Illustrated page Munster’s De la Cosmographie Universelle c. 1552 #1

$100.00 CAD

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Single page (#1129-1130) from French Volume IV of Munster’s famous Cosmographia.

Page #1130 has two woodblock images, one of an ox, the other of a lady standing below a beehive in a tree. Both have been hand-colored.

Text, in French, is from Book IV of the Series. Text mentions Moscow.

While not dated, provenance suggested the 1552 version.

Superb colours.

Diagonal crease LL. Two repairs top of page (tape). Yellowing around edges. Some ink transfer from back of page. Paper creases

32.5 x 21 cm

 

Sebastian Münster (1488–1552), was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and a Christian Hebraist scholar. His work, the Cosmographia from 1544, was the earliest German description of the world.

It had numerous editions in different languages including Latin, French, Italian, English, and even Czech. The Cosmographia was one of the most successful and popular works of the 16th century. It passed through 24 editions in 100 years.

This success was due to the fascinating woodcuts (some by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, and David Kandel), in addition to including the first to introduce "separate maps for each of the four continents known then--America, Africa, Asia and Europe." It was most important in reviving geography in 16th century Europe.

Content of the editions:

Book IV - Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Walachia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Turkey

Editions of Cosmographia:

  • French 1552, 1556, 1560, 1565, 1568, 1575

WIKIPEDIA


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