#1 The Americas Munster, 1540 $35 $215 Framed

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This remarkable map is the earliest to show the New World as a separate landmass. Magellan’s flagship, Victoria, is shown sailing in the Pacific south of Japan (Zipangri). Cannibals prepare a fire just east of Portuguese standard. The Vatican flag marks demarcation of Spanish and Portuguese territories. The imaginary Sea of Verrazano cuts deep into North America, near Outer Banks. Yucatan is shown as an island off Cuba.

This woodcut by German mathematician Sebastian Munster, one of the most influential mapmakers of the 16^th century, has extraordinary detail and magnificent color. First published in Muenster’s "Cosmography", it showed Terra florida as the name for lands just below the mountains of North America.

Image Size: 13 ½" x 11"

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