Name: An Alternative T-O Map from Isidore of Seville's 'Etymologies'
Author: Isidore of Seville

Conrad Winters de Homborch's edition of the 'Etymologies' is the third printed edition of this work; its predecessors were made in Augsburg in 1472, and in Strasbourg around 1473.

This map is a variation of the same T-O map that appears in the first edition of this work (published 1472). It shows a circular earth surrounded by a nondescript ocean ('Mare oceanvm') and divided into three parts by T-shaped bodies of water. Asia occupies the top half of the globe with Africa and Europe in the bottom right and left corners respectively. Following Biblical tradition, the names of Noah’s son’s are labeled below their corresponding continents: Sem (Asia), Cham (Africa), and Jafet (Europe). The cardinal directions are also given. 

While in the 1472 edition, the 'T' is simply labeled the 'great sea' and the descender as the Mediterranean, in this map, the 'T' of the 'great sea' is broken into its constituents: the Nile river ('Nilus fluminus') as the right arm of the cross-bar, and the Tanais river (i.e. the Don) as the left arm of the cross-bar, which is more similar to a world map by William of Conches.

The triangular element is the 'Meotites Palus' (the Don River Delta), derived from Book XIV, which explains that the Don River descends from the mountains of Scythia and separates Europe from Asia and flows into the Black Sea.

Royal folio. 125 leaves (of 126, without initial blank). Illuminated with twenty-seven acanthus initials in gold, red, green, and blue with scrolling tendrils extending into the margins; numerous red and blue Lombard initials, and seven hand-coloured woodcut illustrations including the T-O map, and a full-page type-set tree of consanguinity.

’s 'Etymologies' contains an updated woodcut that was included in the first editions printed in 1472. Asia is shown at the top, Europe on the left, and Africa on the right. The continents are divided by the Nile and Don rivers, and the Mediterranean, all surrounded by a world ocean. The names of the sons of Noah, who were believed to have settled the world after a great flood, are also shown. Unusually for a T-O map, this example depicts triangular areas that describe the rivers and Mediterranean Sea more fully. The lower triangle represents the Don River Delta flowing into the Black Sea. 

Also noted for containing the first printed reference to arithmetic, the 'Etymologies' provided medieval and Renaissance scholars an invaluable single source of late classical scientific knowledge, and features works by authors such as Pliny the Elder. In addition to geography, the work also treats mathematics, astronomy, meteorology, geology, botany, agriculture, human anatomy, medicine, shipbuilding, architecture, and other technological subjects.

's 'Etymologies' (composed in the seventh century) was a primary resource for medieval map makers, and thousands of manuscript copies survive. His work provided medieval and Renaissance scholars with a vast wealth of ancient scientific knowledge and lexicography, establishing itself as one of the main routes for the transmission of classical learning to the Middle Ages. T-O maps often appear in medieval copies of the 'Etymologies', rendered carefully within the text or drawn in the margins by monks and students studying his words on the layout of the continents in Book XIV of the 'Etymologies'.

His work retained much authority into the sixteenth century, but early printed works, such as this book, mark the coming twilight of his influence. As experimental science grew in popularity through the Early Modern era, with that, new methods and technologies replaced classical texts as primary tools to explore the created world.

T-O map: and alternate design of the first printed map

Illuminated letter

Illuminated letters

Circular diagrams 

Wind diagram

Tree diagram made with words

Illuminated letter 

’s enormously influential 'Etymologies' with hand-coloured diagrams and illuminated acanthus initials with gold. One of the earliest printings of a world map, on a T-O projection, and medieval diagrams of the winds, and climate zones.

Contemporary calf over wooden boards, elaborately ruled and tooled in blind, with brass catches, engraved clasps and central bosses, supra libros of old inscription of letters of the alphabet and diphthongs around blindstamped border.