World--Münster, Sebastian, and Hans Holbein.

Published in Novus orbis regionum, an important collection of voyages compiled by Johann Huttich and edited by Simon Grynaeus and with a geographical preface by Sebastian Münster, this richly decorated map, probably by Münster, is surrounded by masterful vignettes, attributed to Hans Holbein the younger.

The map shows a view of the New World, already out of date at the time of publication. The gap between North and South America and the narrow flat-sided shape of North and South America harks back to Waldseemüller (1507) and Schoner (1520).

The elaborate borders are enhanced with imaginary scenes of cannibals, winged serpents, and elephants, and at both poles there appear winged angels turning the world on its axis illustrating Copernican theory, not widely known until after 1543 with the publication of his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.