The Section for Maps and Pictures

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In 1524 Olaus Magnus was sent to Rome on a diplomatic mission to the
Curia by King Gustav I. He never returned to Sweden. The rest of his life
he dedicated to historical studies and literary work.

Olaus Magnus had been working on his map of the northern parts of Euro-
pe for twelve years when it was published in Venice in 1539. Carta Marina
is the earliest map to present a fairly accurate picture of Sweden and its
neighbouring countries.

To the Carta Marina Olaus Magnus added commentaries in Latin (on the
very map), Italian and German (published separately). The map with the
commentaries may be regarded as a predecessor to his great work Histo-
ria de gentibus septentrionalibus (A History of the Nordic Peoples), prin-
ted in Rome 1555. This is the fist broad description of the Scandinavian
countries and their inhabitants. The connection with Carta Marina is ob-
vious - Olaus' History may be regarded as a very detailed commentary to
the map.

The number of copies of Carta Marina actually printed must have been
very limited, which accounts for the rarity of the map. Nobody seems to
have seen it for centuries until 1886 when a copy was discovered in the
Hof- und Staatsbibliothek in Munich, where it is still preserved. It was not
until 75 years later that a second copy came to light. In 1962 it was of-
fered for sale in Switzerland and was soon secured for the Uppsala Univer-
sity Library.

The map consists of 3 x 3 parts, each measuring 55 x 40 cm. These parts
were cut in wood and printed separately to be put together as a large map
of 170 x 125 cm.

Both of the known copies of Carta Marina are uncoloured. As early as 1572
Antonio Lafreri made a copper engraving based on Carta Marina, but on a
much reduced scale. Due to the smaller size of Lafreri´s copy several of
the illustrations and other information had to be excluded (a coloured copy
of the engraving is to be found in the National Library of Sweden). A num-
ber of later reproductions have been made from the copies in Munich and
Uppsala. These copies broadly speaking correspond to the originals, but
some of them are in colour despite the uncoloured maps.