single stream flowing
between two large edifices that represent Susiana
(172) and Babylonia (173). To the east of the
Tigris a nameless river (139) having its headwaters
in a large lake (138) also enters the Persian Gulf.
This same stream on the Catalan Atlas and on the
Este map rises in a double source, two bodies of
water that have been identified with Lakes Van and
Urmia. Leardo connects the Euphrates (166) with
the Mediterranean through the Orontes (168) and
with the Red Sea (268) through the Jordan (167).

The most prominent feature in Arabia is Mecca
(211), a large domed and towered building in good
Italian Renaissance style and presumably representing
a mosque. Several corrupted Turkish place
names (227, 228, 229, 232) along with classical
names (224, 231, 233-235) appear in Asia Minor.

The Indian Ocean is filled with yellow and red
islands. A legend asserting that pepper and spice
are found in these islands (275) comes from Marco
Polo’s description of the East Indian archipelago.
The largest of all the islands, lying off the coast of
India, is marked Taprobana (269) and probably
represents Sumatra.

Africa

Leardo’s Africa, like that of the Este map, has a
very unusual shape. Two gulfs reach inland from
the Indian Ocean and from the Atlantic, partially
cutting off the southern extremity of the continent.
On the Este map the eastern gulf is not as prominent
as that of Leardo’s map, but the western is even
deeper. Kretschmer suggests that these features
have sprung from a combination of the ancient
doctrine of a vast austral continent with Ptolemy’s
theory that the Indian Ocean is surrounded by land.[23]
Certain Arabic maps show an eastward projection
of Africa like those of the Este map and Leardo,
although they do not indicate anything corresponding
to the western gulf.

Prester John’s castle (299) bulks large in the
interior of Africa. In the twelfth century, reports
spread through Europe of the vast realm of a
fabulous Christian monarch in the heart of Asia.
By the fourteenth century, however, Prester John’s
empire had been transferred to Africa, where it
became associated with the Christian kingdom of
Abyssinia. The elaborate edifice with which Leardo
represents Prester John’s empire may be intended
for the sumptuous palace described in the thirteenth-century
Letter of Prester John.

Like most medieval cartographers, Leardo makes
the Nile (312) rise in West Africa (338). In this he
follows Herodotus, Pliny, Mela, and other ancient
authorities. Ptolemy, however, seems to have had
16
a more correct view, placing the sources of the river
in the Mountains of the Moon in eastern Africa.
Nothing daunted, most of the fifteenth-century
cartographers who used the writings of Ptolemy
boldly transferred the Mountains of the Moon to
West Africa to suit their theory of the river’s course.
Thus, on the Leardo map we see the Montes Lunae
(334) on the north coast of the West African gulf.
Thence four streams flow north into a lake, out of
which the Nile makes its way eastward and another
stream flows westward into the Atlantic. The
latter stream represents, perhaps, a combination of
Niger and Senegal, of which some faint knowledge
may have been gained through traders who had
crossed the Sahara. The lower Nile is joined by the
River “Stapus” (313), doubtless the Astapus of
Ptolemy or the modern Blue Nile. On the Este
map this tributary rises in the Terrestrial Paradise,
there placed in East Africa.

To the mountain range of North Africa, the
Carena of the Catalan maps, Leardo has added
Ptolemaic names (385-392).

The Mediterranean

The outlines of the Mediterranean (433) and
Black Seas (431) are more correct than any other
features which Leardo draws. This, of course, is
due to the fact that they were derived ultimately
from the portolan charts. Leardo preserves the
faulty orientation of the Mediterranean characteristic
of the latter. If we assume that the perpendicular
17
line extending from the wind-blower off the
west coast of Spain through Jerusalem to the wind-blower
east of the Terrestrial Paradise is intended
to run due east and west, we see that the axis
of the Mediterranean with the adjoining shores
has been turned counter-clockwise some twelve
degrees. This is probably because of failure on
the part of the makers of the original portolan charts
to take into consideration the declination of the
compass.[24]

Leardo’s place names along the Mediterranean
and Black Sea coasts are all derived from the portolan
charts, although Leardo wrote names only where
it was easy to do so without crowding. The least
successful portion of Leardo’s Mediterranean coast
is that of Spain: the shore is here unduly elongated
as compared with that of the Este Catalan map,
Barcelona (475) and Ampurias (476) being placed
too far northeast on what ought to be the French
shore line.

Europe

As on the Catalan maps, the geography of northwestern
Europe is badly distorted. The Seine (448),
Rhine (487), and Elbe (488) all flow parallel with
one another but slightly to the south of west. The
course of the Danube (552) with its southern
branches is more true to nature. The Baltic Sea
(577) and Scandinavia are drawn much as on the
Este map.

NOTES

Fig. 2—from manuscript of the Doge Marco Foscarini.

Fig. 3—from manuscript of Giovanni Agostini.

APPENDIX

DETAILED COMMENTS ON THE MAP

Explanation

The following commentary is divided into sections numbered
with Roman numerals corresponding to the Roman numerals on
the general key map (Fig. 4, at end of book). Each item is
given an Arabic numeral which corresponds to the Arabic
numerals on the detailed key maps (Figs. 5-10, at end of book).

For each feature which bears a place name and for each longer
legend on the Leardo map the transcription is given below in italic.
Many of these transcriptions, particularly of names written on
edifices (castles, churches, etc.), are mere guesses, owing to the
obscurity of the original. Particular difficulty was encountered
in distinguishing between the letters a, e, o, c, and t, and between
s and f. A clue to the reading of many names, however, was
furnished by other maps contemporary with or earlier than that
of Leardo. Illegible letters are indicated by dots; doubtful
readings by (?); interpolated letters are enclosed in square
brackets. Illeg. means “wholly illegible.”

No data beside the transcriptions are given for such names as
f. tigris, corsicha, galizia, etc., the meaning of which is obvious.

In the case of the less familiar names, the forms in which they
appear on certain other medieval maps are supplied. In general,
if a name occurs on the Catalan Atlas of 1375 (CA), on the Catalan
map in the Este Library at Modena (CE), or on the Ptolemaic
maps (Ptol.), no attempt is made to indicate its occurrence
elsewhere.

Each doubtful identification with a medieval name is preceded
by ?. For names along the coast of the Mediterranean, the Black
Sea, and the Atlantic, references are given to the pages in
Kretschmer’s Die italienischen Portolane des Mittelalters (= Kret.,
Port.) where the variant spellings of these names as they are
found in the more important portolans and portolan charts are
listed and the places identified with modern localities.

Identifications with modern localities are indicated by =, or =mod.;
with well-known ancient localities by =anct. Suggested
but doubtful identifications are preceded by =?, and names for
which I have been unable to find or to suggest any identification
with a modern locality are indicated by =? standing alone.

With the identification of Ptolemaic and medieval names in
the Far East, in Africa, and in Scandinavia, we enter upon a
hazardous and controversial field. While in many instances I
have indicated identifications that have been made by competent
scholars, needless to say, these should not be accepted as final.
One cannot but feel that where an identification is based upon
mere similarity in sound it is often a case of one man’s guess being
as good as another’s. The scope and purpose of the present
study does not permit of an exhaustive examination of these
questions of detail.

For more complete bibliographical data relating to publications
referred to in abbreviated form in the key and for an explanation
of the abbreviations, see pp. 63-67. In bibliographical
references volume numbers are indicated in lower case Roman,
book numbers in upper case Roman, and chapter and page
numbers in Arabic type.

On the key maps where there are long rows of place names the
first and last numbers only are indicated, with an arrow connecting
them. This is done to avoid overcrowding.

The Arabic numerals are in general placed in positions corresponding
to those of the legends on the original. This leads
in some instances to the separation of the numbers from the
symbols to which they relate (e.g., 73).

I. Northern Asia

Mountains

1 M^o. alani: Alani Montes in Scythia intra Imaum Montem,
NE of Caspian Sea, Ptol. (VI, 14: 3 (FA 22));=Mugodzhar hills
in the Kirghiz steppes, a southern continuation of the Ural Mountains (PW, i, 1281).

2 M^o. ripei: Rhipaei Montes, in which the
Don rises, between Sea of Azof and Baltic, Ptol. (III, 5:15
(FA 17)). See also 596 and PW, 2nd ser., i, 902-904.

3 M^o. norosus: Norossus Mons, NE of Caspian Sea, Ptol. (VI,
14:5 (FA 22)).

4 M^o. gaspio: Caspii Montes, between Greater
Armenia and Media, Ptol. (V, 13:3 (FA20)); transferred to the
far northeast as the haunt of Gog and Magog on medieval maps,
including CA and CE. See Kret., CE, 202-206.

Rivers

5 f. Tanai: Tanais Fluvius, Ptol. (V, 9:1, etc. (FA17));=Don.

6 f. rumus: ?Rhymmus Fluvius, which enters the Caspian E of
the Rha (Volga), Ptol. (VI, 14:2, 4 (FA22));=Volga.

7 f. ras: Rha Fluvius, Ptol. (V, 9:12, etc. (FA22)); see PW, 2nd ser., i,
1-8;=upper Volga.

8 Unnamed eastern tributary of the Ras;=Kama or Viatka.

Other Natural Features

9 zizera: Zizera, shown as an island on CD and CA;=the
jazira or island of Peskov in the Volga near Tsaritsin (Yule,
Cath., i, 308); Hamy (395) suggests Sizran.

10 dixerto de zornade
| trenta (desert of thirty days). Marco Polo’s desert of Lop, said
to take one month to cross (Polo, i, 196); a long inscription on CA
in the same locality describes this desert and the devils’ voices
heard in it. See 33.

11 On this gulf as it is shown on CE appears
the legend: “On these islands there are many beautiful
griffons and falcons, and the inhabitants of the islands do not
venture to seize them without the permission of the Grand Khan,
lord of the Tatars” (Kret., CE, 208; from Polo, i, 270).

Edifices

(A) North of the River Ras and its Eastern Tributary

12 zimachi|a(?): ?Sarmatia;=Russia. See also 600.

13 Tomb of the Grand Khan, beneath which an inscription reads
thus: q … li sie El sepulchro del | [gran can] et fano questa | …
che quando El uen | portato a sepelir El uen acom|pagniato da
34
molti homeni | armadi Iquali ozideno queli(?) | Itrouano su le
strade et | dicono che le anime de coloro sono Benede|te per che Le
aconpa|gniano Lanima del gran | can aunaltra uita. Similar
inscription in corresponding position on CE (209-210) from Polo
(i, 246, 250-251).

