[The famous Fries woodblock map of South Africa]
WÄLDSEEMÜLLER, Martin.
Tabula Moderna Aphrice. Vienne: Gaspar Trechsel, 1541. Coloured. Woodcut, printed area 315 x 395mm.
The second printed map to focus on South Africa, reduced from Wäldseemüller's 'modern' map in his edition of Ptolemy, with added vignettes including kings, an elephant and a cockatrice (a reptile with a cockerel's head). Between the mainland and Madagascar is the King of Portugal riding on a sea-serpent, representing his country's dominance in the East. Originally intended not for an edition of Ptolemy but for a new 'Chronica mundi' being written by Wäldseemüller, his death c.1520 caused the project to be shelved. The reduced woodcuts were then used to publish a smaller sized and so cheaper edition of Ptolemy's 'Geography'. See NORWICH: 150.
[Ref: 12873]
£1,850.00
($2,812 • €2,183 rates)
