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Bring on the Monsters and Marvels: Non-Ptolemaic Legends on Manuscript Maps of Ptolemy’s Geography

2014; Brepols; Volume: 45; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1484/j.viator.1.103923

2031-0234

Chet Van Duzer,

Historical Astronomy and Related Studies

The article examines an unstudied manuscript of the maps of Ptolemy’s Geography (without the text) in the A. E. Nordenskiöld Collection in the National Library of Finland. The manuscript belongs to a group of less expensive manuscripts of the Geography produced by Donnus Nicolaus Germanus to reach the lower end of the luxury manuscript market. The manuscript differs from the others of this group, and from all other manuscripts of Ptolemy’s Geography, by the addition of many legends to the maps that focus on monsters, exotic animals, and riches, which come from Pliny, Andrea da Barberino’s Il Guerrin Meschino, and John Mandeville’s Travels. The manuscript is an essential datapoint in the reception of the Geography, as it reflects a desire to modify Ptolemy’s mathematical vision of the world by filling it with mirabilia. Other cases in which mirabilia have been joined to Ptolemy’s Geography are examined.