1598 Septentrionalivm Partivm Nova Tabvla
DESCRIPTION
This map of the North Atlantic is regarded as the earliest obtainable printed depiction of the Zeno brothers’ legendary North Atlantic voyage, one of the most enduring and controversial episodes in early modern cartography. Issued in Venice in the mid-sixteenth century for La Geografia di Claudio Tolomeo, edited by Girolamo Ruscelli and engraved by Giacomo Gastaldi, it brought the Zeno narrative into wide circulation and ensured its long-lasting influence on European geographic thought.
From a geographic standpoint, the map presents a northern Atlantic world that blends recognizable lands with speculative and fictitious geography. Iceland and Greenland form the framework of the map, while the surrounding seas are populated by large islands rendered with confident coastlines and named places. The composition treats real and imagined lands alike, integrating them seamlessly into a coherent spatial vision that reflects Renaissance efforts to reconcile classical authority, traveler’s tales, and emerging exploration.
The Mythical Island of Frisland and other Phantom Islands
Most prominent among the fictitious features is Frisland, depicted as a substantial island south of Iceland and west of Norway, complete with an intricate coastline and numerous place names. It is joined by other imaginary lands, including Estotiland, Deogeo, Estland, and Icaria, as well as the supposed monastery of St. Thomas in Greenland. These phantom islands are shown in remarkable detail, underscoring how fully they were accepted within 16th-century geographic discourse despite having no basis in reality other than a narrative first published in 1558 by a descendant a prominent Venetian noble family of sailors, merchants, and medieval navigators, known as the Zeno brothers.
The Zeno Narrative and Historical Context
In 1558, a descendant of the Zeno family published a map and a series of letters describing a supposed voyage undertaken in 1380 by the Venetian brothers Nicolo and Antonio Zeno. According to this narrative, the brothers traveled through the North Atlantic to the large island of Frisland, then on to Greenland and lands farther west, operating under the patronage of a northern ruler known as Zichmni. The letters recount extended stays, military campaigns against neighboring islands, and encounters with distant territories described by returning fishermen, presenting a sweeping vision of pre-Columbian exploration.
Modern scholarship widely regards the Zeno account as a fabrication or heavily embellished story, likely intended to advance Venetian claims of early discovery before Christopher Columbus. Despite its doubtful authenticity, the narrative proved remarkably influential. The geography it introduced, including Frisland and other fictitious islands, was accepted by leading cartographers and incorporated into maps for decades, shaping European conceptions of the North Atlantic well into the late 16th century.
CONDITION
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