Aethiopia. 91. /Taprobana

Title

Aethiopia. 91. /Taprobana

Description

Map shows the island of Sri Lanka, formerly Taprobana then Ceylon. From P. Mela's "De Orbis Situ Libri tres". Published by Henric Perti in Basel, 1564. Pomponius Mela, who lived around 43 AD, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (today Algeciras) and died around 45 AD.

c. 1564

Artist

Petri (1508-1579)

Heinrich Petri, Latinized Henricus Petri, also known as Henric Petri ( 1508 - 1579 in Basel), was a Swiss printer and founder of the printing company "Officina Henricpetrina". Heinrich Petri was the youngest son of the Basel printer Adam Petri. After the death of his father, he took over his parents' business. His first print is dated March 1528(Sedulius Scotus: In omnes epistolas Pauli collectaneum.) b In 1565 he began to call his company Officina Henricpetrina, and his sons and their descendants then adopted the family name Henricpetri. From 1569 onwards, his sons Sebastian and Sixtus Henricpetri worked in the officina, with Sebastian continuing to run it after his father's death. Heinrich Petri produced around 500 prints. After his mother married Sebastian Münster around 1529/1530, he was able to publish the works of this scholar, who was primarily active as a Hebraist and cosmographer, including the entire Hebrew Old Testament, printed in parallel with a new translation, the Geographia of Ptolemaeus and the Cosmographia in ever-expanding editions. This made him the most important printer of Hebrew books and geographical maps of his time. He also specialized in encyclopedias and the works of Gerolamo Cardano. The second edition of Copernicus' main work should also be mentioned. Heinrich Petri's printer's mark shows several variations of a rock being split by a hammer from the clouds (meaning God's word) or from which flames are being struck with this hammer.

Historical Description

Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule as Ceylon. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to the modern Maritime Silk Road. Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for control of the island as a whole. The island attracted the attention of the newly formed Dutch Republic when they were invited by the Sinhalese King to fight the Portuguese. Dutch rule over much of the island was soon imposed. The Kingdom of Kandy was the last independent monarchy of Sri Lanka. In the late 18th century the Dutch, weakened by their wars against Great Britain, were conquered by Napoleonic France, and their leaders became refugees in London. No longer able to govern their part of the island effectively, the Dutch transferred the rule of it to the British, although this was against the wishes of the Dutch residing there. In 1972, the country became a republic named Sri Lanka, repudiating its dominion status.