Antique Maps by Olaus Magnus (*1490 - 1557)

Olaus Magnus was a Swedish geographer and cartographer, Catholic clergyman and Bishop of Uppsala. He studied in Rostock and Cologne, was a canon in Uppsala and Linköping and went into exile in 1524 in the aftermath of the Reformation together with his brother Johannes Magnus, the exiled Archbishop of Uppsala. As a great zealot for the Catholic faith and opponent of Lutheran doctrine, he also took part in book burnings in Bologna.


Magnus achieved fame up to the present day with his main work, the Carta marina, a large-format map of Northern Europe. The monumental woodcut map, printed from 9 blocks, was produced in twelve years of work from 1527 to 1539 and is considered the earliest accurate map of Northern Europe. It was first printed in Venice in 1539. Today, only two examples of it have survived.

  • Olaus Magnus:  [Scandinavia]

    Henric Petri, Basle, 1567

    Olaus Magnus' Important Map of Scandinavia.Very rare and important map of Scandinavia by Olaus Magnus, printed in 1567. From the Historia Olai Magni gothi archiepiscopi Upsalensis De...

    [Scandinavia]
    1567 - Olaus Magnus
    12744

    Antique woodcut map of Scandinavia. Printed in Basle by Henric Petri in 1567.

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