Typus orbis universalis

Sebastian Münster was a German mapmaker, cosmographer and professor of Hebrew at the University of Basel.

One of his notable works was a Latin edition of Claudius Ptolemy’s Geography, first published in Basel in 1540.

This edition included twenty-seven Ptolemaic maps and twenty-one modern maps, including this world map Typus orbis universalis (View Record (#91)), which also appeared in subsequent editions of Geographia, in 1542 and 1545.

Four years after the release of his Geography, Münster published Cosmographia: Beschreibung aller Länder (commonly known as Cosmographia universalis), a more expansive and comprehensive work incorporating broader geographical, historical, and cultural content.

Initially published in German in 1544, it was later translated into several languages, including Latin, French, Italian, and Czech, with editions produced between 1544 and 1578.

The modern world map also featured in the first four editions of Münster's Cosmography(1544, 1545, 1546 and 1548) before the original printing block was retired.

A new block was carved for the 1550 of Cosmography, and it was used for all subsequent editions up to and including 1578, as well as the final edition of the Geographyin

1552.

This world map is from the 1550 edition of Cosmographia unversalis.

While geographically like its predecessor, this map features the initials "DK" of woodcutter David Kandel in the lower left corner.

The titles of the wind-heads are now enclosed in banners, and the east and west winds are relocated outside the oval surround.

The depiction of North America, labelled Terra Florida, retains its distinctive, almost water-divided shape, although the inscription regarding a route to the Moluccas has been removed.

Other changes include the omission of the toponyms Terra nova sive de Bacalhos (New land of the Codfish) and Francisca(today's Canada).

The oceans are populated by eight sea monsters, and a sailing ship is depicted crossing the Pacific, firing its cannons.