Von den Ländern Americe. / Von den Völckern, die an dem Gebürg Andes ligen, und den Patagonen.

Title

Von den Ländern Americe. / Von den Völckern, die an dem Gebürg Andes ligen, und den Patagonen.

Illustration of a locals (Patagon) and a ostrich in Patagonia with a German exact description of the size and power of the Patagon. Patagonia is the name of the historical part of South America. On the reverse is an animal called "Su" or "Sucatar" that has its babies on his back. Furthermore, a picture of several ships on the Strait of Magellan.

ca. 1645

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

This territory became the Spanish colony of the Governorate of New Léon, granted in 1529 to Governor Simón de Alcazaba y Sotomayor, part of the Governorates of the Spanish Empire of the Americas, and redefined territory in 1534, it consisted of the southernmost part of the continent covering the southern tip of the Americas and the islands towards Antarctica. The first or more detailed description of part of the coastline of Patagonia is possibly mentioned in a Portuguese voyage in 1511–1512, traditionally attributed to captain Diogo Ribeiro, who after his death was replaced by Estevão de Frois, and was guided by the pilot and cosmographer João de Lisboa. The Atlantic coast of Patagonia was first fully explored in 1520 by the Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan's fleet spent a difficult winter at what he named Puerto San Julián before resuming its voyage further south on 21 August 1520. During this time, it encountered the local inhabitants, likely to be Tehuelche people, described by his reporter, Antonio Pigafetta, as giants called Patagons.