14 R^o. de mas … (?): ?Moscaor, CD;=Moscow
(Hamy, 394).

15 cast. | ra.(?): ?Castrama, CA; Castrema,
CE;=Kostroma (Hamy, 395).

16 ezina(?): ?duplicate of 18.

17 alla … (?): ?Allania, N of Black Sea, CA;=country
of the Alans (Hallb., 13, 14). See also 604.

18 etzi|na: Polo (i,
223-225); Cordier (Ser M. P., 53-55) places Polo’s Etzina in SW
Mongolia, “on the river Hei-shui, called Etsina [=Etsin Gol] by
the Mongols.” See also 16.

(B) Between the Rivers Ras, Rumus, and Tanai

19 trachia: Torachi, CA;=Torjok (Hamy, 395).

20 tufer: Tifer, CA;=Tver, capital of an important Russian principality
and seat of a bishop in the Middle Ages.

21 botnia(?):=?Bothnia; ?duplicate of 608.

22 zitere|ae(?): ?[Ar]çetreca, Vat.;=Astrakhan
(Pullé, Vat., 8).

23 racoba(?): =?

(C) South Side of East Branch of River Rumus

24 borga: Borgar, CA; Bolgara, Polo (i, 4, 6-8);=med. Bolghar,
on the Volga 90 m. below Kazan (Yule, Polo, i, 7).

25 Iornâ: Ioram, CA;=?Churmansk (Shurminsk) on the Viatka (Yule,
Cath., i, 307).

26 paschati(?): Pascherti, CA;=Bashkir. See Hallb., 69-70; Yule, Polo, ii, 492.

27 fasa(?): Fachatim, CA; =?Viatka (Yule, Cath., i, 307).

28 sebur(?): Sebur, CA;=?Sibir,
Siberia. See Hallb., 465-466; Yule, Cath., i, 307.

(D) North and Northeast of Mt. Gaspio

29 Marm|orea: Marmorea, CA;=? See Yule, Cath., i, 308.

30 la … |te(?):=?

31 fugur(?): Sugur, CA. See Hallb., 489;=?

32 zin.. |lel(?): Cigicalas, CA; ?Province of
Chingintalas, Polo, (i, 212-213);=?region between Lake Baikal
and Kamul (Yule, Polo, i, 214-215; Cordier, Ser M. P., 51-52).

33 Lop: On CA Ciutat de Lop N of Lake Yssicol; also a long
35
legend (from Polo, i, 196-197) describing Lop as a city where
travelers rest themselves and their beasts and supply themselves
with provisions before crossing the desert. See Hallb., 316-318;=vicinity
of Lob Nor between Chinese Turkestan and the Gobi.
See also 10.

34 findaz|ion: ?Sindachu, Polo (i, 285); Sinacius,
CA;=modern Hsüan-hua, not far from Kalgan on the Great Wall
(Yule, Polo, i, 295).

(E) Row West and South of the Gulf of the Three Islands

35 canp|iton: Campicion, Polo (Pauthier’s edit., i, 165);
Campichu, Polo (Yule’s edit., i, 219); Campicion=Chancjo of
CA (Cordier, CA, 35);=?Kan-chou in Kan-su (Yule, Polo, i,
220; Pauthier, l. c.; Cordier, l. c.; see also Hallb., 107).

36 sia … r(?):?Siacur, CA;=?

37 tand|uc: Tanduch, CA; Tanduc
or Tenduc was the name of a plain, a province, and a city belonging
to Prester John; in the province was the country of Gog and
Magog (Polo, i, 240, 284);=? See Yule, Polo, i, 285-288; Paul
Pelliot in Journ. Asiatique, May-June, 1922, pp. 595-596.

38 suchc|hur(?): ?Sukchur in Tangut, Polo (i, 217);=Su-chou in
Kan-su (Yule, Polo, i, 218).

39 rabo|.ibi(?):=?

40 tign|infor:
?Chingianfu, Polo (ii, 176-177);=Chinkiang-fu (Yule, Polo, ii, 177-178).

Legend Between Rivers Ras and Tanai

41 Idolatri: On CE a legend applying to city of Castrema (see
15) explains that idolaters there worship a metal idol without head
or hands (Kret., CE, 210).

II. Far Eastern Asia

The surface of the map northwest of the Terrestrial Paradise
has been rubbed in such a way that many of the names are illegible.

Mountains

The mountain system here corresponds essentially with that of
CE; Ptolemaic names have been given to mountains and rivers.

42 sa … s(?):=?

43 M^o. osmire(?): Asmiraei Montes in
36
Serica, Ptol. (VI, 16: 2 (FA23));=?eastern end of T‘ien Shan
with the small low hill chains to the south (PW, ii, 1702).

44 M^o. Tagurus: Tagurus Mons in Serica
(Θάγουρον ὄρος),
Ptol., l. c.

45 M^o. otorocoras: Ottorocoras Mons in Serica (ibid.).

46 M^o.
semantinus: Semanthini Montes in India intra Gangem, Ptol.
(VII, 2:8 (FA26));=?coast range of Annam (PW, iv, 2050;
see also Gerini, 376).

47 M^o. anibi: Annibi Montes, Ptol. (VI,
16:2 (FA23));=?eastern T‘ien Shan above Qara Shar and Turfan (PW, i, 2258).

48 M^o. Tanacomedo: ?[Mon-]Tana Comedo
[rum] (ἣ ὀρεινὴ Κωμηδών) in Sogdiana, Ptol. (VI, 12: 3 (FA22)).

Rivers

No rivers are shown in this region on either CA or CE;
Leardo was evidently impelled to add them by the study of
Ptolemy’s Geography.

49 f. ocardis: Oechardes Fl. of Serica, Ptol. (VI, 16: 3 (FA23)).

50 f…(?)=?

51 f. danas: Demus Fl. of Sogdiana, a branch
of the Jaxartes (see 117), Ptol. (VI, 12: 3 (FA22)).

52 f. bascatis: Bascatis Fl. of Sogdiana, also a branch of the Jaxartes (ibid.).

Lake

53 Illeg.: Lacus Issicol, Leardo, 1448; Yssicol, CA;=?either
Lake Balkash or Issiq Köl (Hallb., 563-564).

Edifices

(A) Northwest of the Terrestrial Paradise

54 sachai: ?Sacae, Ptol. (VI, 13 (FA22)).

55 s … de | iaca(?): =?

56-62 All illeg.

63 PARADIXO TERESTO: The Terrestrial
Paradise is placed in Africa on the earlier Leardo maps as
well as on CE. See Wright, Lore, 261-263.

(B) West of Terrestrial Paradise

64 sina: ?Sinae, Ptol. (VII, 3 (FA26));=China (see Wright,
op. cit., 271).

65 R^o de …|.ge(?): =?

66 Tango | … ti(?):
?Tangut, Polo (i, 203-205);=Kansu and southern Mongolia
(Hallb., 507-508).

67 R^o Tarse: CA and CE have legends to the
37
effect that from Tarsia came the three Magi (Kret., CE, 197-198;
Hallb., 515-517, 267-268);=vicinity of the T‘ien Shan (Hallb.,
l.c.);=eastern Turkestan (Kret., l.c.).

Place Names

68 pinca(?): ?Pinzu, Mauro (Zurla, 36; name omitted on Santarem’s
copy of Mauro map in his Atlas, 45); ?Piju, Polo (ii,
141; see Hallb., 409);=P‘ei-chou (Yule, Polo, l.c.).

69 ruoenci(?):=?

Longer Inscriptions

70 prouinzia de og magog doue | foron(?) serati molti Trib …
de | Judei (province of Gog and Magog where many tribes of Jews
were enclosed): Related legends on CA (Buchon and Tastu, 145-146)
and CE (Kret., CE, 202-206); see Hallb., 260-265. On
legend of Gog and Magog see also Wright, Lore, 287-288.

71 Idolatri: A reflection of the idolaters of the Grand Khan’s domains
frequently mentioned by Marco Polo.

72 porte de fero: The iron gates erected by Alexander the Great to enclose Gog and
Magog, shown on CE; see 70.

73 statoe de alesandr^o: The statues
of trumpeters set up by Alexander to keep guard over Gog and
Magog, shown on CA and CE; see 70.

74 dixerto doue eno | molti grifoni:
Griffons were placed in Scythia by many classical
and medieval writers; see Hallb., 232-234.

75 qu … si manza | carne de omo
(here they eat the flesh of man); Cannibals were
placed in these regions by many classical and medieval writers;
they were often associated with Gog and Magog; see Hallb., 30-32.

III. India

Mountain

76 M^o. meandrus: Maeandrus Mons in Farther India, Ptol.
(VII, 2:8 (FA26));=?Mahudaung mountains in Upper Burma
(Gerini, 51, 832). No corresponding mountain shown on either
CA or CE.

Rivers

The river system is more elaborate than, although somewhat
analogous in its general pattern to, that of CA and CE. The
38
Indus and its branches seem to be lacking on the Catalan maps.
I am unable to trace the origin of several of the river names.

77 f. priolada:=?

78 f. tindarus:=?

79 f. masa|rus:=?

80 f. sumas:=?

81 f. bindas: Bindas Fl. of India intra Gangem
Fluvium (Ptol., VII, 1, 6 (FA25)); possibly the name is related to
that of Bhiwandi near Bassein, N of Bombay (Tomaschek, in PW,
iii, 268-269).

82 f. madus: Namadus Fl. of India intra Gangem
Fluvium, Ptol. (VII, 1:5 (FA25)).

83 f. amarus: Amarus is
given as another name for the Indus on Vat. (Pullé, Vat., 16-17);
no Amarus Fl. in Ptol.

84 f. Indicus: The course of the Indus as
Leardo draws it is derived from Ptol. (VII, 1:2 (FA25)).

Edifices

85 predon | corcon(?): =?

86 terisin|ti(?): =?

87 zatin(?): ?Zayton, CA; Zaytom, CE; Zayton, Polo (ii, 234-237), an important
medieval Chinese seaport;=? See Yule, Polo, ii, 237-242;
Cordier, CA, 48-49.

88 cansai(?): Ciutat de Cansay, CA;
Kinsay, Polo (ii, 185-193, 200-208, 215-216);=Hangchow (Yule,
Polo, ii, 193; Cordier, CA, 41-42).

89 India.

90 R^o de col|onbi: Pruuinesa Columbo, CA;
Coilum, Polo (ii, 375-376); see
Hallb., 153-156;=Quilon (Yule, Polo, ii, 377-380).

91 balesan: Balaxan (Polo, Ramusio’s edit., 1583, according to Hallb., 62);
Cjutat de Baldassia, CA; Baldacia, CE;=Badakshan (see Yule,
Polo, i, 157-163).

