The map that forms the background of the stamps on the souvenir sheet is based on the Catalan Atlas of 1375 by Abraham Cresques, a Jew who worked in the court of Peter of Aragon, ruler of the Mediterranean island of Majorca. The atlas was mounted on eight panels of wood which could be folded like a screen. It reflected information from a variety of sources, including the travels of Marco Polo. The Catalan Atlas presented a view of the world that was a very accurate representation of the world as it was known a century before the discovery of the western hemisphere. Peter of Aragon sent the atlas as a gift to Emperor Charles V in 1381.

     Susan Ludmer-Gliebe published an article, "Golden Rhumb Lines of Connection," on the Catalan Atlas in Mercator's World March/April 1999, pp. 58-61.