Cosmographiae introductio was a book published in 1507 to accompany Martin Waldseemüller's map of the world and wall-map, which was the first appearance of the name 'America'. It is widely held to have been written by Matthias Ringmann although some historians attribute it to Waldseemüller himself. The book includes the reason for using the name America in the map and the globe, and contains a Latin translation of the four journeys of Amerigo Vespucci as an appendix. Events The western continent is named America on the maps of Martin Waldseemüller. ... Martin Waldseemüller (ca. ... Amerigo Vespucci ( March 9, 1454 - February 22, 1512) was an Italian merchant and cartographer who voyaged to and wrote about the Americas. ...

The full title of the book is: "Cosmographiae introductio cum quibusdam geometriae ac astronomiae principiis ad eam rem necessariis. Insuper quatuor Americi Vespucii navigationes. Universalis Cosmographiae descriptio tam in solido quam plano, eis etiam insertis, quae Ptholomaeo ignota a nuperis reperta sunt."

The map of the world in 1507, entitled "Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque lustrationes", was published in an edition of 1000 copies, of which it seems only a single copy survives. The surviving copy was found in the library of Prince von Waldburg-Wolfegg-Waldsee in the Castle of Wolfegg in Würtemberg. It was bought by the Library of Congress in 2001. This preservation seems to be due the several sheets being bound into a single cover by the cartographer, Johannes Schöner. Library of Congress, Jefferson building The Library of Congress is one of four official national libraries of the United States (along with the National Library of Medicine, National Agricultural Library, and National Archives and Records Administration). ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The map consists of twelve sections printed from wood engravings measuring 18 x 24.5 inches. Each section is one of four, that form one of three zones. The map uses a modified Ptolemaic coniform projection with curved meridians to depict the entire surface of the Earth. A map projection is any of many methods used in cartography (mapmaking) to represent the two-dimensional curved surface of the earth or other body on a plane. ...