1574/ 1599 Ruscelli Edition of Gastaldi's Map of the Arabian Peninsula

This is Girolamo Ruscelli's 1599 edition of Giocomo Gastaldi's modern map of the Arabian Peninsula, specifically the fertile part of Arabia, 'Arabia Felix.' After Gastaldi's 1548 work, it is nevertheless one of the earliest acquirable depictions of Arabia not based on the second century work of Claudius Ptolemy. The island of Bahrain (Babarem) appears. Also, this is one of the earliest works to depict a peninsula in the region of Qatar.

A Closer Look

While many of the topographical features are placed arbitrarily, there is a suggestion of the mountainous regions of Yemen, and the waterways and lakes placed there are suggestive of the fertility that led classical geographers to apply the term 'Felix' specifically to Yemen. That term would eventually be applied to the whole peninsula. This late edition of Ruscelli's map includes, in the Indian Ocean, a leering sea monster.

Happy Felix

Printed maps, from the earliest, termed the Arabian Peninsula 'Arabia Felix' with 'Arabiae Petraeae' to the northwest (adjacent to the Holy Land) and 'Arabiae Desertae' to the northeast (adjacent to the Fertile Crescent.) The Greek scholar Eratosthenes of Cyrene had termed the southernmost parts of Arabia - Yemen specifically - as Arabia Eudaimon, and it was this term that the Romans translated to Arabia Felix. These words had simultaneous meanings - primarily as 'fecund, fertile' and only secondarily as 'happy.' Maps derived from Ptolemy, up into the 16th century, would continue to apply the term 'Felix' in contrast to the 'stony' or 'desert' Arabias. Gastaldi's 1548 map translated that from Latin to the Italian 'Felixe' - a natural transition, except that in Italian the word's primary meaning skewed more primarily to 'happy, content.' (Ruscelli's spelling of 'Felice' in the title of this map is also consistent with that meaning.) As early as 1552 French translations of Münster's Cosmographia used the term 'Heureuse Arabie'. 'Heureuse' contains the 'happy' connotations. Classical authors associated 'Arabia Felix' with Yemen specifically, as with the present work - thus emphasizing a long association of Yemen as a fruitful land, stretching as far back as the Roman Era. Much of this reputation was tied to a near-monopoly in the trade of cinnamon and spice from both India and the Horn of Africa, particularly via the port of Aden. Yemen itself was a major source of frankincense well before Ptolemy's time. By the 16th century, Yemen began to export drinking coffee, and indeed was the world's sole exporter of coffee until the 18th century.

Publication History and Census

This map was engraved for inclusion in the 1561 edition of Girolamo Ruscelli's Ptolemy. The maps for the 1561, 1562 and 1564 printings were printed two-to-a-plate, and examples of such maps exhibit platemarks running off the top of the page. This specific map was entirely reengraved to a new plate for the 1574 edition of the book. Among its many differences, the spelling of 'Mombasa' in Africa is an indication of this change (the 1561 spells it 'Mombesa.') In addition, prior to the 1598 - 1599 edition of the work, the sea monster was added to the Indian Ocean. These editions are also characterized by the letterpress text across the top, as here. Our example is of the second plate, and it conforms typographically to the 1599 edition. Ruscelli's Ptolemy is well represented in institutional collections in its various editions, and the separate map appears on the market.