EDWARD WELLS

The map includes numerous ancient Indian cities mountain ranges and rivers. The Ganges River is what separates Intra and Extra Gangem. In the top right corner is a powerful vignette of a war elephant in the heat of battle.

Christoph Weigel (1654-1725) was a goldsmith, engraver, illustrator, and publisher in Nuremberg, Germany, where he produced many maps and atlases of both the ancient and the modern world. Of particular interest is the fact that all his maps were hand-colored immediately after they were printed in his publishing house. The majority of early map publishers issued their maps in black and white with later coloring added by outside artists and colorists. Weigel's Descriptio Orbis Antiqui is an atlas of classical maps, most of which incorporate medallions or coins relating to the region depicted in the map.