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This map shows the empires, kingdoms and states of Southeast Asia. Its decorative cartouche features drawings of two women—one with a cornucopia and one with a censer (incense burner)—elephant heads, and a French coat of arms. Nine scales are shown.

This map shows the empires, kingdoms and states of Southeast Asia. Its decorative cartouche features drawings of two women—one with a cornucopia and one with a censer (incense burner)—elephant heads, and a French coat of arms. Nine scales are shown.

The seas on this early map of Asia are decorated with sailing ships and sea monsters. The cartouche features an illustration of two Asian men carrying bows and arrows.

The seas on this early map of Asia are decorated with sailing ships and sea monsters. The cartouche features an illustration of two Asian men carrying bows and arrows.

Originally published in Gerardus Mercator's ‘Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura’ (1595), the title of which was the first use of the word ‘atlas’ to refer to a collection of maps. This is a 1630 reprint.

Early map by Sebastian Münster, based on the work of 2nd century geographer Ptolemy, featuring strange deformed monsters, including headless men with faces on their torsos, a man with a dog’s head, and a mythical race of cannibals (‘Anthropophagi’).