Historia by Olaus Magnus - Bell Library: Maps and Mapmakers

Olaus Magnus promises much and keeps his word.

The book’s content is well described by Edward Lynam, Map Curator of the British Museum and author of a study of Olaus Magnus published in 1949, as "an early handbook on the history, ethnography, commerce, industries and politics of the northern lands" (Lynam 1949, 19). All of this is contained in twenty-two "books" (or sections), divided into 778 chapters.

In the subtitle to the book, the author says that in writing about northern peoples he will describe "Their different positions, customs,

habits, ways of life,

superstitions,

methods of instruction,

activities,

government,

food,

wars,

buildings, implements,

metal mines,

and marvels,

together with almost all the living creatures that dwell in the North, and their characteristics."

Over one hundred illustrations on the map are repeated in the Historia. Commentaries in the Historia help to explain images on the Carta marina.

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In the subtitle to the book, the author says that in writing about northern peoples he will describe "Their different positions, customs,
	habits, ways of life,
superstitions,
	methods of instruction,
activities,
	government,
food,
	wars,
buildings, implements,
	metal mines,
and marvels,
	together with almost all the living creatures that dwell in the North, and their characteristics."