This post features one of the world’s oldest and rarest maps went on display at the Library of Congress in Washington. It was created by Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci in 1602, was the first in Chinese to show the Americas, and identifies Florida as ‘the Land of Flowers’. And also the one who visited China in 1500s.
The 12ft by 5ft document, printed on six rolls of rice paper, is on show at the Library of Congress. It is one of only two copies in existence in good condition, and was coined ‘the impossible black tulip of cartography’ by experts strugging to track it down. The map includes drawings and annotations detailing different regions of the world.
The copy on display at the Library of Congress became the second most expensive rare map ever sold after it was purchased by the James Ford Bell Trust in October for $1million.
The trust also owns the Waldseemuller world map, which was the first to use the name ‘America’ and was purchased for a staggering $10 million in 2003.
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