This map is one of the later
woodcut maps of Africa. As such, the appearance of the
map, especially when compared to other maps from this
period, is unusual. Like Bünting's other, more
allegorical maps in his book, this map was unique (such
as the swan in the south Atlantic!). It does not fit
with any previous or later model in the mapping of
Africa.
Heinrich Bünting appears
to generally follow Sebastian Münster's 1540 map of
Africa for his basic depiction of Africa, especially
with its west to east slope of Africa. The shape of the
continent is unusual in that it tapers to a point at the
Cape of Good Hope. Bünting identifies the Moslems in
northwest Africa as Der weissen Morenland (the
White Moors) and the Moslems in Central Africa, just
above Priester Johans Land (the Land of Prester
John), as Der Schwartzen Morenland (the Black
Moors). Likely relying on Münster's 1540 map, Bünting
places the island of Zaphala, among other islands, off
the east coast of Africa, in a probable reference to the
region from which King Solomon supposedly imported gold
and silver to Jerusalem. Most interestingly, Bünting
introduces a third, even larger lake, Nidilis lacus, in
Central Africa as a new source for the Nile.
Heinrich Bünting
(1545-1606) was a Protestant Professor of Theology at
Hanover. He is most known for his Itinerarum Sacrae
Scripturae, a religious commentary on the world,
which contained this map. The book describes the travels
of the religious figures of the Old and New Testaments
of the Bible as well as its geography. It was a popular
book and was the most complete summary of the geography
of the Bible of this period. This map is the third
variant.
Reference: Betz #
24.3. Betz, Richard L., with Penelope W. Betz. The
Mapping of Africa: A Cartobibliography of Printed Maps
of the African Continent to 1700. 't Goy-Houten, The
Netherlands: HES & De Graaf Publishers,
2007. Norwich, Map #17.
Very Good Condition. The
Bünting maps seems to almost always have condition
issues, often attributed to the poor quality of the
paper used in the printing process. This map does not
have paper separations, though there is a bit of
reintegrated paper used at the top left margin and on
the centerfold toward the bottom of the map.
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