Africae Tabula Nova

[2][3][4] The map was published in Ortelius's 1570 atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ("Theater of the World"),[3][4][5] commonly regarded as the first modern atlas and also notable for its substantial coverage of Africa, including multiple African regional maps in addition to the Africae Tabula Nova.

[3][4][6] Taking ten years to complete,[1] Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was the first atlas to intentionally include a uniform series of maps.

[2] The atlas was printed widely in seven languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish.

[1] Africae Tabula Nova is largely based on a wall map published by Giacomo Gastaldi in Venice in 1564.

[4][5] Map collector Oscar I. Norwich observes that "Zanzibar" was, at the time, often used as a name for the East African coast north of Cape Delgado.

[1] Africae Tabula Nova includes correctly located toponyms that are still in current use, such as Benin, the Congo, and Mozambique.

[1] Africae Tabula Nova is illustrated with two narwhals or swordfish, a sea monster, and a cartouche created in a Mannerist style that is flanked by two female figures.

A "ghost sea monster" is also visible east of the Arabian Peninsula on early editions of Africae Tabula Nova, although it disappears after 1584.

[1] In the estimation of cartographic historian Wulf Bodenstein, Africae Tabula Nova is "a cornerstone map that represents a significant improvement over what we have seen so far, although much of the geography of the interior is still mere speculation.