The Leardo Map of the World, 1452 or 1453 / In the Collections of the American Geographical Society

The author presents a close study and color reproduction of a mid-fifteenth-century Venetian world map by Giovanni Leardo, transcribing its calendar and inscription and describing the map disk. He surveys Leardo’s sources and interprets regional depictions of Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and Europe, with attention to place names, coastlines, and medieval cartographic conventions. Extensive notes and an appendix provide detailed, section-by-section commentary on individual regions and features. A final technical note outlines the processes and considerations involved in reproducing the original map for the volume.