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C1588
Ptolemeisch General Tafel, die halbe Kugel der Welt begreissende.
Mapmaker:
Famous c.16th woodcut map by the German cartographer Sebastian Münster depicting the world according to Ptolemy. The map displays a Ptolemaic representation of the world, with the continents of Africa and Asia joined to a southern landmass called, Terra Incognita … Read Full Description
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Full Title:
Ptolemeisch General Tafel, die halbe Kugel der Welt begreissende.
Date:
C1588
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition with centre fold as issued.
Technique:
Hand coloured woodcut.
Image Size:
360mm
x 310mm
Paper Size:
413mm
x 352mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1588
Description:
Famous c.16th woodcut map by the German cartographer Sebastian Münster depicting the world according to Ptolemy.
The map displays a Ptolemaic representation of the world, with the continents of Africa and Asia joined to a southern landmass called, Terra Incognita Secundum Protemeum. Surrounding the map are decorative clouds and personified depictions of the twelve winds proposed by Aristotle, each with a banner displaying its name.
In 1588, Münster replaced the Ptolemaic world map found in earlier editions with this new version of the map. The updated map includes the naming of the Tropic of Capricorn and Cancer, and the word ‘Climata’ which is added to the table on the right. The wind-heads have been changed, and the banners for each are smaller in size. This is the first issue of this map which Munster reissued unchanged in 1592, 1598, 1614, 1615, and 1628.
Ptolemy proposed the concept of Terra Australis Incognita and a landlocked Indian Ocean in his Geographia, which influenced all mapmakers until Bartholomew Dias discovered the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope in 1487 thus dispelling the concept of a landlocked Indian Ocean. This new route allowed the Portuguese to access the rich Asian trade directly, bypassing the Venetian-controlled spice trade into Europe via the Middle East and Adriatic Sea.
The map shows Sri Lanka as Taprobana, a large island placed incorrectly to the west of a truncated Indian subcontinent. The source of the Nile is depicted as several lakes south of the equator, and other important inland details include the Himalayas, the Euphrates River, and the Swiss Alps.
From Münster’s Cosmographen das ist Beschreibung Aller Länder, Herschaffen und fürnemesten Stetten des gantzen Erdbodems … Basle.
References:
Shirley, R. The Mapping of the World Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700. London 1987: : 162.
Shirley, R. Maps in the Atlases of The British Library. London 2004: : T.MUN-11 / 1..
Israel, N. Imago Mundi. Amsterdam 1962: p.84-97,.
Shirley, R. The Mapping of the World Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700. London 1987: : 162.
Shirley, R. Maps in the Atlases of The British Library. London 2004: : T.MUN-11 / 1..
Israel, N. Imago Mundi. Amsterdam 1962: p.84-97,.
Sebastian Munster (1488 - 1552)
Sebastian Munster (1488-1552) was an important German cartographer, cosmographer and Hebrew scholar who is best known for his 1540 Latin translation and publication of Ptolemy's Geography titled, Cosmographia. Prior to the introduction of printing for books, of works such as Ptolemy's groundbreaking Geography, they could only be copied individually by scribes, consequently this slow process inhibited the dissemination of geographic knowledge to a wide audience. As information became available especially of the new world, Munster found that Ptolemy's theories were contradicted by these new discoveries that were related to him by ships captains and explorers. One such theory was a land locked Indian Ocean which Ptolemy had shown in his Geography and which was being disproved by the trading ships returning from China and the Spice Islands with their precious cargos. As a result Munster began to add new maps to his own Cosmographia that reflected these new discoveries and made available to a wider audience this changing knowledge of the world.
