This is Munster's map of all of Africa north of the Equator. It is
based on the ancient sources of Claudius Ptolemy (90-160),
working from the famed Library of Alexandria in Egypt.
Ptolemy's text was bought to Italy in the 14th century as the
Byzantine Empire began to collapse. In Italy it was first
translated into Latin and eventually found its way north of the
Alps to Basle where it was published. This map first appeared in Munster's edition of
Claudius Ptolemy's Geographia
in 1540 and in the three subsequent editions of 1542, 1545,
and 1552. There were only four editions of Munster's
Geographia, all in Latin.
Sebastian Munster (1489-1552) was one of the three
great cartographers who dominated the sixteenth century, along
with Mercator and Ortelius, "and of these three, Munster
probably had the widest influence in spreading geographical
knowledge throughout Europe in the middle years of the
century" (Moreland & Bannister, p.78).
"[Munster's] Cosmographia... contained not only the
latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included
an encyclopedic amount of detail about the known - and unknown
- world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely
read books of its time."
Reference: Our Research. Tooley, Map Collectors' Circle: Map
Collectors' Series on African Maps, No. 29. Norwich Map #
2. Moreland and Bannister.
Very Good
Condition overall, with a very old repair on the verso to a
separation entering the map from the top. Fine original
color, not often seen in this map.
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