Girolamo Ruscelli (1504 – 1566)
born in Viterbo, Tuscany was an Italian polymath, humanist and cartographer active in Venice during the early 16th century. He was not only a prominent writer on most varied subjects and a publisher but also an alchemist, mathematician, physician, writing pseudonymously as Alessio Piemontese. In his immensely popular book of alchemy „De Secreti Del Alessio Piemontese“ he described recipes for alchemical compounds, cosmetics, dyes, and medicines. It was reprinted for over two centuries and translated into numerous languages (French, English, German, Latin, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Danish).
In 1561 Ruscelli issued an enlarged version of Giacomo Gastaldi‘s 1548 edition of Ptolemy‘s „Geography“ (No. 70), published as „La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo Alessandrino“ by Valgrisi. It has included newly engraved copperplates by Giulio and Livio Sanuti which were based generally on those of Gastaldi. Ruscelli‘s work was reprinted frequently throughout the rest of the century. In total there are seven editions: 1561 in Italian, 1562 in Latin, 1564, both in Italian and Latin, 1574 in Italian, 1598 in Italian and 1598 in Italian. „The same plate was used for all seven printings of the Schonladia map“ (Ginsberg, p. 79).
Ruscelli‘s and Gastaldi‘s maps, engraved in copper, marked a turning point in the history of cartography as afterwards, the majority of cartographic works used this medium. As copper is a harder material than wood it gave the engraver the ability to render more detail.
Map Details
This scarce map of 1598 is described as the third state of the Ruscelli’s map of Scandinavia though the same plate was used. The reason is a minimal reworking in 1574 which makes it barely distinguishable from the 1561/1562/1564 version but the changes do not affect the depiction of Iceland. In the final issues of Ruscelli’s „Geography“ of 1598 and 1599 a revised version of „Schonladia Nuova“ is to be found with notable alterations on the whole map which are described later.
The map is designed on a trapezoidal projection with its title placed on top of the map. It shows Scandinavia, the Baltic region, the western part of Russia („Moscovia“), Poland, the northern part of Germany, Ireland („Hibernia Pars“), Scotland („Scotia“) and the northern part of England („Anglia Pars“) and stretches into the North Atlantic until Iceland and Greenland north of „Mare Congelatum“ (frozen sea).
There are some peculiarities in the depiction. Norway and Greenland are separated by a narrow strait but they seem to be connected by a land bridge. There is a group of three small islands in a strange geographical setting: the Orkney Islands („Orchades“) in the North, the Shetland Islands („Hetland“) in the South and the Faroe Islands („Farensis“) in the West.
The large island of „Thyle“ situated north of Scotland (which retains is west-east slant) is a geographical misrepresentation (in positioning, size and shape) of Iceland. The name „Thyle“ refers to „Thule“, the legendary island described by the Greek Pytheas in the 4th century BC. In the interior there are only two place-names: the bishoprics „Skalholten“ (Skalholt) and „Holensis“ (Holar) without church symbols.
In comparison to Ruscelli’s 1561 edition there are newly added elements: several country names, including „Norvegia“ and „Svedia“, more place-names outside Scandinavia, numerous topographic features (e.g.mountains in the peninsula at the upper left, on the island of „Thyle“, and in England), and hatching along most of the coastlines. Finally, the sea monster to the west of Thyle is a nice decorative touch missing from the earlier maps (Ginsberg, p. 79).
The main difference to the Gastaldi map (No. 70) is as follows. Gastaldi has written „Islandia“ and the names of the two bishoprics Skalholt and Holar not only in Iceland but also in Greenland. On this map Ruscelli has corrected this mistake by removing „Islandia“ from Greenland but also removed it from Iceland. So „Islandia“ is now completely missing. Strangely enough, Ruscelli still uses the names of the two bishoprics, only written differently: in Iceland „Skalholten“ and „Holen“, in Greenland „Scalholdin“ and „Holensis“.