Mörwunder und seltzame Thier, wie die in Mitnächtigen Ländern gefunden werden.

In the early days of the era of discoveries, many ships would depart, never be seen again. Sailors that managed to return used to speak of encounters with large fish that expelled water.
These were included with a long series of sea monsters that were blamed for the missing vessels and sailors. This famous chart shows these mythical land and sea monsters, among them tusks, horns and twin-spouts.
One vignette shows a galleon trying to outrun one monster by throwing their cargo overboard, while one sailor takes sight with a musket. Signed with monogram at lower right (HR.MD: Hans Rudolf Manuel Deutsch) and the cutter's monogram 'MF' at lower left.

One of the most sought-after of all 16th Century curiosities.Every letter corresponds to a description, and the danger entailed, and is explained in the text accompanying this chart of sea monsters published in the Cosmographia by Sebastian Münster. The full leaf with the text of these descriptions is also included in this offer.
We can see a scene depicting a caravel from which barrels with food are thrown, while trumpets are blown in an attempt to calm down a monster (whale). We can also see serpents that, according to mariners' beliefs of the time, could overturn ships. At the top we find the terrestrial world with known animals such as bears and deer, among others.

Münster’s monsters were the immediate source of sea and land monsters that decorate and enliven the charts of many European map makers in the latter half of the sixteenth century.

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