Image size: 28.0 x 36.0,
Frame size: 46.7 x 55.3 x 1.6 cm,
Image size: 28.5 x 36.4 cm
Sebastian Münster was a German professor of Hebrew, as well as a mathematician and cartographer, working in Basel. His 1540 Die lander Asie is part of a set of the first continent maps ever published, and referred to sources from antiquity, as well as new information based on recent Portuguese sea explorations of the region. The map represents both Asia and Southeast Asia, showing the Malay peninsula with the settlement of Malacca, as well as the island of Sumatra. The Moluccas (Maluku), later central to the spice trade, already appears in this map. Whimsical illustrations of a mermaid and giant fish appear at the bottom of the map, suggesting that Asia was still a space of fantasy and imagination for European mapmakers of the time.