92 taseta: ?Rey del Tauris, CA; Rey Tauris,
CE;=Tabriz (Hallb., 518-522).

Place Names on Coast

93 penta: Penta, next place E of Bangala, CA; Pentam, an
island, Polo (ii, 280); see also Hallb., 411-413;=Bintan (Yule,
Polo, ii, 280);=“the Be-Tumah (Island) of the Arab Navigators,
the Tamasak Island of the Malays; and, in short, the Singapore
Island of our day” (G. E. Gerini, in Journ. Royal Asiatic Soc.,
July, 1905, p. 509; see also Cordier, Ser M. P., 105); Gerini,
740, suggests that Penta of CA “might have been the historical
continuation of the Ptolemaic” Pentapolis (Ptol., VII, 2:2),
which he places near the mouth of the Chittagong, at the head of
39
the Bay of Bengal.

94 taine: ‘cjutat de cayna | acj finis catayo,’
CA; see Cordier, CA, 39.

95 bangala: Bangala, CA; Polo (ii, 98-99);=Bengal.

96 ianpa: Janpa, CA; Chamba, Polo (ii,
266-268); see Hallb., 173-174;=Annamite coast (Cordier, in
Yule, Polo, ii, 270);=C‘ha-ban, the ancient Cham capital (Gerini, 240).

97 ligo: Lingo, CA; ?Locac, Polo (ii, 276) (this identification
suggested by Pullé, CE, 46);=?Siam, Borneo, or Malay
Peninsula (see Yule, Polo, ii, 277-280; Hallb., 486; Cordier, Ser M. P., 104-105).

98 macabin: ?Mahabar, Mauro; Maabar, Polo (ii. 331-332);=Coromandel Coast (Hallb., 320-323).

99 gr … (?): =?

100 darsi: =?

101 caruzia: =?

102 butifilli: Butifilis, CA; Mutfili, Polo (ii, 362);=Motupalli (Yule, Polo., ii, 362).

103 caclur(?): =?

104 coluto: =Quilon (see also 90).

105 cormos: ?Hormuz (see 158) misplaced: “The c is constantly substituted
for an aspirate by the Italian travellers (e.g. Polo’s Cormos for
Hormuz)” (Yule, Cath., ii, 242). See Hallb., 242-246;=Ormuz.

106 elli: Elly, CA; Ely, Polo (ii, 385-386);=Mt. D’Eli or Delly
(Yule, Cath., iv, 74-75).

107 maganor: Manganor, CA;=Mangalore (Yule, Cath. iv, 73).

108 diegei: Diogil in interior of India,
CA;=Deogiri, med. name of Daulatabad (see Yule, Cath. i, 310; iv, 21).

109 cora: ?Cory Promontorium, Ptol. (VII, 1:11(FA25));=Cape
Calymere (E. H. Bunbury, A History of Ancient Geography
(2 vols., London, 1879), ii, 474).

110 pez.mor(?): Pescamor,
CA;=“perhaps Barçelor” (Yule, Cath., i, 309; iv, 73).

111 zitabor: Chintabor, CA;=St. John’s Point (Yule, Cath., i, 309; iv, 64-65).

112 parzinar(?): Paychinor, CA;=Barkur (Yule, Cath., i. 309; iv, 73).

Longer Inscriptions

113 qui predico | san Tom|axo (here preached St. Thomas):
On the traditions regarding St. Thomas in India see Yule, Polo,
ii. 353-359; Wright, Lore, 74, 272, 275, 279.

114 qui nase|le
noxe | dindia (here grow the nuts of India): In the Ramusian
version of Polo (ii, 354) occurs the following statement in connection
with the shrine of St. Thomas: “The Christians who have
charge of the church have a great number of Indian Nut trees,
whereby they get their living.”

115 India dixer|ta.

IV. Central Asia

Mountain

116 M^o. caropanus: Paropanisus Mons, Ptol. (VI, 11:5, etc.
(FA25));=Hindu Kush (Hallb., 393). See also 123.

Rivers

117 f. Ixartes: Jaxartis Fl., Ptol. (VI, 12:1, etc. (FA22)); shown
but not named on CE; Flum d’Organçi, CA; see Hallb., 280-281.
On ancient and medieval knowledge of the Aral Sea, into which
the Jaxartes flows, see W. Barthold, Aral, in Encycl. of Islam,
Vol. 1, Leiden and London, 1913, pp. 419-420.

118 f. Oxius: Oxus Fl., Ptol. (VI, 9:1, etc. (FA22)); ?Flum Amo, CA; not
shown on CE; see Hallb., 24-26.

119 f. rius: Areios or Arius Fl., Ptol. (VI, 17:2 (FA24)); see Hallb., 25, 47; PW, ii, 623;=?Hari
Rud.

Edifices

120 organa: ?Dupl. of 121.

121 organ|zia: Flum d’Organçi,
CA; see Hallb., 547-549; Yule, Cath., iii, 82;=Urganj, famous
medieval city of Khorasmia on the lower Oxus.

122 sagom|oa(?):=?Samarkand (see Hallb., 445-448).

Place Names

123 paraponixa; Paropanisades, Ptol. (VI, 18, etc. (FA24));=northern
Afghanistan (Besnier, 573). See also 116.

124
archuxia: Arachosia, Ptol. (VI, 20, etc. (FA24));=Afghanistan
(Besnier, 69). See Hallb., 33-34.

125 arzeglia: =? See 129.

126
dragiana: Drangiana, Ptol. (VI, 19, etc. (FA24));=Seistan (Hallb., 192).

127 margana: Margiana, Ptol. (VI, 10, etc.
(FA22));=environs of modern Merv (Besnier, 464).

128 archuxia: Dupl. of 124.

129 arzegia: Dupl. of 125.

130 mesagit: Massagitae, Ptol. (VI, 10:2 (FA22)); a people of Scythia mentioned
also by Pliny, Solinus, etc. (Hallb., 339-340).

131 bocasan: ?Bocar, CA;=Bukhara (Hallb., 79-80).

132 orcania:
Probably a repetition of 120 and 121; might, however, be Hyrcania,
Ptol. (VI, 9 (FA22)); see Hallb., 253-254;=part of Mazanderan (Besnier, 376).

133 samaria:=?Samarcand (see 122);
Hallb., 448, suggests Samaria in Palestine misplaced, but adds:
“pourtant la chose n’est pas probable.”

134 zagaspia: Zaraspa,
CA; Zariaspa or Zarispa in Bactriana, Ptol. (VI, 11:7 (FA22));=Balkh
(Besnier, 117). See also Kret., Walsp., 385.

135 amol: This name is applied to various towns and to a river in central
Asia on CA and Mauro. Perhaps it represents a confusion of the
name of the town of Amol in Mazanderan with that of the Amu
Daria (Oxus). See Hallb., 24-26.

136 seno: ?Sena or Sina in Margiana, Ptol. (VI, 10:3 (FA22)).

137 lidazel:=?

V. Persia

Lake and River

138, 139 Unnamed lake and river. On CA and CE the river
rises in two lakes, the eastern and western being named on CA
Mar Dargis (=Lake Van) and Mar de Marga (=Lake Urmia)
respectively (Hallb., 43-44, 337-338). On Piz. the river is Flum
Chexi; if Chexi is Khuzistan (see 164) the river possibly represents
the Karun.

Desert

140 Sarmania | dixerta: Carmania Deserta, Ptol. (VI,
6(FA20));=interior of the modern Kerman. See also 153.

Edifices

(A) South Shore of Caspian Sea

141 dise.n(?): Deystam, CA;=?Dehistan, a district of Mazanderan
(Hallb., 188).

142 mexa|ndra: Masandra, CA;=Mazanderan.

143 galen: Cap de Cilan, Cillam, Gellam, CA;=Gilan
(Hallb., 217-218).

144 aspaur(?): Achdio, CA; Asidio, CE;=?

145 godasp|i: Gudaspu, Con. (59); Codaspi, Piz.;=?

146 Turis: Rey del Tavris in central Persia, CA;=Tabriz (Hallb.,
518-522). See also 92.

(B) Interior

147 trachse: ?Dupl. of 67.

148 zarma|tia: ?Sarmatia, misplaced; see, however, 12, 600.

149 siria: Ciutat de Ssiras, CA; Siras, CE;=Shiraz (Hallb., 470-471).

150 parthi|a: Parthia, Ptol. (VI, 5 (FA20));=Khurasan (Hallb., 394-395)

151 R^o odmi|n(?): =?

152 R^o de persia: Persis, Ptol. (VI, 4 (FA20));=Persia.

(C) Persian Gulf Coast

153 Sarmania abitada: Carmania, Ptol. (VI, 8 (FA20));=Kerman. See also 140.

Place Names, North Coast of Persian Gulf

154 semenar: Femenat, CA; Semenat, Polo (ii, 398-399);=Somnath
(Yule, Polo, ii, 400).

155 demonela: Damonela, CA;=Daibul (Yule, Cath., i, 309).

156 chetimo: Chetimo, CA;=Kij (ibid.).

157 oncon: Nocran, CA (omitted on Choix de doc. reproduction of CA);=Makran (ibid.).

158 ormixon: Hormision, CA;=“Old Hormuz on the Continent” (ibid.). See 105.

159 traman: Creman, CA;=Kerman. See 153.

160 usu: Ussn, CA; “Husn Amarat? (see Edri., 1, 379 [this reference is
to P. A. Jaubert, Géographie d’Edrisi, traduite de l’arabe en
français (Recueil de voyages et de mémoires publié par la Société
de Géographie, Vols. 5 and 6, Paris, 1836-1840), i, 363, 390])
Any castle is Husn” (ibid.);=Essina (Lelewel, ii, 55).

161 cadome(?): =?

162 seros: Serans, CA; Sustar, Piz.;=?Siraf
(Yule, l.c.); Sustar, Mediceo;=Shushtar (ibid.);=?“rivière
Schirin” (Lelewel, l.c.).

163 … ch … (?): =?

164 chesi: Chesi, CA;=Khuzistan (Yule, Cath., i, 308); shown as an island
on Piz.;=“Scheich”(?Sheikh Shu‘aib Island) (La R., i, 65).

VI. Mesopotamia and Syria

Rivers and Lakes

165-168 The river system is more accurately drawn than
on CA and CE, inasmuch as the Euphrates and Tigris join
before reaching the Persian Gulf. On CA they enter the Gulf
separately; on CE the Euphrates swings around into Egypt,
entering the Nile just above Babilonia (Cairo). All three maps
show a connection between the Euphrates and Mediterranean
through the Orontes, but only Leardo makes the Jordan communicate
43
with the Euphrates. On CA and CD an island, Zizera
(see also 9), on CD said to be the site of Nineveh, is shown in the
Euphrates, but on CE and Leardo this has become a lake. On
CA the three lakes along the Jordan are labeled from N to S:
Aquaron (=Lake Hule), Mar de Gallilea (=Sea of Galilee), and
Mar Gamora (sea of Gomorrah,=Dead Sea).

