1550 Descrittione della Gothia, o uero della Gotlandia.

This fascinating early map of Scandinavia and northwestern Russia is from an Italian edition of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia, and is one of the earliest known maps of the region to be published. Norway and Sweden are quite accurately depicted with the long Scandinavian mountain range separating the two, and Lapland named near the northernmost point. At Sweden’s southernmost point is a region with the toponym Gothen, modern day Götaland, now comprising ten provinces including Västergötland, Östergötland, Småland, Skåne, and Gotland, to name a few.  Finland is depicted as an island whose territory is to the south of a Russian region, and some cities in Russia which in fact are to the south of Finland are positioned too far north. Specifically, the region of Karelia and the city of Wiborg are misplaced. The Russian city of Novgorod is depicted somewhat closer to its true geographic location. Riga, Latvia is shown on the Baltic coast. A portion of Denmark, and the tip of Scotland are