Geography of Claudius Ptolemy, originally titled Geographia and written in the second century, is a depiction of the geography of the Roman Empire at the time. Though inaccurate due to Ptolemy's varying methods of measurement and use of outdated data, Geography of Claudius Ptolemy is nonetheless an excellent example of ancient geographical study and scientific method. This edition contains more than 40 maps and illustrations, reproduced based on Ptolemy's original manuscript. It remains a fascinating read for students of scientific history and Greek influence. CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY (A.D. 90- A.D. 168) was a poet, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and geographer who wrote in Greek, though he was a Roman citizen. He is most well-known for three scientific treatises he wrote on astronomy, astrology, and geography, respectively titled Almagest, Apotelesmatika, and Geographia. His work influenced early Islamic and European studies, which in turn influenced much of the modern world. Ptolemy died in Alexandria as a member of Greek society.

Ptolemy's Geography is the only book on cartography to have survived from the classical period and one of the most influential scientific works of all time. Written in the second century AD, for more than fifteen centuries it was the most detailed topography of Europe and Asia available and the best reference on how to gather data and draw maps. Ptolemy championed the use of astronomical observation and applied mathematics in determining geographical locations. But more importantly, he introduced the practice of writing down coordinates of latitude and longitude for every feature drawn on a world map, so that someone else possessing only the text of the Geography could reproduce Ptolemy's map at any time, in whole or in part, at any scale. Here Berggren and Jones render an exemplary translation of the Geography and provide a thorough introduction, which treats the historical and technical background of Ptolemy's work, the contents of the Geography, and the later history of the work.

The rediscovery of Ptolemy's Geography has long been hailed as a key moment in the emergence of Renaissance culture, symbolizing a new rational spatiality, and preparing the way for the Age of Discovery. And yet, the process of the Geography's introduction, integration and impact in Western Europe, as the essays in this volume collectively suggest, was more complex and less predictable than has been traditionally assumed. Whereas previously Ptolemy's maps attracted most scholarly attention, in this volume the textual tradition of the Geography - Ptolemy's text, added prefaces, annotations and treatises - stand at the centre. Bringing together a wealth of previously unexplored sources and contexts, the essays examine the Geography as it took part in and influenced diverse areas of Renaissance culture, such as visual theory and communication, humanistic philological, historical and antiquarian practices, astrology, education and religion. The emerging Geography is perhaps less revolutionary but more satisfyingly embedded into the culture that produced and used it. This volume points to new directions for the study of the remaining questions that still hover around Ptolemy's seminal work and for the study of early modern geography as a whole.

Ancient Perspectives encompasses a vast arc of space and time—Western Asia to North Africa and Europe from the third millennium BCE to the fifth century CE—to explore mapmaking and worldviews in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In each society, maps served as critical economic, political, and personal tools, but there was little consistency in how and why they were made. Much like today, maps in antiquity meant very different things to different people. Ancient Perspectives presents an ambitious, fresh overview of cartography and its uses. The seven chapters range from broad-based analyses of mapping in Mesopotamia and Egypt to a close focus on Ptolemy’s ideas for drawing a world map based on the theories of his Greek predecessors at Alexandria. The remarkable accuracy of Mesopotamian city-plans is revealed, as is the creation of maps by Romans to support the proud claim that their emperor’s rule was global in its reach. By probing the instruments and techniques of both Greek and Roman surveyors, one chapter seeks to uncover how their extraordinary planning of roads, aqueducts, and tunnels was achieved. Even though none of these civilizations devised the means to measure time or distance with precision, they still conceptualized their surroundings, natural and man-made, near and far, and felt the urge to record them by inventive means that this absorbing volume reinterprets and compares.

Illustrated catalogue published in conjunction with the exhibition "Leonardo's Library: The World of a Renaissance Reader," Stanford University Libraries, Green Library, May 2 - October 13, 2019.