CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
Sebastian Münster (1488–1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and scholar. In 1544, he published Cosmographia, the earliest description of the world written in German, although editions were also published in English, French, Italian, and Latin. Cosmographia was one of the most popular and successful works of the 16th century.
This map, which had also been included in Münster's previous work, Ptolemy's Geographia Universalis (1540), is thought to be the first to depict North and South America connected to each other with no link to another continent. The Americas were thus represented as a completely New World. The map perpetuates the explorer Giovanni da Verrazano's idea that the area between Pamlico and Albemarle Sound along the Carolina Banks was an isthmus (between "Terra florida" and "Francisca") with a sea above it connecting to the Pacific Ocean. The illustrations include a ship representing Ferdinand Magellan's ship that circumnavigated the globe and the flags of Spain (in the Caribbean) and Portugal (in the South Atlantic) showing the areas claimed by those countries.
Early mapmakers like Münster depicted the New World based on maps drawn from coastal explorations, land travels, and even information heard word of mouth from various sources. They used symbols, pictures, and other illustrations to represent various geographic features, topics, and themes. Sometimes mapmakers drew in known but unseen mountains or inland seas, or they simply embellished the map with mythical creatures like mermaids and centaurs. Unexplored areas were otherwise left as empty or “blank” land.
Citation: Munster, Sebastian, (1489–1552). Novae Insvlae XXVI Nova Tabvla. Basilae: Per Henrichum Petrum, 1545. G3290 1545 .M8 Voorhees Collection. Library of Virginia.
Standards
History: USI.1, USI.2, USI.4, VUS.2, WG.1, WG.3, WHII.1, WHII.2
Science: 4.9, 5.6, ES.1, ES.8
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the map, what continents does the map show? Why do you think it appears this way in the 16th century?
Post Activities
Analyze: How does the mapmaker's depiction of North and South America represent a European perspective?
STEM Stat: The map shows North and South America based on the information known in the 16th century. It is the first map to show North and South America connected to each other. What other features on the map are in line with current maps of the Americas? Which features are not accurate? What had to occur for cartographers to produce more accurate and detailed maps needed for exploration and navigation?