Lienhart Holle/Nicolaus Germanus/Claudius Ptolemy
Lienhart Holle (? – after 1492), also Holl, was a German printer whose life dates are only known in parts. He lived and worked in Ulm and produced mainly playing cards early in his career. His most notable achievement is considered to be the Ulm Ptolemy „Geographia“ atlas in 1482 with woodcut maps, the first book he printed. As his works were extremely elaborate and expensive to make his income was poor and he could not pay his Venetian patron Justus del Albano who had provided him with the necessary printing equipment through mortgaging. Therefore Holle fled Ulm in 1484 and died most likely after 1492. The remaining sheets, the woodblocks and the types passed to Johann Reger in Ulm who re-issued the work in 1486. He is thought to have attempted to return to the city in later years but there is no record of him that appears after 1492.
Nicolaus Germanus (c. 1420 – c. 1490), the Latin form of the name „Nicholas the German“ (his full birth name is unknown), was a German cartographer who modernized Ptolemy‘s „Geographia“ by applying new projections, adding additional maps and contributing other innovations. Nothing is known about the early life of him. It appears that he arrived in Italy by 1464, settled in Florence, later moved to Rome where he prepared updates and revisions of Ptolemy‘s „Geographia“ for several years. The last record of his activity comes from a fellow German scholar, Conrad Celtes, who met him in Florence and wrote that Nicolaus complained bitterly about others getting the glory and profit for his work.
Claudius Ptolemy, in full Claudius Ptolemaeus (c. 100 – c. 160s/170s) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and geographer. „Claudius“ is a common Roman given name. „Ptolomaeus“ comes from ancient Greek, meaning „warlike“ and was used by the famous Greek dynasty of kings ruling Egypt. His full name indicates that he descended from a Greek family who lived in Egypt and that he was a Roman citizen. While his date of birth and birthplace both are unknown it is documented that he lived in and around the city of Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt under Roman rule.
Ptolemy‘s fame as geographer was based on his „Geographike Hypogesis“ (Guide to Drawing the Earth), known as the „Geography“, a handbook how to draw maps for parts of the Roman World known at that time, by using geographical coordinates. His important innovation was to record longitudes and latitudes in degrees for roughly 8,000 locations on his world map – a world that for a resident of the Roman Empire at its height extended from the Shetland Islands in the North to the sources of the Nile in the South, from the Canary Islands in the West to China and Southeast Asia in the East.
Map Details
The map is taken from John Hamilton Moore‘s book „A New and Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels“, first published by Alexander Hogg in
The second map of the northern regions, and of particular interest as the first copperplate map of Scandinavia.
The map is preceded only by the corresponding map that was published in the Ulm editions of Ptolemy’s „Geographia“ in 1482/86, and of which it is a slightly updated and altered version. It was printed on two sheets and then joined which can identified by the vertical fold.
The map is of exceptional rarity, first and only edition, first and only state, from the final 1507/08 Rome edition „Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini. Geographia …“, in which six „modern“ maps were introduced (together with the celebrated new map of the world by Joannes Ruysch). The impression of the copperplate is dark and even. Overall the map is in excellent condition and unusual for such an extremely early work, produced more than 500 years ago, half a milennium.
A trapezoid shape characterizes this map. The left- and the right-side border consist of a graduated scale for latitude. Above it the twofold title is to be found: on the left „Tabula Moderna Prussie“ and on the right „Livonie Norvegie et Gotie“. The first indicates the transition from medieval to modern geography.
Printed along the right margin outside the map’s frame there is descriptive text, detailing the length of the longest day between 44 and 72 degrees latitude.
The map features the northern territories: Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland including the Baltic region, Ireland, the northern parts of the British Isles and of Germany.
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Also the place-name „Mare Congelatum“ for the Arctic Sea and „Circulus Articus“ for the Arctic Circle are introduced (but the latter is drawn far to South).
Particular attention should be given to the land bridge which connects Greenland („Evgrovelant“) with Lapland („Pilapelant“).
With regard to the title it is strange that „Norvegie“ and „Gotie“ are not to be found on the map but „Norbegia“ and „Gottia“ each at several places.
The name „Evgrovelant“ is not only placed in the land bridge but also close to Norway and Sweden.
In the depiction of Norway Oslo („Asto“), „Stavanger („Stavarge“), Bergen („Begesis“), Trondheim(„Nodrosia“) and also other cities are named. In Sweden a large lake with an island in the middle (presumably Vänern and Vättern) dominate the interior. No larger cities are labled, the same in Denmark. As the eastern part of Scandinavia north of the Baltic Sea is neglected, Finland is not to be found on the map.
The Baltic region is named „Sarmatie Europe Pars“ and only represented by Riga. „Livonie“ which is an element in the title of the map appears as „Livonia“ on a little peninsula in small character size at the right edge of the map.
The only cities labelled in „Germanie Pars“ are „Dantzg“ (Gdańsk) and „Stetin“.
Ireland „Ibernia Insula“), Scotland („Scotia“), strangely curved in easterly direction, and a part of England („Anglia Pars“) are presented without place-names.
Off the west coast of Scandinavia there are three groups of islands rendered under the general name „Hiperborium“.
This has been – along with Thule – one of several „terra incognitae“ (unknown territories) to the Greeks and Romans, where Pliny, Pindar and Herodotus, as well as Virgil and Cicero, reported that people lived to the age of one thousand and enjoyed lives of complete happiness.
In the center are in a vertical line the Faroe Islands („Ferensis“), an island with the name „Famao“ which stands for Fugloy, one of the easternmost Faroe Islands and the Orkney Islands („Orchades“).
To the right of this group there are numerous small islands, only two of them are named: „Hetlant“ is a former name for the Shetland Islands and „Fara“ oder Farai nachsehen is an island which belongs to the Orkney Islands. Between them and Norway an island with the name „Thile Insule“ is placed which refers to Thule, the legendary island described by the Greek Pytheas in the 4th century BC.
A third group of islands is depicted north of Ireland and Scotland, consisting of seven islands whose names cannot be assigned to current ones.
In the upper left corner of the map „Islanda“ is drawn in oval form, surrounded by islands. Unusual for early maps is the number of place-names (seven!). The only well-known name is „Holesis“ which most likely means Holar, the bishopric.