MIT MuseumObjects
Welcome to the archived version of the MIT Museum's online collections portal! This site was used to test features and content for the newly redesigned MIT Museum Collections site, which has now launched with over 106,000 objects. Please use the new MIT Museum Collections site for further research and discovery. Webmuseum.mit.edu remains online during the transition period but will not receive new updates or content.
Walfisch, from Munster's Cosmographia
Major collection: Hart Nautical
Named collection: Allan Forbes Collection
Object type: woodcut
Maker: Petri, Heinrich
Place made: Switzerland, Basel-Stadt, Basel
Date made: 1574
Materials: ink; laid paper
Measurements: 7 1/2 in x 12 in
AF-JX-0947
Named collection: Allan Forbes Collection
Object type: woodcut
Maker: Petri, Heinrich
Place made: Switzerland, Basel-Stadt, Basel
Date made: 1574
Materials: ink; laid paper
Measurements: 7 1/2 in x 12 in
Page from Munster's Cosmographia, with woodcut of an unhappy-looking man whose arms and head hang from the mouth of a giant fish identified in the German text as a whale. Above is a woodcut with a coat of arms containing a lion with axe and crown. The part of the text describing the whale translates approximately to: "There is also, in the Norwegian country, a strong, big, fish. It is called Balenas in Latin, and Walfisch in German. They have been found to be more than 100 ells (elenbogen, lit. elbows, English equiv. is the ell; a measuring unit) long. "
AF-JX-0947