Images(2)

NOVAE INSULAE XVII NOVA TABULA

Date1540

Engraver Sebastian Munster (1489-1552)

OriginEurope, Switzerland, Basel

MediumRelief engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 12 × 15 1/4in. (30.5 × 38.7cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number2017-18

DescriptionUpper margin: "NOVAE INSULAE XVII NOVA TABULA"
Label TextThis is the first state of the first separate map of the Americas (Western Hemisphere), collectively labeled "Novus Orbis." The map's focus and emphasis on the "New World” or "Novus Orbis" was a revolutionary departure from popular understanding of the world's geography prior to this point. The map was published in thirteen different states between 1540 through 1578.

This copy published in William C. Wooldridge, “Mapping Virginia: From the Age of Exploration to the Civil War” (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012), #1, pp.2-3.