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The map nicknamed “America’s Birth Certificate” was officially presented by the German Chancellor to the U.S. Library of Congress on Monday, April 30^th, 2007. The now famous Waldseemüller World Map (Universalis Cosmographia) is the first known map to reference the New World as America and thus make a distinction between the American and Asian continents. Since 2001, the Library of Congress has been the process of acquiring the map from Prince Johannes Waldburg-Wofegg for US$10 million. Although the deal was finalized in 2003, the official transfer had been delayed due to the legal status of the map in Germany as a cultural artifact.

German cosmographer, Martin Waldseemüller authored the map in 1507. The map was printed in sections from twelve wood engravings and the assembled wall map measures 4-1/2’ x 8’. One thousand copies of the map were produced but it is believed that only one copy survived bundled away in a book of a German geographer at the Castle of Wolfegg, Württemberg, Germany.

The influence of the geographic tradition of Claudius Ptolemy and the landmark voyages of Amerigo Vespucci is apparent in the map. Waldseemüller placed portraits of both Ptolemy and Vespucci at the top of the map as if depicting a balance between traditional geographic thought and the progressive push for discovery. For 16^th century Europe world maps like Universalis Cosmographia were more than instruments for geographic reference they were symbolic of Europe’s penchant for world trade and global competition. In 1507 Waldseemüller’s map may have presented a new world view but in 2007 the map serves as a historic marker in the forging of the American identity.

According to the Library of Congress the map will be placed on permanent exhibition in December 2007.