Complete Description of the World

A New, More True and Complete Description of the Whole World, First Published by Alonzo de Santa Cruz, Principal Cosmographer to Emperor Charles V, 1542.

Other Title
Nova verior et integra totivs orbis descriptio nvne primvm in lvcem edita per Alfonsvm de sancta crvz Cæsaris Charoli V archicosmographvm, MDXLII

Alonzo de Santa Cruz (1505–67) was a well-known Spanish cartographer. As cosmographer at the Casa de contratación, the business enterprise in Seville that had a monopoly on the trade with the New World, he was responsible for the Padrón Real, a map documenting the newly discovered countries across the Atlantic. This world map, published by Alonzo de Santa Cruz in 1542, bears the title Nova verior et integra totivs orbis descriptio nvne primvm in lvcem edita per Alfonsvm de Santa Cruz Cæsaris Charoli V archicosmographvm, A.D. MDXLII (A new, more true and complete description of the whole world, first published by Alonzo de Santa Cruz, principal cosmographer to Emperor Charles V, 1542).

The scale of the map is 1:34,000,000. It is drawn on three conjoined sheets of parchment measuring a total of 79 by 146 centimeters. The map is made in the form of two half spheres, one northern and one southern, each consisting of 36 globe segments, which are used to form a globe measuring 39 centimeters in diameter.

The map was probably acquired by the Swedish philologist and historian Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld during his journey in Spain in 1689–90. Sparwenfeld donated parts of his collections to the National Library of Sweden in 1706.