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Totius Africae tabula et descriptio universalis etiam ultra Ptolemaei extensa

Sebastian Munster and a private collection

Hong Kong Maritime Museum

Hong Kong Maritime Museum
Hong Kong, Hong Kong

This is probably the first map depicting the entire continent of Africa in the West. It is included in Sebastian Munster’s sixteenth century best seller Geographia and Cosmographia. This is the first map to show the complete outline of Africa based on the work of Ptolemy as well as information provided chiefly by contemporary Portuguese and Arab sources. The interior of the continent is illustrated with an elephant and parrots on trees in South Africa. A one-eyed man, or Cyclops is meant to show the mythical Monoroli tribe in what are today Cameroon and Nigeria.

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  • Title: Totius Africae tabula et descriptio universalis etiam ultra Ptolemaei extensa
  • Creator: Sebastian Munster, a private collection
  • Provenance: a private collection
Hong Kong Maritime Museum

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