April 25, 1507

Cosmographiae Introductio

Publication of the Cosmographiae Introductio and the name “America”

The map drew a Pacific Ocean six years before Balboa saw it and more than a decade before Magellan entered it — and the mapmaker's source is still unknown.

25 April 1507, at Saint-Dié in Lorraine

The first edition of the Cosmographiae Introductio bears the publication date 25 April 1507 and was issued at Saint-Dié by the humanist circle known as the Gymnasium Vosagense.

The book was one piece of a three-part project. The others were a twelve-sheet wall map drawn by Martin Waldseemüller and a set of globe gores, and all three introduced the name "America."

Where the new name actually sat

On the main map, "america" was printed on the southern landmass. It was not yet the collective name of both modern American continents.

The accompanying text justified the coinage as a feminine form derived from the Latinized Americus, crediting Amerigo Vespucci as the supposed discoverer of a fourth part of the world.

Who wrote that text is disputed. Most specialized scholarship credits the humanist Matthias Ringmann, while older cataloguing and some accounts assign it to Waldseemüller.

An ocean with no known source

The map showed South America separated from Asia in a way that implied an intervening Pacific Ocean — years before Balboa or Magellan reached that ocean from the European side.

The Library of Congress says the geographic source for this remains unknown.

Waldseemüller reported a print run of a thousand copies. One wall map survives, and the Library of Congress completed its US$10 million purchase of that copy in 2003.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources not yet audited Traditional date

How this was checked

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Traditional date. This date is the conventional one, not one fixed by a contemporary record.

What the sources leave uncertain

The 25 April date is secure for the first edition of the book. The wall map and globe gores belong to the same 1507 publishing project, but their precise day of issue is not independently documented as firmly as the book’s colophon.
Authorship of the Cosmographiae Introductio has been debated. Important scholarship credits Ringmann, while older cataloguing and some accounts assign it to Waldseemüller.
The “Four Voyages” appendix is a narrative attributed to Vespucci; it should not be treated as independent proof that every voyage it describes occurred.
The 1,000-copy print run comes from Waldseemüller’s reported statement and supporting physical evidence, not from a surviving complete print-shop ledger.