| Summary: | Hand coloured. Scale indeterminable. Shows western part of Europe and Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, North America, South America, Cuba, and other Atlantic islands. Includes notes and an illustration of cannibals and an oppossum. Text on verso, within ornamental borders. Fries edition of Waldseemüller's "Tabula Terre Novae," the first separate printed map of America. Title from text on verso. -- "The map contains an interesting remnant of the 15th century, pre-Columbus European exploration of the western Atlantic, this being the island of Brazil, seen on the map just west of England. The island was an as yet unidentified discovery in the western Atlantic made by English merchant-explorers in the second half of the 15th century prior to Columbus's first voyage. Documents of the period reveal that something of considerable interest, which was named the island of Brazil, was discovered somewhere in the western Atlantic, but exactly what and where has never been determined. Possibilities range from Newfoundland - or islands near it, to even a segment of the North American mainland." Martayan Lan's Fine antique maps & atlases, catalogue no. 44, p. 36. -- "An edition of Ptolemy's Geography in which virtually all of the maps, including this one, were reduced versions of Waldseemüller's, 1513. Some of the more notable differences are the Columbus name Parias found in North America, misplaced from South America, the addition of a Spanish flag over Cuba, and a scene in South America depicting cannibals and an oppossum, both of which had been reported by Vespucci. The last map is taken directly from Martin Waldseemüller's great twelve sheet Carta Marina of the world, 1516. Here also the Terra Incognita has been replaced by Terra Nova, and the reference to America's discovery by Columbus is repeated. A large area of text below Hispaniola contains a description of that island's location, its discovery by Columbus, and its products. The text on the reverse of the map ends with a protest against the use of the name ...
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