{"product_id":"old-map-of-the-world-by-bordone-1528-early-naming-of-america-first-in-an-isolario-second-earliest-oval-projection","title":"Old Map of the World by Bordone, 1528: early naming of America; first in an isolario; second-earliest oval projection","description":"\u003cp\u003eWorld Map, Benedetto Bordone’s audacious vision of the globe dated 1534, captures a world in the very act of becoming knowable. Conceived within the innovative isolario tradition he helped define, this map stands among the earliest obtainable to depict “America” and the first such appearance in an island book. Bordone weaves together classical learning and the latest reports from explorers, tempering Ptolemaic inheritance with startling novelties from Renaissance voyaging. The result is a cosmographic overture to his celebrated Libro di Benedetto Bordone de tutte l’isole del mondo, a statement that the world’s islands—and the oceans that bind them—are best understood against a newly coherent, elegantly unified sphere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the heart of the composition is Bordone’s groundbreaking oval projection, a form popularized by this very engraving and preceded only by Francesco Rosselli’s elusive prototype. The oval’s balanced geometry gives the continents poise while decisively parting Asia from America, a cartographic choice as epistemic as it is aesthetic. Encircling the frame, six scripted wind names float in delicate roundels, a Renaissance echo of mariner’s lore. Within, seas are named with stately clarity—Mare Occidentale, Mare Mediterraneo, Mare Indico, Mare Orientale—while crisp titling of “Africana,” “Asia,” and “America” lends the composition an assured, encyclopedic cadence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eViewed continent by continent, the map’s hybrid intelligence is unmistakable. Africa takes on a recognizably modern contour, its coasts firmly traced and Madagascar confidently set apart. Asia, by contrast, retains a Ptolemaic silhouette: India and Ceylon enlarge with antique authority, while Southeast Asia surrenders to a grand peninsular “subcontinent” that gestures at future corrections. Great mountain backbones stride across the Asian landmass, and the Indus and Ganges rivers are smartly picked out, anchoring antiquity’s geography within a revised world stage. In the west, the Americas stretch as emergent forms—labeled simply “America”—a powerful, concise acknowledgment of discovery’s unfinished grammar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBordone’s treatment of cultural horizons is as telling as his coastlines. Japan, absent from classical geographies, appears in the guise favored by Marco Polo’s itineraries, its shape transcribed from narrative memory into cartographic emblem. Such inclusions place this map at the liminal space where myth and measurement overlap—where annotations do not merely describe but interpret, and where the visible world absorbs rumor, report, and reason in equal parts. This is the isolario spirit distilled: islands, continents, and winds presented not as static facts but as a living atlas of inquiry, poised between the scholastic past and the empirical future.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorically, the map is a keystone. It registers the Renaissance shift from inherited schemes to observed reality, and its oval projection became a lingua franca for world portrayal well beyond Bordone’s own time. By giving America a named place and by dignifying the global seas with ordered nomenclature, it reshaped how readers apprehended planetary space. Such synthesis—classical frameworks revised by contemporary intelligence—proved profoundly influential, guiding subsequent cartographers toward bolder, more accurate designs. For the discerning collector, Bordone’s World Map is both artifact and argument: a masterful image of a world expanding, and a serene declaration that geography, like the oceans it charts, is an ever-widening horizon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCountries and regions on this map\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAfrica\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNorth America\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSouth America\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEurope\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAsia (includes Ptolemaic India)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIndian subcontinent\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCeylon (Sri Lanka)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMadagascar\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJapan\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMare Occidentale\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMare Mediterraneo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMare Indico\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMare Orientale\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotable Features \u0026amp; Landmarks\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOval projection structure.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eClearly labelled continents and regions, including \"Africana,\" \"Asia,\" and \"America.\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepiction of significant geographical features, such as rivers (Ganges and Indus).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSeries of circles indicating wind directions with accompanying names.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eText annotations providing explanations related to the depicted features.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLarge mountainous regions in Asia and outlined coasts in Africa.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical and design context\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSecond earliest world map in an oval projection.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne of the earliest obtainable maps to show America and the first to appear in an \"Isolario.\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePopularized the oval projection, preceded only by Francesco Rosselli's map.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContains six wind direction lines with scripted names outside the map's edge.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShows a modern depiction of Africa, a Ptolemaic view of India and Ceylon, and a large subcontinent for Southeast Asia.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJapan depicted based on Marco Polo’s descriptions.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePublished in \"Libro di Benedetto Bordone ... de tutte l'isole del mondo\" in 1528, contributing significantly to the isolario genre.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBordone’s maps represent a departure from traditional classical geography, incorporating contemporary information and showcasing unknown territories.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUtilizes an oval projection, effectively displaying continents while separating Asia and America.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOrnate coloring and detailing typical of Renaissance cartography.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReflects the evolving understanding of geography during the Renaissance.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBordone’s work contributed to the wider dissemination of mapping knowledge and influenced subsequent cartographers.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhysical and political features of the world.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInclusion of mythologized and historical narratives related to explored territories.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 24x36in (60x90cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003ebest old maps\u003c\/a\u003e to see if something else catches your eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003econtact me\u003c\/a\u003e to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex\/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58249396912512,"sku":"UM00294812A","price":41.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58249396945280,"sku":"UM00294813A","price":111.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58249396978048,"sku":"UM00294814A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":58249397010816,"sku":"UM00294815A","price":41.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58249397043584,"sku":"UM00294816A","price":111.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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