1542 Aphricae Tabula IIII
DESCRIPTION
An original hand-colored, woodcut map, "Aphricae Tabula IIII," was published by Sebastian Münster around 1542 and presents a Ptolemaic view of North and northeastern Africa. Based on Claudius Ptolemy’s second-century geography and presented with a trapezoidal projection distinctive of Ptolemaic maps, the work reflects Renaissance Europe’s revived interest in classical knowledge and cartographic tradition.
The map covers the Mediterranean coast from Hispania and Mauretania to Egypt, extending southward into a partly mythologized interior. Notable regions such as Aegyptus, Arabia Felix, and Libya Interior are labeled, while major features like the Nile River are prominently depicted with its mysterious, multi-source origin and branching delta. The source of the Nile, one of Africa's greatest cartographic misconceptions is presented in the map situated within the "Montes Lunae," or Mountains of the Moon.
Various ancient tribes and cities are named throughout, offering insight into Greco-Roman understandings of the African continent. A large text block in the lower left lists these many misunderstood populations in the Libya Interior, and Ethiopia Interior. They include indigenous peoples such as the Nymphs, Getulians, Moors, Garamantes, Nigritae (Black people), Leucopei (White people), Ethiopians, Fish-Eaters, Ostrich-Footed People, Cataract-Dwellers, River-Dwellers, Pygmies, Elephant-Eaters, and Cannibals to name a few.
The right margin includes vertical climate bands (climata), a Ptolemaic convention dividing the world into zones based on latitude. The Latin text inset at top right further defines these climate regions.
Sebastian Münster was one of the most influential cartographers of the sixteenth century, and his editions of Ptolemaei Geographia helped shape how Europeans visualized the non-European world during the early age of exploration. This map is a fine example of Münster’s synthesis of humanist scholarship, classical geography, and early modern printmaking, offering both a cartographic curiosity and a historical window into the intellectual worldview of the Renaissance.
CONDITION
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