The map gives a more accurate geography for Scandinavia.
Several keys to the map appeared after it was published.
Olaus Magnus' map served as a source for later mapmakers.
Versions
Copies of the Olaus Magnus map are rare.

The map was printed in reduced and simplified form in several of the editions and translations of the Historia of Olaus Magnus, but these were small imitations of the original wall map.


Italian edition of Olaus Magnus map dated 1565.
Click on the map for an enlarged version in a separate window.

Antonio Lafreri published another much smaller version in Rome in 1572. This map was made with four engraved copperplates. It is also rare, with probably less than twenty copies surviving. A close look at some features of the 1572 map reveals the different "look" of the copperplate engraving and also shows that Lafreri copied the map fairly closely. What is missing? Many of the images described in the Virtual Tour. The original map and accompanying keys to it must have been extremely rare when Lafreri was making his copy of the map. He does not mention either the original map or the key.

magnifying glassUnder the Magnifying Glass: Olaus' Carta Marina

The map gives a more accurate geography for Scandinavia.
Several keys to the map appeared after it was published.
Olaus Magnus' map served as a source for later mapmakers.
Versions
Copies of the Olaus Magnus map are rare.


©1999-2001 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. University Libraries. All rights reserved. Please credit the James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota if you copy or reproduce material from this page.
URL:
http://bell.lib.umn.edu/index.html