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Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque Lustrationes

Documentary heritage submitted by United States of America and Germany and recommended for inclusion in the Memory of the World Register in 2005.

The Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque Lustrationes by Martin Waldseemüller. N.p. 1507 [St. Dié or Strasbourg, France]. The 1507 printed world map, prepared by the Gymnasium Vosagense, St. Dié, France under the direction of Martin Waldseemüller, is the first map on which the name America appears. The Library of Congress possesses the only known surviving copy of this map.

Prepared by the research team in St. Dié, France and reflecting fresh information derived from the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the 1507 World map by Martin Waldseemüller is universally recognized as the first map, printed or manuscript, to reflect a true depiction of a separate Western Hemisphere and the existence of the Pacific Ocean. This monumental cartographic achievement of the early 16th century bears the additional importance as the first printed world wall map and is the document which reflects Waldseemüller’s decision to name the New World “America” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. In light of the importance in the field of geographic and the history of cartography, Martin Waldseemüller’s monumental 1507 world map should be included in the Memory of the World Register.

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