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Waldseemüller Map (1507)
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Waldseemüller Map (1507)

The first map to use the name "America," this groundbreaking map showed the New World as a separate continent.

Martin Waldseemüller's 1507 world map is famous for being the first to use the name "America" to describe the New World, naming it after explorer Amerigo Vespucci. The massive wall map (2.4 x 1.3 meters) was printed using woodcut blocks and showed the Western Hemisphere as separate continents for the first time. Only one copy survives, purchased by the Library of Congress in 2003 for $10 million. It has been called "America's birth certificate."
Source: Library of Congress

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