Cosmographia Title page

Published by Erhard Ratdolt.
Pomponius Mela wrote this treatise in circa 43, but it was first printed, without illustrations, in 1471. It includes a woodcut map that pictures the Eastern hemisphere as known to the Romans, although it incorporates knowledge of then recent Portuguese maritime explorations. It is one of the earliest geographic maps ever printed in Italy and the first to appear in a book.