Carta marina


Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum is the first map of the Nordic countries to give details and place names, created by Swedish ecclesiastic Olaus Magnus and initially published in 1539. Only two earlier maps of the Nordic countries are known, those of Jacob Ziegler and Claudius Clavus.
The map is centred on Scandia, which is shown in the largest size text on the map and placed on the middle of Sweden. The map covers the Nordic lands of "Svecia" and "Gothia" , "Norvegia", Dania, "Fare", Islandia, Finlandia, Lituania, Livonia, and "pars" "Scotie" and "Anglie". The map is framed with longitudes and latitudes running from 55° to the Arctic Circle. The sea is filled with numerous animals, many recognisable, including various whales and walrus.
The map is 1.70 m wide by 1.25 m tall, and was printed in black and white from nine 55 × 40 cm woodcut blocks sequenced from west to east and north to south, and identified in the centre with the letters A to I.

History

The map was created in Rome during 1527–39 by Olaus Magnus, who arrived on a diplomatic visit for the Swedish government and stayed on, likely because his brother Johannes Magnus became involved in a religious feud with King Gustav I of Sweden.
To construct the map, Magnus drew from a variety of ancient sources including Ptolemy's map in Geographia, and contemporary sources such as the work of Astronomer Jacob Ziegler. In addition to cartographic sources, Magnus also relied on the descriptions of sailors and his own observations.
It took 12 years to make and the first copies were printed in 1539 in Venice.
Olaus complemented the map with Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus ("A description of the Northern peoples") printed in Rome, 1555. These Latin notes were translated by Olaus into Italian and German.

Surviving copies

All of the original copies of the map passed out of public knowledge after 1574, and the map was largely forgotten, perhaps because few copies were printed and Pope Paul III asserted a 10-year "copyright". It was later widely questioned whether the map had ever existed.
In 1886, Oscar Brenner found a copy at the Hof- und Staatsbibliothek in Munich, where it currently resides. In 1961, another copy was found in Switzerland, brought to Sweden the following year by the Uppsala University Library; as of 2007 it is stored there at the Carolina Rediviva library. The copies differ slightly from each other.

Adaptations

A downscaled adaptation of the 'Uppsala' copy or similar was printed in Rome by Antoine Lafréry in 1572.

Digital copies of the first known 'München' original

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Digital copies of the second known 'Uppsala' original

  • "" - Unknown colored reproduction of the Uppsala original, in jpeg images. The site contains more information on early printing process.

Digital copies of modifications and adaptations

Category:Historic maps of Europe
Category:History of Scandinavia
Category:1539 works
Category:16th-century maps and globes
Category:Maps of Scandinavia