Munster, Sebastian “Tavola dell’ isole nuove..." [New World]

Sebastian Munster. “Tavola dell’ isole nuove, le quali son nominate occidental, & indiane per diversi rispetti. Cum Privilegio 1550.” 

[1550]-18^th century facsimile ca. 1740.  10 x 13 1/4.  Woodcut on 18^th century laid paper with fleur de lis watermark and IV counter mark.  Attractive modern hand color.  No text on verso.  Vertical centerfold with four small evenly spaced binding holes.  Two hard to see angled very soft creases right hand side of map. Else, very good condition.  A/A 

One of the greatest maps of North and South America ever produced, the original map was first issued by Munster in his Geographia in 1540.  However, this map is an 18^th century facsimile.    

We date this map from the early to mid 18^th century since the title in the bottom margin includes the following “Cum Privilegio” which basically means “with privilege.”  This title never appeared in any of the earlier versions.  In addition the water mark in this map is a fleur-de-lis on one side with a counter mark of IV on the other side which indicates the initials of the paper maker Jean Villedary (1668-1758).  The counter mark, design of the watermark, their size and relation to the vertical chain lines of the paper are similar to samples dating between 1718 and 1722, making it likely that this map was most likely produced in the first half of the eighteenth century

In addition, we can conclude that this map dates to the 18^th century since William Hogarth used paper with the same watermark and countermark for his original drawings for "Gin Lane" and "Beer Street."  Overall, an excellent facsimile of an earlier map issued approximately two hundred years later.   

 Amongst this maps most salient points:

(a) This is the first printed map to depict North and South America as separate continents.  Prior to this, maps showed discovered parts of North America either as a number separate islands or as connected to Asia.  With the publication of Munster’s map, North and South America were finally clearly shown as a separate but connected land mass.

(b) It contains one of the earliest and most obvious depictions of the false sea of Verrazano.  In 1523-4, Verrazano sailed from Florida up the east coast to Newfoundland in the service of Francis I of France, thus becoming the first person to show definitely that the land discovered in the south by the Spanish was connected with the land discovered by the English in the north.  Verrazano’s voyage was a search for a route to the riches of the Orient, for Europeans thought that there must be an easy passage to the Pacific in the area.  With this unfounded assumption firmly in mind, Verrazano jumped to the conclusion that he had spotted the Pacific Ocean when he saw a large body of water across a narrow bit of land north of Florida.  What he had in fact seen was Pamlico Sound across the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but his statement that he had seen the Pacific across a narrow isthmus was accepted as fact in Europe, and the ‘false sea of Verrazano’ thus began to appear on maps of the New World, nowhere more graphically than here.  It is interesting to note that it was depictions like that in Munster’s map, which enjoyed wide circulation, that spread the idea of a passage to the east in the area of North America, which in turn was one of the major impetuses in the further exploration and eventual settlement of North America.

(c)  Other bits of information from early voyages are nicely illustrated, including the recent voyage around the world by Magellan.  Not only is the Strait of Magellan, “Fretum Magaliani,” shown, as are the Marianas, Magellan’s ‘Isles of Thieves,’ but Magellan’s ship, the Victoria, is seen sailing in the Pacific.  The explorations in the northeast of North America are evidenced by the name “Fancisca,” as well as the correct depiction of Newfoundland, “Cortereal,” as a single large island. 

Even Marco Polo’s adventures in the orient are represented, with Japan in an archipelago consisting of exactly 7,448 islands, a ‘fact’ recorded by Marco Polo.  The narrowness of the Pacific Ocean, which causes Japan to appear very close to the western coast of North America, is caused by the ancient belief that the earth was about 2/3rds its actual circumference.

 (d) Other points of interest include the representation of the Yucatan Peninsula as an island, and the depiction of the lake upon which Temistitan, modern Mexico City, was built, as emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.  In South America a wonderful vignette shows the existence of cannibals in a rather graphic fashion.  The Spanish Flag is seen flying over the West Indies, while the Portuguese Flag is shown off the Brazilian coast, reflecting the Papal division of the New World between the two countries.

For these and many other points of interest, this first map of North and South America is a cornerstone for any collection of American maps; it is one of the great maps in the history of cartography even though it is an 18^th century facsimile.