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A map of Sumatra featuring villages, mountains and rivers; text describing the island; and a drawing of a man riding an elephant. The title uses the name ‘Taprobana’ for Sumatra, stating it was a name used by ‘ancient geographers [alten geographen]’.

A map of Sumatra featuring villages, mountains and rivers; text describing the island; and a drawing of a man riding an elephant. The title uses the name ‘Taprobana’ for Sumatra, stating it was a name used by ‘ancient geographers [alten geographen]’.

Early map by Sebastian Münster, based on the work of 2nd century geographer Ptolemy, featuring strange deformed monsters, including headless men with faces on their torsos, a man with a dog’s head, and a mythical race of cannibals (‘Anthropophagi’).

Early map by Sebastian Münster, based on the work of 2nd century geographer Ptolemy. The Malay Peninsula—labelled ‘Aurea Chersonesus [Golden Chersonese]’—is recognisable. An illustration shows the local animals: a tiger, cockerels and a white parrot.