$100.00 CAD
| /
Single page (#859-860) from French Volume IV of Munster’s famous Cosmographia.
Page #859 has two woodblock images of men, one of man in a fancy clothes with a sword and a club in one hand, the other of a simple man, cap in hand. Text talks of Henry, Tartars, Cyprus.
Page #860 has a woodblock image of a noble lady riding a horse. Text talks of Margaret, Swedish princess, died 1288, daughter of King Waldemar.
All have been hand-colored.
Text, in French, is from Book IV of the Series.
While not dated, provenance suggested the 1552 version.
Superb colours.
Small tear UR corner. Yellowing around edges. Some ink transfer from back of page. Some rust spots side where mounted in book. Light creasing.
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:
WIKIPEDIA
