Affrica mit seinen Besondern Laendern, Thieren, und wunderbarlichen dingen

This is a fascinating 16th century, hand-coloured map of most of Africa  by Sebastian Münster from his Cosmographia, the most popular book of the century  - and the map  has a rather gruesome image on the verso.

  Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and Hebrew scholar. His Cosmographia was the earliest German description of the world and a major work in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. It was the most popular book of its time: forty editions of the Cosmographia between 1544 and 1628. His influence on cartography lasted at least two centuries.

  Muster died from the bubonic plague. His son in law, Heinrich Petri, continued to publish the Cosmography, frequently add new maps and other illustrations. This partial, small map of Africa comes from the one of the nineteen German editions; probably 1588.  The map and text were printed from woodcuts.

  The geography of this coloured map is after Ptolemy. Information on North Africa was provided by Arab cartographers, which probably accounts for the mirror image depiction of the Great bend in the Nile near Luxor. Cap Veride is Cape Verde, which was used as the prime meridian by the Arabs. The map shows the Motes Lunae, the Mountains of the Moon, thought to be the source of the Nile. While not showing the southern tip of Africa, an annotation below the Mountains of the Moon refers to the area being commonly known as Cap Bonae Spei, the Cape of Good Hope. 

  The verso of this map has two illustrations: a Spanish galleon under attack and a more gruesome image of a Spaniard being roasted on a spit! 

 While the edges of the 430 years old page are somewhat frayed, the printed part of the page is in fine condition. The page has been de-acidified and therefore well conserved to remain in good condition. 

  This is a fascinating, very old map, in excellent condition and with a rather gruesome illustration on the verso, from Münster's Cosmography, once the most popular book in the world.   

Reference: Norwich's Maps of Africa #5; not in Tooley