Apographon descriptionis orbis terrae.

The famous Borgia world map. Engraved and printed after the masterwork on 2 heavy plates from the mid-15th century, which was discovered in Portugal in an antique shop and bought by Cardinal Stefano Borgia for his museum in Velletri, and are housed now in the Vatican Library. The purpose and the circulation of this printed version remain still obscure, but it is a valuable collector's item of one of the most interesting early images of the world. Its "workmanship and written explanations make it one of the most precious pieces of the history of cartography" (A. Róna-Tas).

Cardinal Borgia had printed copies made of his prized map. These would have been produced from a cast taken from the original. Only ten of these 18th century prints are thought to be extant. We were able to find this map in the following libraries: Clark Library - University of Michigan, Bibliothèque nationale de France, A.E. Nordenskiöld Collection - National Library of Finland, Det Kgl. Bibliotek - Denmark and in the National Library of Sweden.

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World Maps - Borgia, Stefano - Apographon descriptionis orbis terrae.