Sri Lanka 1128

     The map on the stamp is said to be a map of the island of Taprobana (Sri Lanka) based on a 1378 version of Ptolemy’s map of 150 AD. However, on the map itself the note reads:

Ante Taprobanam multitudo est insularum iacct quas dicunt esse 1378 numero quarum, autem nomina traduntur hic circumscriptis sunt.

     This refers to the fact that Taprobana is surrounded by many islands, 1378 of them, not that the map was drawn in 1378.