By the late sixteenth century, it appeared that no copy of Olaus Magnus' large wall map had survived. For over three centuries the large Carta Marina simply disappeared from view. Then, in 1886, a copy of the original woodcut map of 1539 was discovered in the Hof- und Staatsbibliothek (now the Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek) in Münich, Germany. So, the map became available once more after three centuries. For many years this was the only known copy. In 1962, a second copy was discovered. It was purchased by the Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek in Uppsala. To date these are the only two extant copies of the original Carta Marina.

Many reproductions have been made of the map, including the one reproduced here, which is a facsimile made in 1949 in Sweden; this copy was handcolored in Norway.

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