Bernard Wapowski (1475-1535)[1] was one of the earliest Polish cartographers and is credited for making the first detailed map of Poland in 1526.
[3] Wapowski served as the secretary of King Sigismund the Old and made several advancements in Polish cartography by creating several maps of Eastern Europe including Poland, Sarmatia, Scandinavia, Warmia (Ermland), and Pomerania with some assistance from Nicolaus Copernicus.
[6] Wapowski studied at the University of Kraków where he and his life-long friend Nicolaus Copernicus were taught by Albert Brudzewski.
[1] Wapowski also assisted his friend Marco Beneventano in revising Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa's map of Germany for the Rome edition of Geography in 1507.
It is most likely that Wapowski's maps burnt in the Great Fire of 1528 in Kraków, the capital of Poland at the time.
In 1932, fragments of Wapowski's map of 1528 were accidentally discovered by Casimir Piekarski in the bindings of a Bochnia's salt register.