165 f. tigris.

166 f. eufrates.

167 f. Jordano.

168 f … soldi|no: =Orontes (Kret., Port., 670).

Edifices

(A) Along the Tigris

169 moxor: Moror, CA; Moxor, Dalorto map (La R., i, 64);=Mosul (ibid.).

170 apfes: Aipsa, Vat.; Suq al-Ahvaz of the Arabic
itineraries (Pullé, Vat., 13, 31, 34).

171 Inporio | asiriorum
(empire of the Assyrians); Assyria, Ptol. (VI, 1 (FA20)).

172 seruxia|na: Susiana, Ptol. (VI, 3 (FA20));=Khuzistan (Besnier, 726).

173 babilo …(?): Babylon or Babylonia. See also 323.

(B) In Syria

174 ga …| a(?).

175 Jeruxalem: On the placing of Jerusalem
at the center of the earth’s surface see Wright, Lore, 259-261.

176 c …r(?): =?

Place Names

(A) In Mesopotamia

177 baldac: Ciutat de Baldach, CA;=Baghdad.

178 mexapo: =?Mesopo[tamia].

179 birzi: =?Birejik.

180 megan: ?Mogan, Jordanus of Sévérac (Jourdain Catalani de Sévérac, Mirabilia
descripta: Les merveilles de l’Asie, edit. by Henri Cordier, Paris,
1925, 93-94; Hallb., 356-357);=plain of Mugan near junction of
Araxes and Kur.

181 malaxim: Malasia, CA:=Malatia.

(B) Interior of Syria

182 alepo: =Aleppo.

183 antozia(?): =?Antioch.

(C) Syrian Coast

184 soldin: =Suweidiyeh, near ancient Seleucia (Kret., Port., 670).

185 laliza: =Latakia (ibid.).

186 tortoxa: =Tartus (ibid.).

187 tripoli: =Tripoli (ibid., 671).

188 zibele: =Jebeleh (ibid.).

189 baruto: =Beirut (ibid.).

190 achre: =Acre (ibid., 672).

191 gafo: =Jaffa (ibid.).

192 larixa: =El-‘Arish (ibid., 673).

VII. Arabia

Mountains

193 M^o. sinai.

194 M^o. felizis arabie: Montana Arabiae
Felicis, which, according to Ptol. (V, 17: 3; V, 19: 1 (FA19)),
divides Arabia Petraea and Arabia Deserta on the north from
Arabia Felix on the south;=Ash-Shera’ mountains (see Alois
Musil, The Northern Heǧâz, New York, 1926, 255; the same,
Arabia Deserta, New York, 1927, 502-503).

195 M^o. prionous:
Prionotus Mons on S coast of Arabia, Ptol. (VI, 7:10 (FA21));=?

Edifices

(A) On Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean

196 bazar: Bassara, CA;=Basra.

197 golfta|ta: Golfaca,
CA; Golfathan, Con. (42);=? See Jiménez de la Espada, 205.

198 Ieita (?): Jepta, CA; Egepta, Con. (42);=?

199 cabat: Cabat, CA; Con. (42); ?Calatu, Polo (ii, 449-451);=Qalhat in
‘Oman (Yule, Polo, ii, 451; Hallb., 97-98).

200 letrob(?): Ietrib, CA;=?Yathrib, the ancient name for Medina, misplaced.

201 arabia.

(B) Red Sea Coast

202 senea: Seneha, CA;=San‘a (Hallb., 468-469).

203 fidom|at: Adromant, CA;=?Hadhramaut.

204 amei: Mey, CA; =?

205 ald.|p(?): Adep, Adem, CA;=Aden (Hallb., 8-10).

206 eta|…(?): =?

207 gaida(?): Guja, CA;=?Jidda.

208 naba|tes: =Nabataeans (Besnier, 509).

209 (?) Illeg.: =?

(C) Interior

210 sabea: Arabia Sebba, CA (which gives an illustration and
legend relating to the Queen of Sheba);=Saba or Sheba.

211 La mecha: Ciutat de Mecha, with legend, CA;=Mecca.

Regional Names

212 Arabia | dixerta: Arabia Deserta, Ptol. (V, 19 (FA19)).

213 Arabia | petroxa: Arabia Petraea, Ptol. (V, 17 (FA19)).

VIII. Asia Minor

River

214 ff. rosso: Odoric of Pordenone, Palatine version (Yule,
Cath., ii, 102, n. 4); Pegalotti, 7 (ibid., iii, 164);=“the tributary
of the Araxes, the Kizil Chai which waters Khoi” (Cordier, in the
same, iii, 164, n. 1).

Edifice

215 Tr…(?): Troia;=Troy.

Place Names

(A) Interior

216 saustia: Sauasto, CA;=anct. Sebastea, mod. Sivas.

217 Tabaca|san: =?

218 suilia (?): =?

219 sis: Scisia, CA;=Sis.

220 almesia: =Amasia.

221 laranda: =anct. Laranda, mod. Karaman.

222 anguri(?): =Angora.

223 aladachia: =anct. Laodicea Combusta, mod. Ladik.

224 filadelfi|a: =anct. Philadelphia, mod. Ala Shehr.

225 castamena: =Kastamuni.

226 congre: =Changri.

227 achrioteri(?): =?Ak Shehr.

228 Jachrie(?): =?

229 Janisari: =Yeni Shehr.

230 cariacasar: =?Afiun Qarahisar.

231 nicomidia.

232 bursa: =Brusa.

233 lizia: =anct. Lycia.

234 perga|mo: =anct. Pergamum.

235 licn|ia(?): =?anct. Lycaonia, misplaced.

(B) Black Sea Coast

236 Tripoli: =Tireboli (Kret., Port., 648).

237 cirisonda: =Kiresün (ibid.).

238 lauatiza: Lauona, CA;=Vona Bay (ibid.).

239 simiso: =Samsun (ibid.).

240 sinopi: =anct. Sinope, mod. Sinob. (ibid.).

241 do..s..l..(?): Docastelli (ibid., 650);=Kidros (ibid.).

242 borli: =?Boli (which, however, is in the interior).

243 samastro: =Amasra (ibid.).

244 chio: Thio, CA;=anct. Thios Prom. (ibid.).

245 punta rachia: =anct. Heraclea Pontica, mod. Bender Ergli (ibid.).

246 algiro: =Anadoli Kawak (ibid.).

(C) Aegean coast

247 lesm|ire: =Smyrna (ibid., 653).

IX. Armenia, Caucasia, and Southeastern Russia

Mountain

248 Mt. Ararat is labeled larche de noe.

Rivers

249 A river connecting the Sea of Azof with the Caspian is
shown on CA and CE, but without the branches reaching the
Black Sea; on Piz. this river is named Flm’ Cicopo (the Cicopa of
CA and other portolan maps being a north branch of the Kuban
delta; Kret., Port., 646);=Kuban River (ibid.).

Caspian Sea

250 Mare de Abachu(?) (Sea of Baku): Mar de Sarra e de Bacu,
CA; Mar de Sala e de Bacu, CE.

Edifices

(A) West Coast of the Caspian Sea

251 Illeg.: =?

252 famach|i: Siamachi, Vat. (Pullé, 9);=?Shemakha
(ibid., 8, n. 4).

253 baram|achi: Barmachu, CA;=?

254 abachu: Bacu, CA;=Baku.

(B) Between the Black and Caspian Seas

255 porte | deuee(?): ?Porte de Fer (see 72 and Hallb., 414).

256 armin|ia.

257 armin|ia: Dupl. of 256.

(C) Coasts of Sea of Azof and Black Sea

258 ..na(?): =?Tana, important medieval commercial city at
mouth of the Don;=mod. Azof (Kret., Port., 645; Hallb., 503-504).

259 trab|exon|da: =Trebizond (Kret., Port., 648).

Place Names in Southeastern Russia

260 seuastopoli: =anct. and med. Sebastopolis on coast of
Abkhasia (Kret., Port., 647).

261 auogaxi: =Abkhasia (ibid., 646).

262 mengreli: Mingrelians or Mingrelia (ibid., 647).

263 zichia: =“regional name of Circassia” (ibid., 646).

264 copa: =Copa (ibid.).

265 matraca: =Matrega, Genoese trading town on Taiman Peninsula (ibid.).

X. Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea

266 Ma….dicho: Mare Indicho.

267 Mare de persia.

268 M…….: Mare rosso.

269 … Taprobana: Trapobana, CA, CE; the Taprobane of the ancient geographers was
Ceylon; in the Middle Ages the name was probably applied to
Sumatra (Cordier, CA, 57-58; Kret., CE, 107; for suggested
identifications of places shown in Trapobana on CA see Gerini, 646-647).

270 famda|bo(?): ?Regio Femarum (for Feminarum)
on island of Iana, CA, which is perhaps a reflection of Polo’s story
of the Male and Female Islands (ii, 404-405); see also Gerini, 647, n. 2.

271 Illeg.: =?

272 m…(?): ?Malao, on both Trapobana and Iana, CA; Mallao, on Jaua, CE:=?.

273 leuia: Leroa, on Trapobana, CA;=?

274 y. caina: Caynam, CA, CE;=?Andaman Islands (Buchon and Tastu, p. 137).

275 ixole doue na[se] p | et altre spe[z] ie
(islands where pepper and other spices are produced): Legend on CA runs: “In
the sea of the Indies are 7548 islands of which we cannot enumerate here the
marvelous riches, not only in gold and silver but also in spices and
precious stones”; from Polo (ii, 264), who also, like Leardo,
mentions pepper.

276 y^a de ceridus: Ceredim, CE; ?Serendib, Arabic name for Ceylon.

277 y ..corto(?): ?Setrocha, CE;=?Socotra.

278 Nameless island, corresponds in shape and position
to the Iana of CA and Jaua of CE;=Java (Cordier, CA, p.
61);=Sumatra (Gerini, p. 834).

279 Legends on this island illegible; it is, however, similar in shape to Salam or Silan of CE;=?Ceylon.

280 Illeg.: =?

281 y .. siliraoil(?): =?

XI. Southern Africa

Mountains

282 M^o elefans: Elephas Mons on the east coast of Africa,
Ptol. (IV, 7:10 (FA15));=Ras el-Fil (Vivien de St. Martin, 288).

