Important map of Asia published 1545 by Sebastian Munster. This woodcut map is one of the earliest published maps depicting the asian continent with information being derived from Portuguese sources. Beautifully embellished with a mermaid and a representation of a large fish or whale.
The Asian continent is shown with current knowledge, but Munster doesn’t resolve the north east coast of Asia and depicts it as joined to the Americas. Goa, the Portuguese’s stronghold on the subcontinent is shown, as is Sri Lanka, named Zaylon. The island of Sumatra is named Taprobana and Sumatra illustrating the confusion resulting from Ptolmey’s texts in which Munster stated that Taprobana was the largest in the world, a claim that Marco Polo also made in his scribed accounts of his travels from China to Persia. As a consequence many geographers and cartographers were understandably confused and often place both names on the island. Malacca which controls the important straits for shipping from the east was attacked and claimed by the Portuguese in 1512. From this base the Portuguese soon learnt the true source of the important source of Nutmeg and Cloves, “the spice islands”. These are shown and named (Moluccas, Gilolo and Ternate). The only possible source for the location of the Spice Islands would have been from Portuguese sources as the Dutch were not to make their presence felt for another 50 years. Below Taprobana is an enormous fish and a frolicking mermaid .
This early edition is identified by the lack of latitude and longitude which was added around the map in 1552 and other later editions.
Munster, S. Cosmographia. Latin text edition.
