The New World on the Kunstmann III Chart of the Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

ABSTRACT Various dates between 1502 and 1521 have been suggested for the Portuguese “Kunstmann III” manuscript chart. As recently demonstrated, the map was made in at least four stages beginning in about the year 1501 and continuing until sometime after 1505. The uncertainty about the date of the chart has led to it being underappreciated as a primary source and important contemporary record of the voyages of the Corte Real brothers to Greenland and Newfoundland. The erased compass rose and partially effaced toponyms on the coast of Brazil reveal multiple emendations to the chart, further confirming the chart was a “living document” for a decade or more.