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A photograph of the Vatican Library.
Roma. Biblioteca Vaticana / Anderson. 1855-1877. Prints and Photographs Division.

Cardinal Borgia’s Unusual Map of the World

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An image of a rare facsimile, printed in the late 18th century, is shown below. The original map was created sometime during the early to mid-1400s by an unknown cartographer. The map is known as the “Borgia map.” The map was named after Cardinal Stefano Borgia, a member of a wealthy family from Velletri, Italy. Cardinal Borgia was a historian and collector of antique manuscripts; he founded the Museo Borgiano in Velletri where he deposited his collection of antiques.

A facsimile of a 15th century world map.
Apographon descriptionis Orbis terrae…Stefano Borgia. 1797. Geography and Map Division.

In 1794 Cardinal Borgia purchased the original map at an antique shop. He brought the  map to his museum in Velletri, it was later transferred to the Vatican Library.

Cardinal Borgia had facsimiles printed from a cast of the original