1552 Africae Tabula IIII

  By: Sebastian Munster  Date: 1552 (Published) Basel Dimensions: 10  x 13.4 inches (25.4 cm x 34 cm)  This marvelous woodcut map of western North Africa is from Munster’s 1552 Latin edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia.  The map is presented in a trapezoidal border, and the verso features descriptive text in Latin with an elaborate border of decorative details and scenes of fierce battles being waged. The woodcut border surrounding the text on the verso is the work of Hans Holbein. The map features primarily topographical features of northern Africa in its entirety, starting from the Pacific Ocean and extending to the east as far as Arabia and the Persian Gulf. It also extends northward well into Europe including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and the Black Sea.  The Alps are depicted in their place, as are the Pyrenees between Spain and France. In Africa, the source of the Nile is shown as three lakes whose drainage systems are related to a mountain range labeled ‘Montes Lunae’,