STRABO

First edition of this Latin translation of Strabo s Geography by Konrad Heresbach, produced at the bequest of the humanist printer Valentin Curio and attractively decorated, including woodcut initials by Holbein showing putti in various attitudes. The first Latin edition of Strabo s was Guarino Veronese s translation, published in Venice in 1469; the Aldine press published the editio princeps in 1516. The English blindstamped binding, almost certainly produced in London, is undoubtedly contemporaneous with the book (Oldham, p. 43).
Strabo s Geography, his only surviving work, contains a wealth of information about the ancient Roman world, and is one of the earliest comprehensive works of geography. Born in the first century BC in Pontus, Strabo studied in Rome and Alexandria and travelled extensively in Italy, eastern regions including the Black Sea, Asia Minor, Egypt as far as Ethiopia, and parts of Greece, mostly during the peaceful reign of Augustus (this edition contains a brief life of the author). His Geography preserves and is an invaluable source of information on earlier ancient Greek geographers, including Eratosthenes, the first systematic or mathematical geographer, Hipparchus and Posidonius.
The first introductory book firmly establishes Homer as Strabo s most important source, praising the poet and quoting liberally from his Iliad and Odyssey. In the second book, by contrast, Strabo is critical of the systems established by Eratosthenes and Hipparchus. Strabo broadly followed Eratosthenes s system but also delineated separate countries with physical, political and historical details. Aimed at civil servants rather than students (and with an emphasis on civil good), Strabo emphasises geographical features, dangers posed by natural disasters, and natural resources of various regions. Strabo was one of the earliest authors to describe fossil formation and volcanic eruptions, both in Book 3. Books 3 and 4 deal with Spain and Gaul; 5 and 6 with Italy and Sicily; 7 with northern and eastern Europe; 8-10 with Greece, 11-14 with Asia and Asia Minor; 15 with India and Iran; 16 with the Middle East; and 17 with Egypt and Africa.