The edition of Ptolemy’s Geography by Giacomo Gastaldi was the most comprehensive atlas produced between Martin Waldseemüller’s Geographiae of 1513, and the Abraham Ortelius Theatrum of 1570. It was the first to contain regional maps of the American continent. Gastaldi had the maps beautifully engraved on copper which marked a turning point, “… from now on the majority of cartographic works used this medium. As it was a harder material than wood it gave the engraver the ability to render more detail. Born in Villafranca, Piedmont, Gastaldi became Cosmographer to the Venetian Republic, then a powerhouse of commerce and trade. He sought the most up to date geographical information available, and became one of the greatest cartographers of the sixteenth century.

This map is the second relating to North America in the Italian edition of Ptolemy’s Geography published by Giacomo Gastaldi. Not until Cornelis Wytfliet’s Hispania Nova, 1597, was this area covered in as much detail. With the accompanying TIERRA NVEVA they are the first copperplate maps devoted to North America. The R:de Spirito Santo appears again as does an insular Yucatan. Topographical details appear inland in the form of mountain ranges, and a peninsular California is depicted, its first appearance in print being on the world map by Sebastian Cabot, 1544. The Spanish had been exploring this region for some time, R.tontonteanc here represents either the Colorado River or the Gila. There were no further issues of it but in 1561 Girolamo Ruscelli enlarged it for his edition of Ptolemy’s work” (Burden). References: Burden (1996) no. 17; Fahy (1993) pp. 89-115; Karrow (1993) pp. 216-49 (particularly pp. 220-2); Martin & Martin (1984) p. 69; The A. E. Nordenskiöld Collection, no. 214; Nordenskiöld (1889) pp. 112 & 122; Sabin (1868) no. 66502; Schwartz and Ehrenberg (1980) p. 70 (identifying the Gila River); Wagner (1937) p. 28; Wheat (1957) vol. 1, p. 20; Winsor, Ptolemy, p. 24.