Liber chronicarum

Attribution:

Hartmann Schedel

Date:

1493

Description:

This book, hugely popular when it was first published, represents an illustrated history of the world. The map is based on a second century Ptolemy map and depicts the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Each continent is affiliated with the son of Noah who was believed to have settled there after the flood. There is no depiction of the Americas on the map because its printing coincided with the return of Christopher Columbus’ first expedition. Like all the other illustrations in the book, this map was produced using the woodcut technique. Woodcuts are a relief process whereby the design is carved out of a wooden board, which results in a relatively crude outline that provides little detail.

Bib. Reference:

Registrum huius operis libri cronicarum cu[m] figuris et ÿmagi[ni]bus ab inicio mu[n]di (Nuremberg : Dominus Anthonius Koberger)

Bancroft call number:

ff IG4.N8 K6 1493s

Digital image courtesy of:

the National Library of Medicine