Book on Navigation

Description Conservation Exhibitions Provenance Credit

Description Originally composed in 932 AH/AD 1525 and dedicated to Sultan Süleyman I ("The Magnificent"), this great work by Piri Reis (d. 962 AH/AD 1555) on navigation was later revised and expanded. Walters manuscript W.658, made mostly in the late 11th century AH/AD 17th, is based on the later expanded version and has some 240 exquisitely executed maps and portolan charts. They include a world map (fol. 41a) with the outline of the Americas, as well as maps of coastlines (bays, capes, peninsulas), islands, mountains, and cities of the Mediterranean basin and the Black Sea. The work starts with the description of the coastline of Anatolia and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Peloponnese peninsula, and the eastern and western coasts of the Adriatic Sea. It then proceeds to describe the western shores of Italy, southern France, Spain, North Africa, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, western Anatolia, various islands north of Crete, the Sea of Marmara, Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It ends with a map of the shores of the Caspian Sea (fol. 374a).

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
9/12/2013	Treatment	binding stabilized; examined for condition; examined for exhibition; media consolidation; repaired; stabilized

Exhibitions

Expanding World Views: A Millennium of Maps. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2001-2002.
Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. The Field Museum, Chicago; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2007-2008.
Poetry and Prayer: Islamic Manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2010.
Egypt’s Mysterious Book of the Faiyum. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2013-2014.
Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. 2015-2016.

Provenance Ahmad Afandi [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [see folio 4a]; Ali Afandi [date and mode of acquisiton unknown] [see folio 4a]; Sayyid Ali Qapudan [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [see folio 1a]; Sultan Mahmud Khan [date and mode of acquistion unknown] [waqf seal and followed by a bequest statement (now erased), and the seal of the inspector of wakfs, Mustafá Tahir, see folio 4a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters

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Creator

Piri Reis (Turkish, 1465-1555) (Author)

Period

late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)

Medium

ink and pigments on laid European paper bound between boards covered with red leather with gold
(Manuscripts & Rare Books)

Accession Number

W.658

Measurements

Folio H: 13 3/8 x W: 9 7/16 in. (34 x 24 cm); H open in cradle at 0°: 18 1/4 x 14 1/4 x 8 1/2 in. (46.36 x 36.2 x 21.59 cm); H open in cradle at 10°: 18 1/4 x 13 3/4 x 10 in. (46.36 x 34.93 x 25.4 cm)

Geographies

Turkey (Place of Origin)

Location Within Museum

Not On View

Map of the Caspian Sea	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.374A	Accession
akburun	Tags

Map of the Black Sea Coastline	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.373A	Accession
blacksea	Tags

Map of the Anatolian Coast, the City of Iskenderun as Afar as the Shores of Adana	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.323A	Accession
manavgat	Tags

Map of the Sea of Marmara, Bosporus Strait and the Black Sea	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.372B	Accession

Map of the Coast of the Black Sea from Istanbul to Geresun	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.371A	Accession

Map of the Island of Mir 'Ali	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.369B	Accession

Map of the Island of Marmara in the Sea of Marmara	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.368B	Accession

Leaf from Book on Navigation	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.367B	Accession

Map of Part of the Coastline of the Sea of Marmara, with the Town of Kavak	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.366B	Accession

Map of Aloneses and Unidentified Islands	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.364B	Accession

Map of Skyros Island	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.362B	Accession

Map of Keos Island	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.361B	Accession

Map of Kythnos Island	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.360B	Accession

Map of Serofos (Koyunluga) Island	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.359B	Accession

Map of Melos Island	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.357B	Accession

Map of the Islands Folegandros and Melos	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.356A	Accession

Map of the Islands Folegandros and Ios	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.355A	Accession

Map of Two Islands: Santorini and Thera in the Aegean Sea, North of Crete	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.354A	Accession

Map of the Island of Anafi, East of Thera	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.353A	Accession

Map of the Island of Crete	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.352A	Accession

Map Fragment of the Island of Crete	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.351B	Accession

Map of the Islands of Karpathos and Kasos	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.346A	Accession

Map of the Istanbul Island	Title
late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)	Period
W.658.344B	Accession