1525 WALDSEEMÃœLLER, M. / FRIES, L. - Tabula Sexta Asia (Arabian Peninsula)

This is a very desirable  early Ptolemaic woodblock map of the Arabian Peninsula, here called Arabia Felix. The map is presented on a trapezoidal projection with parallels and meridians (forerunners of lines of longitude and latitude) enumerated in the borders.

The map shows the Arabian Peninsula wider in the southeast and shows a somewhat distorted shape for the Arabian Gulf. Details include topography, the major towns while the rivers and many islands are imaginary.

Latin text on verso. A fine example of this rare Ptolemaic map of the Arabian Peninsula, one of the earliest maps available to a collector. The map, with its noticeable distortion of the Persian Gulf coast, has numerous place names, prominent mountain ranges, and rivers.

Lorenz Fries (c. 1485/90-1532)

Martin Waldseemüller was a German cartographer and humanist geographer who made significant contributions to the field of cartography during the Renaissance. He is best known for creating the first map to use the name "America" ​​to designate the New World.
Waldseemüller was born in Wolfenweiler, a small village in the Breisgau region of present-day Germany. Little is known about his early life and education, though he is believed to have received a solid humanist education, which included the study of Latin and classical texts.
In 1507, Waldseemüller and his colleague Matthias Ringmann produced a groundbreaking map titled "Universalis Cosmographia" This map was part of a larger work known as the "Gotha Manuscript," which aimed to provide a comprehensive description of the world's geography. The map depicted the world in a new and more accurate way, incorporating information from recent voyages of discovery.
Notably, Waldseemüller chose to honor the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by labeling the newly discovered lands in the Western Hemisphere "America" ​​on his map. This decision was based on Vespucci’s travel accounts, which suggested that these lands were part of a distinct continent rather than connected to Asia, as had previously been believed.

Waldseemüller’s map generated great interest and influence, spreading rapidly across Europe and becoming one of the era's most significant maps. It played a crucial role in popularizing the name "America" ​​and establishing it as the accepted name for the New World.

Waldseemüller’s map generated significant interest and influence, spreading rapidly across Europe and becoming one of the era's most influential maps. It played a crucial role in popularizing the name "America" ​​and establishing it as the accepted name for the New World.
Beyond his cartographic work, Waldseemüller was active in the printing and publishing industries. He worked as an editor and publisher for the renowned Strasbourg-based firm of Johannes Grüninger. During this period, he helped publish several works on geography and cosmography, cementing his reputation as an expert and a respected figure in the field.
Unfortunately, Waldseemüller’s life was cut short, and little is known about his final years. He died around 1520, leaving a significant legacy in cartography. His contributions—particularly the naming of America—profoundly and enduringly shaped how the world was perceived and depicted on maps, influencing exploration and geographical understanding for centuries.

Lorenz Fries
Fries was born in Alsace about 1485 or 1490 (Mulhouse in several sources; he described himself once as from Colmar). He studied medicine at Pavia, Piacenza and Montpellier, practised in Alsace and Switzerland, and settled in Strasbourg about 1519. There he met the printer Johann Grüninger, who had printed several of Waldseemüller’s maps and supervised the cutting of the woodblocks for the 1513 Ptolemy. From about 1520 to 1525 Fries worked with Grüninger as a cartographic editor, exploiting the corpus of material Waldseemüller had created.
He is knwown for

• 1520: a reduction of Waldseemüller’s 1507 world map, possibly made in response to Waldseemüller’s death. It appeared in an edition of Solinus published in Vienna, under Peter Apian’s name.
• 1522, Fries’s Geographia (Ptolemy): published at Strasbourg by Grüninger. Nearly all the maps are reductions of the 1513 Waldseemüller maps, in smaller format. Fries added three new maps: the world, China and Japan, and Southeast Asia (these derive from information in Waldseemüller’s 1507 world map). He had originally intended the maps for a new Chronica Mundi by Waldseemüller, but his death shelved the project. The 1522 edition is very rare.
• 1525: Grüninger reissued the edition with Willibald Pirkheimer’s text and the same fifty Waldseemüller/Fries woodcut maps.
• 1525: Fries’s booklet "Auslegung der Mercarthen oder Cartha Marina" accompanied Waldseemüller’s 1516 wall map. In 1525 he left Strasbourg for Trier, Basel and Metz.
• 1541: a later edition of Ptolemy is associated with his name.

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