The present example is the first state of the map, retaining 

's name in the lower cartouche. The second state, also dated 1531, includes the imprint of Hermannus Venraed, in place of Fine's name, but retains the 1531 dating. In all there are six states of the map, dated 1536, 1540, 1541, and 1555 respectively. While all states are rare, the first state of the map is especially uncommon.

’s cordiform map presents North America and Asia as a single landmass. He used the toponym ‘America’ for South America, and places the lands of Mangi, Tangut, and Catay from the legend of Marco Polo on the shores of present-day Gulf of Mexico. On the same map, Fine drew ‘Terra Australis’ occupying the south pole, with the legend ‘recently discovered but not yet completely explored’, by which he referred to the discovery of Tierra del Fuego by Ferdinand Magellan. Since Antarctica was not discovered until 1820 by the Russian Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, its inclusion on Fine’s map remains puzzling.
	
The cordum also contains a swath of the Pacific Ocean, which Fine names ‘Mare magellanicum’, one of the first appearances of the explorer's name on a map. Central America contains numerous place names reflecting the conquests and explorations of Hernán Cortez in the early 1520s. Explorations of the East Coast of America are also referenced, and Fine’s map is one of the earliest to accurately depict its coastline. The map is surrounded by beautiful and elaborate floral work with depictions of dragons, putti, and mermaids.

 (1494–1555) was a French mathematician whose double-cordiform world map is one of the most striking and influential maps published in the sixteenth century. Born in Briançon, he was educated at the Collège de Navarre, Paris, and obtained a degree in medicine in 1522. In 1531, he was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the Collège Royal (the present Collège de France), founded by Francis I of France, where he taught until his death. 

His cordiform map was created in 1531, appearing in the 1532 Paris edition of Johann Huttich and Simon Grynaeus' 'Novus Orbis Tegionum', a collection of travel accounts that had also been published in Basel several months earlier. It was also sold separately by Christian Wechel. The map is not only visually stunning but is also noteworthy for its cartographic content. It is the first printed world map based upon a double-cordiform polar projection, a form that would be copied by 

 and Antonio Lafreri a decade or so later. 

Fine's cartography was derived from the German mathematician and cosmographer Johannes Schöner, bearing a striking resemblance to Schöner’s printed Weimar 

's spherical map of the world – which was also inspired by a globe (see SC-TM-1515[1781]-Durer-WorldMapas) – Fine’s map engaged the practical problem of how to project a spherical earth in a convincing two-dimensional form. Simultaneously it also wrestled with the philosophical problem of how to reconcile new discoveries that clearly contradicted the prevailing authority of  Claudius Ptolemy and Biblical accounts of the Earth.

One of the first maps created on a polar projection, this elegant work was engraved by 

, a celebrated French polymath. This is the first state of six states of the map created between 1531 and 1555 and remains one of the most striking and influential world maps of the sixteenth century.

The use of a double-cordiform (heart-shaped) projection was a unique attempt to render the sphere of the earth accurately on a two-dimensional surface. The map includes many newly discovered landforms including a mysterious southern continent that blends the landmasses of Australia and Antarctica. Richly embellished with animals, cherubs, mermaids, and flowers, Fine’s map set a new standard in mapmaking and would be emulated by other cartographers such as 

First edition, first state of the first printed world map based upon a double-cordiform projection. 

Double-page cordiform woodcut map of the world

Fine’s Double-Cordiform World Map on a Polar Projection