Period

15th Century

Featured Items

Detail of a hand colored map, engraved in copper, shows Latin text.

Claudii Ptolemaei Cosmographaie [sic]

Ptolemy
1477
Detail from a printed book shows red and black text in Latin, geometrical sketches in the margins, and manuscript notations in the margins and underlining.

Ymago mundi

Pierre d'Ailly
circa 1483
Detail of a blockbook shows woodcut illustration of biblical scene in the garden of eden. A woman holds an apple and is talking to a large snake. Text in Latin also visible.

Biblia pauperum

1460-1470
Detail of a printed page shows text in Latin.

Christoforo Columbus, de insulis inventis, 1493

1493
Detail of a leaf of the Gutenberg bible printed in black and red ink shows Latin text.

The Gutenberg bible

Johann Gutenberg
1455-1456
Detail of a printed text in Greek and manuscript notations of triangles and Greek text written in the margins.

Opera omnia

Aristotle
1495-1499

Related

photo of Herman Bennett
Lecture

Kings and Slaves: Diplomacy, Sovereignty, and Black Subjectivity in the Early Modern World

image of terrestrial sphere including Africa, Asia, and the Americas

Lecture on the African-European Encounter to Kick Off New JCB Initiative (and 75th Anniversary Meeting)

August 23
Image from: Orbis terrae compendiosa. [Jan Huygen van Linschoten, 1596]. Original at the John Carter Brown Library.
Lecture

Far-flung Neighbors

cover of the book The Other Slavery by Andrés Reséndez

Watch "The Other Slavery"

June 1

See Also

Africa

Travel Literature and Fictional Accounts