’s death in 1520, his 'Carta Marina’ of 1516 was reissued in a German translation in 1525 by Johannes Grüninger and 

. The publishers issued in the same year, the ‘Uslegung’ as a supplemental text to interpret the map. The ‘Uslegung’ was derived from an unfinished draft of Waldseemüller’s known as the ‘Itineraria’ which the author had begun in 1518.

The ‘Uslegung’ begins with a letter by Fries (self-styled as ‘Philosophus’) to Grüninger in which he explains the development of Waldseemüller's map and includes an introduction to cosmography, instructions for mounting and using the map, and a ‘resister’ or index of some two hundred place names. The second tract, ‘explaining some countries and customs’ includes, among other things, an entire chapter on ‘America’ and a detailed description of Vienna. Much of this section is recycled from travel writers such as Francanzano da Montalboddo. 

The twelve-sheet 'Carta Marina’ is only known in a single surviving example, originally bound together in an album in the library of the Princes of Waldburg zu Wolfegg-Waldsee, and now in the Library of Congress (G1015 .S43 1517). The ‘Uslegung’ is only slightly less rare with six examples known in institutional collections. The present example is the only known unbound copy of the map of Alvise da Cadamosto’s journey.

This map showing the voyages of Alvise da Cadamosto was almost certainly drafted by 

 for his ‘Itinerario’ of 1518. It appeared only in the 1525 edition of the ‘Uslegung’ with subsequent issues being somewhat abbreviated. Undoubtedly, Grüninger and 

 wished to include additional maps in the ‘Uslegung’; several references mention a larger, forthcoming book that would contain more detail, and we know that Grüninger, as late as April 1525, still hoped to persuade the humanist scholar Willibald Pirkheimer to edit the manuscript.

The map shows the initial route of Cadamosto's first expedition indicated by a line that begins from the point of departure in Lagos on the southern tip of Portugal, southwest to the Canary Islands, then southward off the edge of the map towards Senegal. The Canaries and Barbary Coast are both shown with minimal detail. Climate zones and longitudes are indicated on the sides of the map and a decorative Portuguese galleon is depicted sailing from Lagos. Titled ‘Map One’ (‘Tabula Prima’), the map was clearly intended as part of a serious that would show a complete itinerary of Cadamosto’s journey, but these subsequent maps were never realized.

, was prepared for a German publication titled ‘Uslegung der Mercarthen oder Cartha marina’ published by Johannes Grüninger and 

 in 1525. The ‘Uslegung’ (‘Interpretations’) was intended to accompany a second publication by Grüninger and Fries – a German translation of 

’s 1516 world map known as 'Carta Marina Navigatoria Portugallen'. The ‘Uslegugn’ and its map of Cadamosto’s journey were both adaptations of an unfinished draft by Waldseemüller known as the ‘Itinerario’, which he began in 1518 but did not complete before his death in 1520. 

Alvise da Cadamosto (1432–1488), was a Venetian merchant, who voyaged to the west coast of Africa in the 1450s. Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal sponsored the first voyage in return for a share of expected profits. Cadamosto's first expedition set sail from Lagos on 22 March 1455, making landfall on Porto Santo and Madeira, sailing past the Canaries, before arriving at the estuary of the Senegal River. He then sailed farther southeast as far as the Gambia River, before turning back to Portugal.

In 1456, Cadamosto returned to West Africa, ostensibly to explore the Gambia River but, in reality, to search for gold. The former was achieved, but the latter was not, compelling Cadamosto to sail farther southeast, reaching the estuary of the Geba River (Rio Grande). On the return voyage to Portugal, Cadamosto discovered some of the Cape Verde Islands.

This small, elegant map shows the route followed by Alvise da Cadamosto to the Canary Islands in 1455. It was created by the eminent cartographer 

 around 1518 and published after his death in 1525 by Johannes Grüninger and 

. Only six other copies are known, making this map a rare cartographic witness to the early voyages to Africa by Portuguese explorers.  

Extremely rare map of Cadamosto’s voyage, no other separate examples are known, and only six examples known in published editions.


Double-page woodcut map of the west coast of Africa.

Fries' Map of the Canary Islands and West Africa, showing the voyage of Cadamosto