A manuscript copy of a map from the Book of Roger

A map of the Mediterranean, the Middle and the Far East. A manuscript copy by Joachim Lelewel (19th c.).

The work of the most distinguished Arab traveller, geographer and cartographer Muhammad Al-Idrīsī “The Excursion of One Who is Eager to Traverse the Regions of the World”, commonly known as the Book of Roger (Tabula Rogeriana), was at the time the heyday of geography. It is the largest and most detailed geographical work of the 12th century that integrated both the Islamic atlas and the Greek Ptolemy's tradition and was based on the most accurate data of the time. (Text: N. Bulotaitė).

In the image: one of the several manuscript copies of the maps from the Book of Roger made by Joachim Lelewel.