Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The theatre of the sky and earth
CELESTIAL AND TERRESTRIAL MAP, 1602
If this map of the world appears to be dominated by a vision of purgatory, that was not the
design of the mapmaker. We know from a surviving complete example, in Chicago's New-
berry Library, that this map sheet was the lower of two, and that the upper sheet showed a
wider view of the heavens. Text sheets joined on either side to form a broadside, a popular
print format for ephemeral material such as posters and news. The non-map content is attrib-
uted to Giuseppe Rosaccio, a Venetian publisher who styled himself 'Doctor of philosophy
and medicine, and cosmographer'. He published the text separately, as 'Teatro del cielo e
della terra'; this is also the title on the upper sheet of the complete map. The use of Italian
rather than the more scholarly Latin suggests an intended readership that was local and less
well educated.
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