283 Monti doue se caua m … ro [molto oro, Leardo,
1448] (mountain where much gold is mined): Pliny (Nat. hist.,
VI, 189) mentions the abundance of gold in Ethiopia between
Napata and the Red Sea.

Edifices

(A) South Shore of the Red Sea

284 gobari: Zobar or Gobar, Leardo, 1448;=?Zanzibar (Santarem, iii, 437).

285 uigie: ?Vuigie, in interior of Prester John’s realm, Mauro;=?

286 tobo|let(?): =?

287 scuendn(?): Stuendi, Mauro;=?Suakin.

288 traged|it(?): Tragoditi, Mauro;
Troglodytica Regio, in East Africa, Ptol. (IV, 7: 27 (FA 15));=country
along W coast of Red Sea between Egypt and Abyssinia
(Vivien de St. Martin, 471-474).

289 satoris(?): Catoris, Mauro;=?

290 basag .. |r(?): =?

(B) Eastern “Horn” of Africa

291 acoan: Aicoum de Afra, Leardo, 1448 (Santarem, iii, 437);
Hascum, Mauro;=?Axum in Abyssinia (La R., ii, 115).

292 safola: Sofrala, Mauro;=?Sofala.

293 medi|fola: =?—294
prouinzie | dofir: P. Davaro, Mauro;=?Dawaro in Abyssinia (La
R., ii, 113, 132).

295 gfen|uj(?): =?

296 flmodo(?): =?

297 dela .. (?): =?

(C) Central Region

298 milua|s(?): =?

299 Inperio del | presto Jani (Empire of
Prester John): Prester John is shown in this part of Africa on CA
and CE. On the origins of the legend of Prester John and on the
transference of the realm of this mythical potentate from Asia to
Africa in popular tradition see Kret., CE, 99-101; Wright, Lore,
283-286.

300 ta . . . |n(?): =?

301 grafai: =?

302 fe . . .(?): =?

303 mesa: Con. (36) says that Prester John always
resides at Malsa (Jiménez de la Espada, 222; La R., i, 61).

304 carap(?): =?

Longer Legends

305 DIXERTO DEXABITADO PER CALDO (desert uninhabited
on account of heat): Leardo, 1448, Walsperger, 1448, and
Borgia, 1452, “all show a similar torrid zone, though the theory
49
was protested against by Fra Mauro, Diogo Gomez, and doubtless
by others” (A. Rainaud, Le continent austral: hypothèses et
découvertes, Paris, 1893, 199); on the development and history of
this theory see especially Rainaud, passim; also Wright, Lore, 18,
157-161.

306 dixerto.

307 qui nase homeni | che ano Il uolto | nel
petto (here are born men who have the face in the chest): Such
monsters are described by Solinus, 31,5; Isidore, Etym., XI, 3, 17;
and shown on the Hereford map (Miller, Mappaemundi, iv, 45).

XII. Middle and Lower Nile Region

Mountains

308 M^o. dimas: Mons dimas, Mauro;=?

309 M^o. libuzio: Montes Libyci, Ptol. (IV, 5: 19 (FA14));=escarpment overlooking
Nile Valley on W (PW, xiii, 148).

310 M^o. pilazi: Mons Pollaza, Mauro; ?Pylaei Montes in Ethiopia, Ptol. (IV, 7: 26
(FA15));=?

311 M^o. arazas: Arangas Mons, in Lybia Interior,
Ptol. (IV, 6: 12 (FA15));=?

Rivers and Lakes

312 f. nillo: The course of the Nile and its tributaries corresponds
essentially with that of CE (Kret., CE, 89-91; see also 338).

313 f. stapus: Astapus Fl. in Ethiopia, Ptol. (IV, 7:24
(FA15));=Bahr al-Azraq, or Blue Nile (PW, ii, 1775-1776; Besnier, 96).

Other Natural Features

314 Etiopia dezito: Ethiopian desert.

315 Libia dixerta; Deserta Libya, Ptol. (IV, 3:27 (FA13)).

316 dixerta arenoxa | qui nase animali quat|rupedi che ano Il uolto | domo (sandy
desert where are born quadruped animals which have the face of a
man): Possibly refers to the mantichora of Pliny (Nat. hist.,
VIII, 21; see Wright, Lore, 468).

317 y^a. meroe: Island of Meroë, Ptol. (IV, 7 (FA15)).

Edifices

(A) West Coast of Red Sea

318 filistina: =Palestine.

319 aid . p(?): Aydip, CA;=Aidhab.

320 cidor(?): =?

321 climas: Climas, Mauro;=?

(B) On the Nile and Stapus

322 alesan|dria: Alexandria, CA.

323 babilonia: Babillonja, CA; Babilonia, CE;=the medieval name of Old Cairo.

324 sacon: Sohan, CA; Soan, CE;=anct. Syene, mod. Aswan.

325 bac .(?): =?

326, 327, 328, 329 Illeg.

(C) On North Shore of West African Gulf

330, 331 Illeg.

Place Name, West Coast of Red Sea

332 tes (or tos): ?Chos, CA; Con.;=?Qoseir

XIII. Upper Nile Region and West Africa

Mountains

333 M^o. Bardtion(?): Bardetus Mons in Ethiopia Interior,
Ptol. (IV, 8: 6 (FA15)).

334 M^o. Lune docho | nasitur nillo
(Mountains of the Moon from which the Nile rises): According
to a long legend on CE these mountains are called “Gibel Camar
by the Saracens, which means Mountains of the Moon in our
tongue”; they are so high that although they lie on the equator
both poles may be seen from them. The famous Mountains of
the Moon were first mentioned by Ptolemy (IV, 8: 3); see also Kret., CE. 91-92.

335 M^o. capis: Caphas Mons in Libya Interior,
Ptol. (IV, 6: 9 (FA15)); see PW, x, 1892.

336 M^o. deo ue |
chulum(?): ?Deorum Currus Mons in Libya Interior, Ptol. (IV,
6:9 (FA15)); farthest point south on W coast of Africa reached by
Hanno;=Mt. Sagres in Sierra Leone (Vivien de St. Martin, 394-396);=Cameroons
Mountain (see articles by J. de Hart in Journ.
African Soc., xxv, 1926, 264-277 (noted in Geogr. Rev., xvi,
1926, 661-662), and by R. Hennig in Geogr. Zeitschr., xxxiii,
1927, 378-392).

Island

337 y^a. de prenje: ?Insula Palola, Carignano, Piz. (Fischer, 141);=?

Rivers, Lake, Seacoast

338 The upper course of the Nile with the great lake and its
tributaries rising in the Mountains of the Moon (334) corresponds
51
essentially to CE (Kret., CE, 89-91); CE, however, shows a
subterranean passage of the river W of Meroe. On ancient and
medieval theories regarding the course of the Nile, see Simar,
passim; Langenmaier, 47-48; Wright, Lore, 304-306. See also
312, 334.

339 The bay with the red, cross-shaped island is
represented on CE by an island in the delta of the West-African
river.

Desert

340 mare | arenoxe (Sandy Sea): On CE there are two legends
indicating sandy areas in West Africa (Kret., CE, 96).

Edifices

(A) North of Nile-Senegal

341 R^o doga|n .(?): ?Organa, CA; Rey dOrgana, CE;=empire
of Ghana or Kanem (La R., i, 136).

342 R^o…..(?): =?

343 almesia: Almesia, CA;=Mzab (La R., i, 136).

344 ma .. (?): =?

(B) South of Nile-Senegal

345-349 Illeg.

350 R^o m…|nel(?): =?.

351 Illeg.

Place Names

(A) Between Mt. Bardtion and the Mountains of the Moon

352 elcor(?): Probably an Arabic name with article, el;=?

353 anesa: =?

354 elundia: see 352;=?

355 dendenie: ?Dendi of Antony Malfant’s narrative of a voyage to Tuat in 1447 (La R., i,
154).

356 dris|na: =?

357 solla: Soll, CE; ?Sala, Idrisi;=?Sele,
S of Timbuktu (Miller, Arab., 162).

358 burga: Burga,
CE, a mountain in Gotonye, Con. (34);=?Burda, “mountain
region of the Sudan E of river Shari, which flows into Lake Chad,
and S of town of Kengas” (Jiménez de la Espada, 186).

359 quilan: Quilam, CE;=?

(B) North of Headwaters of the Nile

360 ganugia: ?Geugeu, CA;=Gâo (La R., i, 136).

361 geuene: Ginyia, CA; Guineua, CE;=Ghana (La R., i, 135; Kret., CE,
96-97).

362 atelas: =?

363 ansica: Anzicha, CA;=In Ziza (La R., i, 136, 138).

364 tablet: Tabelbelt, CA; Tibalbert, Con. (30);=Tabelbert (La R., i, 118).

365 artixe: =?

366 tocor: Tacort, CA;=Tuggurt (La R., i, 136). See also 368.

(C) Eastern Row of Names N of River Senegal

367 tutega: Tutega, Vilad.;=Tijikja (La R., i, 135).

368 tocor: Dupl. of 366.

369 udam: Sudan, CA;=Sudan (La R., i, 136).

370 tusont: =?

371 tagaza: Tagaza, CA;=Teghaza (La R., i,
136). See also 373.

372 getulla: Gaetulia, Ptol. (IV, 6: 15 (FA15));=desert region S of Morocco.

373 tagase: Dupl. of 371.

374 temenadis: Temenasin, CA;=?Tlemsen.

375 Regnio de belemon: Rex Belmarin, Bianco; “dynasty of Beni Marin which
ruled in Fez in the thirteenth century and at Tremcen [Tlemsen]
until 1407” (Simar, 295, from Santarem, iii, 368).

(D) Western Row of Names N of River Senegal

376 Fisengan: Ihsengam, Vilad.; “name now used by the negroes
to designate the sandy regions on the west bank of the
Senegal” (La R., i, 134).

377 uilodesci: This name is so much
like that of the map-maker, Mecia de Viladestes, that one is
almost tempted to believe that his signature has somehow
found its way as a place name to Leardo’s map.

378 tasu: =?

379 mascarota: Mascarota, CA; Masquarota, CE;=Tamgrut (La R., i, 137).

380 agof: =?

381 dunardin: ?Tarudant, Idrisi (Miller, Arab., 177);=?Tarudant.

382 ubêda: Ubaâduch, CA;=?

383 altamar: Alamara, CA; Zichialhamara, Con. (29);=the
Saghuiet el-Hamra in northern Rio d’Oro (La R., i, 134).

384 safinet(?): =?

XIV. North Africa

Mountains

To the mountain range of North Africa, a stock feature on
medieval maps, Leardo adds at random garbled Ptolemaic names.

