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Ortelius; Janssonius : Tabula itineraria ex illustri peutingerorum bibliotheca quae augustae Vindelicorum beneficio Marci Velseri septem-viri augustani in lucem edita

Janssonius, Amsterdam, c. 1652

Hand Colored, Very Good;, Size : 415x515 (mm), 16.34x20.28 (Inches)

This map (in four sheets with two sections per sheet), measures approximately 185 x 4010 mm when assembled.The Peutinger Table is a map of the Roman road network completed and revised between 250 and 500 A.D. The only surviving manuscript is in the possession of the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna--it was made in 1265 by a monk in Colmar. Its name derives from Konrad Peutinger, its owner around the time of Velser's publication.Peutinger's manuscript is in 12 sections but only 11 have survived--the first section is lacking, likely containing both Britain's road networks and the original title cartouche.Shirley writes, "The form of the map is essentially that of a practical route map in strip form. There are detailed lines of roads and staging posts with the distances between them marked, but no representation of direction. Because of this, the format of the map is unfamiliar and a certain amount of study is needed to comprehend its many interesting features" (Shirley 212, the Ortelius edition).Rome, Constantinople, and Antioch (all major centres of Roman imperial power) are indicated with iconic decoration. Besides the whole of the continental Empire, the map shows the Near East, North Africa, Mesopotamia and Persia, India, Sri Lanka (as Insula Taprobane), and even an indication of China. There is a Temple of Augustus on the southwest coast of India at Muziris, a major trading port during the Roman era.Eight maps (on 4 sheets) make up the famous Peutinger Table, or a Roman road map of the world. The map depicts the imperial roads and posts within the Roman Empire throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia as far as Toprobana (Sri Lanka).
Based on the original manuscript, these maps were first popularized by Ortelius in 1598. They became a significant part of his great historical atlas. Jansson's version is nearly identical to that of Ortelius. In around 1507 the original parchment document was received by Konrad Peutinger which resulted in the common name for the chart. The proportions of the Peutinger Map are set up in such a way that the distances east-west are represented at a much grander scale than distances north-south. An example of this can be found in how Rome looks as though it were nearer to Carthage than Naples is to Pompeii. This particular map by Peutinger was drawn primarily to show main roads, totalling some 70,000 Roman miles (104,000 km). It was also drawn to depict certain features such as staging posts, spas, distances between stages, large rivers, and forests (represented as groups of trees). In the extant map a north-south road seems to appear at a relatively slightly different angle from an east-west one. The distances are calculated by adding up the mileages of successive staging posts. The archetype possibly may have been on a papyrus roll which was designed for carrying around in a capsa [tool box]. If this is the case then its width would be severely limited, whereas its length would not.
, Shirley 212 (Ortelius); Shirley 393

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