Lesbos [Greece]

A 16th century map of the Greek island of Lesbos.

This interesting map of Lesbos was published in a Latin edition of Strabo’s Geography around 1572. A simple woodcut image provides a topographic overview of the Aegean Island; labeling different regions, towns, and historic sites. A handful of ruins are shown pictorially, while sea monsters and galleys ply the waves. Surrounding descriptive text references the rich Classical history of the ‘Island of Poets’.

Strabo (c. 63 BCE – 24 AD) was a Greek geographer who lived in Asia Minor during the reign of the Roman Empire. He is best known for his influential work, the Geographica, a 17-volume encyclopedia of geographic knowledge about the entire known world. Though Strabo’s original work has been lost, various copies survived through Muslim scholars and were revived on Western printing presses beginning in the 15th century.

Source: University of Chicago;