385 M^o. Jouis: Dios vel Jovis Mons in Province of Africa
(Tunisia), Ptol. (IV, 3: 18 (FA13)), badly out of place;=?Jebel
Zaghwan, SW of Tunis (Müller, i, 635).

386 M^o. galcas: Zalacus
Mons in Mauretania Caesariensis (Algeria), Ptol. (IV, 2, 14
(FA12));=a part of the Lesser Atlas SW of Algiers (see Müller, i,
601).

387 M^o. usalatu|s: Usalaetus Mons in Province of Africa
(Tunisia), Ptol. (IV, 3:18 (FA13));=Jebel Usselet near site of
Hadrumetum (Müller, i, 635).

388 M^o. masarus: Mampsarus
Mons in Province of Africa (Tunisia), Ptol. (l. c.).

389 Mons. bur.ea(?): Buzara Mons where Mauretania Caesariensis,
the Province of Africa, and Libya Interior meet, Ptol. (IV, 2:16;
IV, 3:16 (FA13));=?Jebel bu-Kahil, S of Bu-Saada, Algeria
(PW, iii, 1094).

390 M^o flruxu(?): Phrouraesus Mons in Mauretania
Caesariensis (Algeria), Ptol. (IV, 2:16 (FA12));=?Jurjura,
SE of Algiers (Müller, i, 602).

391 M^o. garis: Garas Mons in Mauretania Caesariensis, Ptol. (l. c.).

392 Alta mons: Atlas Mons Minor on Atlantic coast of Mauretania Tingitana (Morocco),
Ptol. (IV, 1:2 (FA12)); see PW, ii, 2119.—

River

393 A river rising SW of the Atlas Mountains and entering the
western Mediterranean is shown on many fourteenth and fifteenth
century maps. On CA, instead of rising in a lake with three
tributaries, as Leardo represents it, the river encircles the city of
Sigilmessa (=Tissimi, in oasis of Tafilet, Miller, Arab., 177),
where it is entered by four tributaries from the south; a branch is
also shown entering the Atlantic. On CE the river corresponds
essentially to that of CA, except that the branch to the Atlantic
has been made the main stream and the arm leading to the
Mediterranean has been separated from that sea and converted
into a doubled-channeled tributary of the main stream.

Edifices

(A) On or Near the Mediterranean Coast

394, 395 Illeg.

396 africa(?): The Roman Province of Africa (Tunisia), Ptol. (IV, 3 (FA13)).

397 tunixi: =Tunis (Kret., Port., 679).

398 bona: =Bône (ibid., 680).

399 se …(?): Septa of Portolan charts;=Ceuta (ibid., 683).

(B) Interior, Along Northern Base of Mountain Range

400 Illeg.

401 bizesta(?): ?Bichest, CA;=?Biskra.

402, 403 Illeg.

Place Names

(A) On Mediterranean Coast

404 lucha: =“A place near Cape Lukka” or Ras el-Melh (Kret., Port., 675).

405 c. bonand|rea: Cape Bonandrea of Portolan charts;=Ras el-Hillil (ibid.).

406 Illeg.

407 bnicho(?): Bernicho of Portolan charts;=anct. Berenice, mod.
Benghazi (ibid., 676).

408 Illeg.

409 licodia: =Ras el-Omja (ibid.).

410 siden: ?Sidra, CA;=island of Abu Sheifa (Bu Sceifa of Italian maps) (ibid.).

411 casero sensor: =Sensur (ibid., 677).

412 rasimabaxi: =Ras el-Makhbez (ibid.).

413 stora: =Stora (ibid., 680).

414 ancol: =Collo (ibid.).

415 zizeri: =Jijeli (ibid.).

416 buzia: =Bougie (ibid., 681).

417 titelis: =Cape Tedless (ibid.).

418 arzeia: =Arzeu (ibid., 682).

419 or.m(?): =Oran (ibid.).

420 serem: =?River Senam (ibid.).

421 om.e(?): =Honain, Cape Noe (ibid.).

422 milela: =Mellila (ibid., 683).

423 larandie: Larcudia of the Portolan charts (ibid.);=?

424 molc|mar(?): Molcemar of Portolan charts;=Alhucemas Islands (ibid.).

(B) Interior of Morocco

425 manosa: ?Manora of Portolan charts;=Mehedia (Kret., Port., 684).

426 mosa: ?Messa of Portolan charts;=?Massa (ibid., 685).

427 maran: =?

428 zemar: Zamor of Portolan charts;=Azammur (ibid., 684).

(C) Coast of Morocco

429 ninfe: Niffe of Portolan charts;=Casablanca (ibid.).

430 sofin: =Safi (ibid.).

XV. Black and Mediterranean Seas

Names of Seas

431 [Mare] mauro(?): Unnamed on CA and CE;=Black Sea.

432 [Mare] de adriano: =Adriatic Sea.

433 Mare Me[diterr]ano.

434 Mare de Leone: =Gulf of Lions.

Islands

435 Cip[ro]: =Cyprus.

436 rodo: =Rhodes.

437 sio: =Chios (Kret., Port., 660).

438 arcipellago.

439 negropo[nte]: =Euboea.

440 y^a de chrete (?): =Crete.

441 crsicha.

442 sardignia.

443 minoricha: =Minorca.

444 Maioricha: =Majorca.

445
Illeg.

XVI. Southwestern Europe

Rivers

446 The Guadalquivir: similar course on CA and CE.

447 f. lizer: =Loire.

448 f. stequana: =Seine.

449 f. rode|nus: =Rhône.

Edifices

450 gr … (?): =Granada.

451 Illeg.

452 span … (?): =Spain.

453, 454 Illeg.

455 bart.|nia: =Brittany.

456 fr … |a: =France.

457 Illeg.

458 . ugn …(?): =?Avignon.

459 proui|..(?): =?Provence.

Place Names

(A) Atlantic Coast

460 sibilia(?): =Seville.

461 lisbo|na.

462 galizia.

463 astora: =Asturias.

464 ganti|et: =?

(B) Mediterranean Coast

465 malica: =Malaga.

466 sarauignia: =Salobrena (Kret., Port., 581).

467 al(?)meria.

467a carta.(?)enia: =Cartagena.

468 lacantera:= Alicante (ibid., 584-585).

469 denia.

470 toloxa: =Tolosa.

471 ualenza: =Valencia.

472 tortoxa: =Tortosa.

473 sale: =Salou.

474 taragona.

475 barzelona.

476 anpurie: =Ampurias.

477 coliuro: =Collioure

478 narbona.

479 monpolier: =Montpelier.

480 aquemorte: =Aigues Mortes.

Regional Name

481 guascognia: =Gascony.

XVII. Atlantic Ocean and Islands

482 Mare de spagnia.

483 Illeg.;=Canary Islands.

484 Ingilterra.

485 Schoz.(?): Scotia;=Scotland.

XVIII. Central Europe

Mountains

486 The Alps run due north from northern Italy.

Rivers and Lake

487 f. renus: =Rhine.

488 The Elbe, unnamed (see, however, 513); similar course on CE, CA, Bianco, and other maps.

489 f. prexant: =?

490 f. sudum^r(?): Sudumera, CA;=river of
Sandomir, or Vistula (Hamy, 402).

491 lacus senire(?): ?Lacus
Alech, CD; Lacus Nerja, CA;=?Bay of Putzig (Hamy, 400).

Edifices

492-497 All illeg.

498 polana: Polonia, CA;=Poland.

499 panon|ia: =?anct. Pannonia.

500 carcou|ia(?): Cracouja, CA;=Cracow.

501 podol|.a: =Podolia.

Place Names

(A) On the Rhine

502 austrua(?): =Austria.

503 colognia.

(B) Between Rhine and Elbe and on Elbe

504 bemia: =Bohemia.

505 praga: =Prague.

506 drensna: =Dresden.

507 misen: =Meissen.

508 guse: Guise, CA;=Würtzen (Hamy, 407).

509 aquis: =?

510 mogropes: Mangobror, CA;=?Magdeburg.

511 argenimon|de: Argent Munde, CA; Tangermünde (Buchon and Tastu, 49).

512 stendar: =Stendal.

513 albia: River name made into a place name;=Elbe.

(C) Between Elbe and Baltic

514 gara gorda(?): Garagona, CA;=Glogau (Hamy, 403).

515 schlauonia: =Sclavania, the name applied to the Slavic frontier
region of Germany in the Middle Ages (Spruner-Mencke, Histor.
Atlas, Mittelalter, No. 31).

516 sasonia: =Saxony.

517 ludus|maior:
Ludis Magna, CA; Lundis Magna on Ptolemaic maps of
the type called Scandico-Byzantine by Nordenskiöld (Periplus,
88); Bondismaguc, Con. (7; see Jiménez de la Espada 184-185);=?Lüdershagen,
near Stralsund (Lelewel, ii, 65; Hamy, 400).

518 dazia: =Denmark.

519 prusia: =Prussia; see 523.

520 colbera: =Kolberg.

521 alec: Alech, CA;=Hela (Lelewel, ii, 65).

522 stetin.

523 pursia: Dupl. of 519.

524 godanse: Godansse, CA;=Danzig.

525 scheipe(?): Scorpe, CA;=?Stolp (Hamy, 400).

526 Sudana: Sudona, CA;=Sandecz (ibid., 402).

527 pante|nia: Prutenja, CA;=Königsberg on the Pregel (ibid., 401).

528 eue(?): =?

529 albig: Albing, CA;=Elbing (ibid., 402).

XIX. Italy

River

530 f. po.

Edifices

531 Illeg.: =?Genoa.

532 Illeg.: =?Florence.

533 Illeg.: =?Rome.

534 Illeg.: =?Naples.

535 Illeg.: Vignette represents St. Mark’s and the Campanile;=Venice.

Place Names

536 . . g . . (?): =?Reggio di Calabria.

537 cotron: =Cotrone (Kret., Port., 618).

538 taranto.

539 o[t]ranto.

540 brandizo: =Brindisi.

541 manfredonia.

542 guasto: =Vasto (ibid., 621).

543 ortona.

544 ancona.

545 fano.

546 pexara: =Pesaro.

547 rimano: =Rimini.

548 zexen^o: =Cesenatico (ibid., 623).

549 rauena: =Ravenna.

550 ferara.

551 chioca: =Chioggia (ibid.).

XX. Southeastern Europe

Rivers

The river system corresponds generally with that of CA and
CE.

552 f. donoia: =Danube.

553 f. morana: =Morava.

554 f. drina: =Drin.

555 f. moree(?): =?Moldau.

