Novae Insula XVII Nova Tabula

The very rare, first state, second issue, of Sebastian Münster’s 1540 map of the Americas titled, Novae Insula XVII Nova Tabula.

This first state is identified primarily by the spelling of Atlantica in South America and the presence of Temistitan and Panuco in Mexico.

Letters set:
State 1 (1540)             Atlātica     Temistitan The inscription “NOVVS ORBIS” is divided between North America (“NO” and “VVS”) and South America (“ORBIS”).

Suberbly embellished with images of a large galleon and a canibals n South America.

Munster prominently places the flags of Portugal over the south Atlantic and the Spanish one of over her possessions in the Caribbean. The Strait of Magellan is name and Mare pacificum appears for the first time on a printed map. The large galleon at left is the Victoria, the only survivor of Magellan’s five ships. Marco Polo’s influence can be seen with Zipangri (Japan) appearing three years before the earliest known contact with Europeans, and also his Archipelagus 7748 insularu. The Yucatan is still shown as an  island and the lake at Temistitan is depicted emptying into the Gulf Mexico.

Munster printed this map of  from the same woodblock for a number of editions without changes to the actual map but minor typsetting changes to the text.

From: Münster, Sebastian; Ptolemaeus, Claudius: Geographia universalis vetus et nova complectens Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini enarrationis libros VIII : Quorum primus nova translatione Pirckheimeri et accessione commentarioli illustrior quam hactenus fuerit, redditus est … Addita sunt Scholia quibus exoleta […]. Basileae : apud Henricum Petrum, Mense Martio An. M.D.XL. [1540]