One of the earliest world maps available to the collector

SCHEDEL, D. Hartmann.

Secunda etas mundi.
Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, 1493, Latin text edition. Coloured woodcut, printed area 370 x 520mm.

Small stitch holes at centre fold, as usual, with old reinforcing.

A fine example of the famous incunable world map from the 'Nuremberg Chronicle', published a matter of months after Columbus' return to Spain after his first voyage to the New World, so including nothing of his discoveries. Instead, appropriately for a history of the world, it takes a retrospective view, with the cartography that of Ptolemy, with a land-locked Indian Ocean with the island of Taprobana, but given a biblical theme by depicting the three sons of Noah in the borders. Down the left are seven vignettes of bizarre mythological creatures, with a further 14 on the reverse, taken from the works of Herodotus, Solinus and Pliny. These include figures with six arms, four eyes or a bird-neck and a centaur. The text describes which parts of the world they inhabit.

SHIRLEY: 19.
Stock ID : 18707