556, 557, 558: Three unnamed islands in the Danube; on CA these are named:
Insula de Jaurim, Insula Buda, Insula de Sermona(?).

Edifices

559 bu . . .(?): =?Buda.

560 m . . l . .(?): =?

561 ongar|ia: =Hungary.

562 serui|a: =Serbia.

563 bosn|a(?): =Bosnia.

564 ulachia: =Wallachia.

565 bulga|ria.

Place Names

566 dalmazi.

567 albania.

568 modon: =Methone (Kret., Port., 635).

569 coron: =Corone (ibid.).

570 salonichi.

571 filipopoli.

572 sofia.

573 andernopolli: =Adrianople.

574 garipolli: =Gallipoli.

575 pera.

576 costantinopoli.

XXI. Baltic Sea

577 Mar de alemani: =Baltic Sea.

578 y^a(?) gotlandia: =Gottland.

579 Illeg.

XXII. Scandinavia

Mountains

580 The mountain system is a simplification of that shown on CE.

Rivers

581 f. netur: Flū Nectir, CE; Fl. Vectur, CD;=Motala, outlet of Lake Vettern (Hamy, 387).

582 f. turontes: Turuntus Fl. in
Sarmatia, Ptol. (III, 5:2 (FA9));=Dvina (Müller, i, 412).

Longer Legends

583 in q[uesta par] te si caualca su zervi | tori et montoni et su
queli fano le | loro bataie (in this region they ride on deer, bulls, and
sheep, and on these they make their battles): Compare legend on
CE (Kret., CE, 214).

584 In questa parte sta zente che non uide |
Il sole 4 mexe de lano (in this region there are people who do not
see the sun for four months of the year): Santarem (iii, 409, note
2) suggests a relation between this and a passage in Jordanis, De
59
rebus Geticis (Monumenta Germaniae historica, Auctorum
antiquissimorum, Vol. 5, Part 1, Berlin, 1882, p. 58) descriptive
of the Adogitae of Scanzia, who enjoy uninterrupted sunshine for
forty days and darkness for an equal period each year (see also
Fridtjof Nansen, In Northern Mists, New York, 1911, i, 130-134).

Place Names

585 nouega: =Norway.

586 sechamor: Scamor, CD;=Skanör (Hamy, 426).

587 scarsa: Scarsa, CD:=Skaraborg (Hamy, 383).

588 zedina: ?Andine, CD, which is possibly “nundinae,”
with reference to the fairs of Skanör and Valsterbode (Hamy, 385).

589 selandia: =?Zealand, misplaced. See Nansen, Northern Mists, ii, 219.

590 suzia: Suecia, CD;=Sweden (Hamy, 383, 426).

591 stochi: Stocol, CD; Stocoll, CE;=Stockholm (Hamy, 386, 427).

592 Erma: ?Kalma, CD;=Kalmar (Hamy, 386, 427).

593 sadezeflingt(?): Suderpigel, CD; Sudechping, CE;=Söderköping (Hamy, 387, 427).

594 saglat: Asillang, CE; Assingland on fourteenth century map in Museo Borbonico,
Naples (Hamy, 427);=?

595 roder|in: Roderin, CD; CE;=Roden,
ancient name for the east coast of Sweden;=Rosladen
(Hamy, 387, 427).

XXIII. Eastern Europe

Mountains

596 M^o. ripei: Dupl. of 2.

Rivers

597 Leardo’s unnamed river entering E extremity of Baltic is
called Flum Nu on CD; Flum de Mi, CE;=Volkhof and Neva,
confused (Hamy, 390).

598 f. axiazes: Axiaces Fl. of Sarmatia Europae, Ptol. (III, 5:18 (FA9)).

599 f. turllo: Kretschmer (Port., 642) records Flumen Turle only on an anonymous fifteenth
century map in the Museum für Meereskunde, Berlin
(ibid., pp. 133-135);=Dniester (ibid., 642).

Edifices

(A) North of Neva

600 zimachia Inferior: ?corruption of Sarmatia, Ptol. (passim (FA9)). See also 12.

601 rosia: =Russia.

(B) Between Don, Neva, and Black Sea

602 Lordo, applying to a group of tents;=the Golden Horde of Tatars (Hallb., 318-319).

603 nogard|ia: Nogorado, CD; Nogorodo, CE;=Novgorod (Hamy, 390).

604 alana: Allania, CA;=the Alans (Hallb., 13-14).

605 albana: Albania, NW of Caspian Sea, Ptol. (V, 12 (FA18)); see Hallb., 14-15;=Shirvan
and Daghestan (Besnier, 29).

606 br . . ica(?): Branchicha, CA; Brancica, Piz.;=Briansk (Hamy, 392).

607 brachi|at: ?Dupl. of 606.

608 bthnia: =?Bothnia.

609 rossia: Dupl. of 601.

610 transil|uana: =Transylvania, misplaced.

Place Names

(A) Crimean Peninsula

611 gotia: =“A small stretch of land between the Yaila Range
and the coast, in the hands of the Genoese after the fourteenth
century” (Kret., Port., 643); see also Yule, Polo, ii, 492.

612 soldaia: =Sudak, important trading post in Genoese hands after 1365 (ibid., 644).

613 gafa: =Kafa, Feodosia (ibid.).

614 soronti(?): =?

615 uospe|ro: =Kerch (ibid.).

(B) At Eastern End of the Baltic.

616 piaha(?): =?Pinsk.

617 letefa|n paga|n: Litefanie Pagans, CA;=Lithuania (Hamy, 398-399).

(C) On Lake at Headwaters of Neva, Don, and Volga

618 perana: Perum, CA; CE=Murom (Hamy, 394).

XXIV. Far North

619 DIXERTO DEXABITADO PER FREDO (desert uninhabited because of cold): See 305.

LIST OF REFERENCES

The publications listed here are those to which frequent reference
only is made in the Notes and Appendix. The abbreviations
there employed precede each reference.

Besnier: Maurice Besnier, Lexique de géographie ancienne, Paris,
1914.

Buchon and Tastu: J. A. C. Buchon and J. Tastu, Notice d’un
atlas en langue catalane, manuscrit de l’an 1375, conservé parmi
les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Royale sous le N^o 6816, fonds
ancien, in-folio maximo, in Notices et extraits de manuscrits de
la Bibliothèque du Roi et autres bibliothèques, Vol. 14, Paris,
1841, pp. 1-152.

Only complete transcription and commentary on the Catalan Atlas. See CA.

CA: Catalan Atlas (i. e. map divided into six parchment
sheets) of 1375; sometimes called Catalan Atlas of Charles
V, to whose library it belonged. Facsimile in: Choix de
documents géographiques conservés à la Bibliothèque Nationale,
Paris, 1883.

See Kret., Port., pp. 123-124; Buchon and Tastu; Cordier, CA.

CD: Map of Angellino Dulcert, 1339. See E. T. Hamy, La
mappemonde d’Angelino Dulcert, de Majorque (1339), 2nd
edition, Paris, 1903 (with photographic reproduction).

See Kret., Port., pp. 118-119.

CE: Catalan map of fifteenth century in Biblioteca Estense,
Modena. Colored reproduction accompanying Konrad
Kretschmer, Die Katalanische Weltkarte der Biblioteca Estense
zu Modena, in Zeitschr. Gesell. für Erdkunde zu
Berlin, Vol. 32, 1897, pp. 65-111, 191-218 (=Kret., CE).
Photographic reproduction in F. L. Pullé, Studi italiani di
filologia indo-iranica, Vol. 5, Atlas, Florence, 1905.

Con.: Libro del conosçimiento de todos los reynos y tierras …
escrito por un franciscano español à mediados del siglo XIV.
Our references are to the pages of Sir Clements Markham’s
translation and edition (of Jiménez de la Espada’s
edition, q. v.) entitled Book of the Knowledge of all the Kingdoms….,
Hakluyt Society [Publs.], Ser. 2, Vol. 29,
London, 1912.

Cordier, CA: Henri Cordier, L’Extrême-Orient dans l’atlas
catalan de Charles V, Roi de France, in Bulletin de géographie
historique et descriptive, Vol. 10, 1895, pp. 19-64.

Cordier, Ser M. P.: Henri Cordier, Ser Marco Polo: Notes and
Addenda to Sir Henry Yule’s Edition, Containing the Results
of Recent Research and Discovery, London and New York,
1920.

FA: See Ptolemy.

Fischer: Theobold Fischer, Sammlung mittelalterlicher Welt- und
Seekarten italienischen Ursprungs und aus italienischen Bibliotheken
und Archiven herausgegeben und erläutert, Venice, 1886.

Text accompanying Raccolta.

Gerini: G. E. Gerini, Researches on Ptolemy’s Geography of
Eastern Asia (Further India and Indo-Malay Archipelago),
constituting Asiatic Society Monographs No. 1, London,
1909.

Hallb: Ivar Hallberg, L’Extrême Orient dans la littérature et la
cartographie de l’Occident des XIII^e, XIV^e, et XV^e siècles:
étude sur l’histoire de la géographie, Göteborg, 1906.

Alphabetical list of place names throughout Asia as a
whole (not merely the Far East) with variant forms, references
to the sources, and identifications.

Hamy: E. T. Hamy, Les origines de la cartographie de l’Europe
septentrionale, in Bulletin de géographie historique et descriptive,
Vol. 3, 1888, pp. 333-432.

Jiménez de la Espada: Márcos Jiménez de la Espada, editor,
Libro del conosçimiento de todos los reynos y tierras …
escrito por un franciscano español á mediados del siglo XIV,
Madrid, 1877.

See also Con.

Kret., CE: See CE.

Kret., Port.: Konrad Kretschmer, Die italienischen Portolane
des Mittelalters, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Kartographie
und Nautik, constituting Veröffentlichungen, Instit. für
Meereskunde und Geographisches Instit. an der Universität
Berlin, No. 13, Berlin, 1909.

This fundamental study includes a descriptive list of the
principal portolan charts and a list of the names shown on
them along the coasts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic,
with identifications with modern names.

La R.: Charles de La Roncière, La découverte de l’Afrique au
moyen âge, cartographes et explorateurs, Vols. 1 and 2, Cairo,
1925.

Lelewel: Joachim Lelewel, Géographie du moyen age, 5 vols. and
atlas, Brussels, 1852-1857.

Mauro: Fra Mauro’s map of the world, c. 1458, in Doge’s
Palace, Venice. Much reduced photographic reproduction
in Raccolta, No. 15; copy in Santarem, Atlas.

See Zurla; Kret., Port., p. 140.

