Newberry Library: Ptolemy’s Geography and Renaissance Mapmakers

Start with the staggering notion that Eratosthenes developed the concepts of longitude and lattitude, and figured out how to measure Earth’s circumference pretty accurately in about 240 BCE, and from there you can have some glimmer of what it’s like at the Newberry Library to view their internationally renowned collection of printed (some in color) 15^th and 16^th Century editions of Ptolemy’s Geography, which was based and depended upon the then centuries-​old work of Eratosthenes.
The current exhibit, «Ptolemy’s Geography and Renaissance Mapmakers» establishes the Newberry Library moniker as a misnomer. It is, truly, a remarkable museum.
This exhibit runs through February 16, 2008, and is part of Chicago’s current Festival of Maps, in which 30-​something Chicago institutions are participating.
You needn’t be a bibliophile to appreciate this exhibit of extraordinary books. All you need is a moment to step back and think about how long we humans have known so much and so little about the earth. These maps illustrate and, among other things, explain Columbus’s seemingly silly notion that he had landed in Asia when he had landed in the Bahamas. These maps illustrate a world to whom the North American continent was unknown; whereas, when we read about it in history books, it seems almost ridiculous.
And, as singular works of art, each of the 37 books on display stand out in their detail, hand drawn precision and raw beauty.
Don’t miss this.