Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)
This map of northern Europe follows an earlier prototype designed by Claudius Clavus (Swart, Svartbo) (b. 1388), who sought to provide a map of an area of Europe not described by Ptolemy in the Geography. The humanist Schedel used the map as an endpaper for the world chronicle that he designed at great expense; the prominent position he gave Clavus's map in the volume shows his interest in Ptolemy's techniques of cartographic projection. The volume was printed in Nuremberg and unites a range of city views and regional maps to Schedel's specifications. Many of its maps were borrowed from other sources. The cost of its production made it prohibitively expensive, and it failed as a publishing venture.
Courtesy of the Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library