Miller, Arab.: Konrad Miller, Mappae arabicae: arabische Welt- und
Länderkarten des 9.-13. Jahrhunderts, 6 vols. (of which
Vols. 3, 4, and 5 have not yet appeared), Stuttgart, 1926-1927.

Miller, Mappaemundi: Konrad Miller, Mappaemundi: die
ältesten Weltkarten, 6 vols., Stuttgart, 1895-1898.

Müller: Carl Müller, editor, Claudii Ptolemaei geographia,
Vol. 1, Parts 1 and 2, and Atlas, Paris 1883, 1901. Covers
Bks. I-V only. See Ptol.

Nordenskiöld, Periplus: A. E. Nordenskiöld, Periplus, an Essay
on the Early History of Charts and Sailing-Directions, transl.
by F. A. Bather, Stockholm, 1897.

Piz.: Francesco Pizigano’s map, 1367, in National Library,
Parma. Copy in [E.-F.] Jomard, Les monuments de la
géographie, ou recueil d’anciennes cartes…. Paris,
[1862].

See Kret., Port., pp. 121-122.

Polo: Marco Polo, The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian
Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, translated
and edited with notes by Sir Henry Yule, 3rd edition revised
by Henri Cordier, 2 vols., London, 1903.

Except where otherwise indicated all references are to
volumes and pages of this edition.

Ptol.: Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), Geographia, edited by
C. F. A. Nobbe, 3 vols., Leipzig, Vol. 1, 1898; Vol. 2, 1913;
Vol. 3, n. d.

References are to book, chapter, and section of this edition.
References indicated by FA are to the plates on which
reproductions from the Rome, 1490, edition are given in
A. E. Nördenskiöld, Facsimile-Atlas to the Early History of
Cartography with Reproductions of the Most Important Maps
Printed in the XV and XVI Centuries, translated from the
Swedish Original by J. A. Ekelöf and C. R. Markham,
Stockholm, 1889.

Pullé, Vat.: See Vat.

PW: Paulys Real-encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft,
new edition begun by Georg Wissowa. 15 vols, and
4 supplements have appeared (1927), Stuttgart, 1894-.

Raccolta: Raccolta di mappamondi e carte nautiche del XIII al
XVI secolo, (H. F. and M. Münster, succeeded by) Ferd.
Ongania, Venice, (1869?), 1881. (Series of photographic
facsimiles of 17 maps, also known as Ongania Collection.
See Fischer.)

Rainaud: Armand Rainaud, Le continent austral: hypothèses et
découvertes, Paris, 1893.

Santarem: Le Vicomte de Santarem, Essai sur l’histoire de la
cosmographie et de la cartographie pendant le moyen-age….,
3 vols. and atlas, Paris, 1849-1852.

Spruner-Menke: K. von Spruner and Th. Menke, Hand-atlas
für die Geschichte des Mittelalters und der neueren Zeit (third
edition of Spruner’s atlas revised by Menke), Gotha, 1880.

Vat.: Map in Vatican Library, fondo Museo Borgiano, No. V.
Photographic reproduction with commentary in: F. L. Pullé,
Una carta itineraria del secolo XV [Vaticana Borgiana], constituting
Studi italiani di filologia indo-iranica, Vol. 5, La
cartografia antica dell’ India, Part 2, Appendix 4, Florence,
1905 (=Pullé, Vat.).

Vilad.: Map of Mecia de Viladestes, 1413. Colored reproduction
of African portion as frontispiece of La R., Vol. 1.

See Kret., Port., p. 126.

Vivien de St. Martin: [Louis] Vivien de St. Martin, Le nord de
l’Afrique dans l’antiquité grecque et romaine: étude historique et
géographique, Paris, 1863.

Wright, Lore: J. K. Wright, The Geographical Lore of the Time
of the Crusades: a Study in the History of Medieval Science and
Tradition in Western Europe, constituting American Geographical
Society Research Series No. 15, New York, 1925.

Yule, Cath.: Sir Henry Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, 2nd
edit., edited by Henri Cordier, 4 vols., Hakluyt Society
[Publs.], Ser. 2, Vols. 33, 37, 38, 41, London, 1913-1916.

Yule, Polo: See Polo.

Zurla: Placido Zurla, Il mappamondo di Fra Mauro Camaldolese,
Venice, 1806.

THE REPRODUCTION OF THE LEARDO MAP

By A. B. Hoen

A. Hoen & Company, Baltimore, Md.

[One of the first things usually asked in regard to the reproduction
or facsimile of an old map is: “How was it made?” To
answer this question and to give some idea of the difficult technical
problems involved, Mr. Hoen, under whose direction the
Society’s reproduction of the Leardo Map was made, has been
kind enough to furnish the following note.—J. K. W.]

The Leardo Map is painted on parchment. Some of the colors
have faded, and others here and there have separated from the
skin, leaving blanks in the painting. The latter defects are especially
noticeable in the yellow zones encircling the map proper.
To avoid the injection of the personal element into the reproduction,
no attempt was made to restore the missing letters or symbols.
It is further to be noted that in cases of partial legibility
the very palest parts of the faded manuscript may have failed to
register in the reproduction, although great care was bestowed on
this part of the work.

As a first step in the reproduction of the map, color separation
negatives were made on photographic plates sensitized for all the
colors. By interposing proper light filters and by making separate
exposures for each color, negatives giving red, yellow or
green, and blue or purple values were made, together with a
fourth negative giving neutral tones—black and grays.

As the last negative comprehends almost the entire base of the
map, special attention was devoted to its conversion into a printing
plate. The process employed is known in Germany as
“Albertype” or “Lichtdruck,” in England as “collotype,” and
in America as “heliotype” or “photogelatin.” Of these names,
“collotype” seems to be the most fitting. Briefly, this process
consists of sensitizing a gelatin film with a chromic salt and
72
exposing it to light under a negative. In proportion to the
amount of light passing the negative there will be a reaction in the
chromated gelatin. In this reaction the gelatin loses its power of
absorbing water and takes on the opposite property of holding
“non-watery” substances, such as printing ink. The action of
the light is a graded one, varying from full effect under the clear
parts of the negative to nil under the very dense parts. A similar
gradation in ink-retaining powers is acquired by the exposed
gelatin film. Thus, where the light exerts full effect the gelatin
will be completely hardened and will hold the ink in its greatest
intensity (solid); the parts which receive less light or none at all
will hold the ink in attenuated quantity. The lights and shades
of the monochrome picture are thus reproduced.

In order that the film may exercise this selective power of taking
on or rejecting ink it is necessary that the unaltered parts be
kept moist. Therefore, after exposure under the negative, the
film is washed to free the gelatin of the unused chromates.
While still moist it is rolled with a roller carrying printing ink.
This roller will discharge its ink on the hardened parts of the
film in proportion to the amount of light that each part has
received through the negative. If a sheet of paper is then
pressed on the inked film it will lift the ink and the resulting impression
will be of the same character as the base color of the
Leardo Map.

It is of interest to note that as the light-affected and hardened
surface of the film accommodates itself to the unaffected underlying
gelatin (as the latter swells in washing) it breaks up into a net
of lines. This reticulation is barely perceptible in the high lights
of the picture but gradually increases in strength until the mesh
fuses into the solid color of the deepest shades.

It will now be apparent that the feasibility of printing these
colloid plates hinges on the fact that the graded ink-attracting
mesh is separated by inversely graded ink-repelling, interstitial,
unaltered, and moist gelatin.

Its mesh not being apparent to the unaided eye, the collotype
approaches the fidelity of a true photograph in the rendering
73
of details. For this reason, the collotype process has been
selected as best suited for the reproduction of the Leardo base.

The coloring of the map was done by overprinting, in lithography,
as many colors as were deemed necessary to convey a fair
idea of the original. Lithographic plates were made from the
color separation negatives mentioned above. The principles
underlying the lithographic process are, broadly, similar to those
described for gelatin printing, the essential elements in the process
being a water-absorbing ground mass (limestone) in place of the
gelatin and a water-repelling and ink-attracting surface affection
similar to that created by the action of light on the chromated
gelatin film.

Lithographic stone is an amorphous carbonate of lime of fine,
close texture. It has an affinity for water—that is, it is easily
kept damp. This affinity may be destroyed by changing the
carbonate of lime to some water-resisting salt, such as the oleate,
or by adding to the surface of the stone a film having the same
power. Both of these methods were utilized in making the color
plates of the Leardo Map.

A number of lithographic stones were properly surfaced and
this surface covered with very thin, light-sensitive, colloid films.
The color separation negatives were exposed over these sensitive
films and the resulting photographs on stone gave the red, yellow,
blue, and other values of the original as they had been analyzed
by the light filters.

No color separation process, however, can eliminate from
the areal coloring the black and grays of the base. Similarly,
the colors themselves absorb a certain amount of white light
so that the effect of the areal coloring is also felt in the monochrome
reproduction of the base map (e. g., gray lettering is
lost in heavily colored areas). For this reason, it is necessary to
correct by hand the unnatural effect produced by the overprinting
of all the color plates in the darker portions of the picture.
Lithography is best suited for the control of these difficulties, and
for this reason the color plates were made on stone.

The mechanical printing of the edition from gelatin or stone
74
embraces three essential operations: (1) moistening the plate by
damping rollers; (2) inking the plate by inking rollers; (3) pressing
of suitable paper on the inked plate. After the base is printed,
the base plate is taken from the press, another plate, carrying one
of the map colors, is placed in position, and the proper color put
on the inking rollers. The printing of the second color is then
done as was that of the base. Similar changes of the printing
plates and colored inks follow in order for each of the colors which
make up the complete map.

Eight color printings in addition to the base color were found
necessary for the proper rendering of the Leardo painting. One
of these, a light gray-buff, covers the area of the parchment and
serves to bring it out from the white paper background.

In selecting a suitable paper for this reproduction, certain
qualities had to be considered. Among these were good printing
surface, durability, and as much strength as could be had along
with the above essentials. A chart plate paper of high rag content
was made especially for the work.

KEY MAPS

Fig. 4—General key map. The numbers correspond to those of the
main center heads in the commentary on pp. 32-60.

Fig. 5—Detailed key map: northeastern section. The numbers in
this and in Figs. 6-9 correspond to the Arabic numbers on pp. 32-60.

Fig. 6—Detailed key map: east-central section.

Fig. 7—Detailed key map: southeastern section.

Fig. 8—Detailed key map: northwestern section.

Fig. 9—Detailed key map: west-central section.

Fig. 10—Detailed key map: southwestern section.

Transcriber’s Notes

• Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.
• Corrected a few palpable typographical errors.
• In the Detailed Contents, broke paragraphs up so that each number (label) is on a separate line.
• In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.