Tabula Asiae IIII
| Reference: | ms5770 |
| Author | Sebastian Münster |
| Year: | 1540 ca. |
| Zone: | The Holy Land |
| Printed: | Basle |
| Measures: | 335 x 250 mm |
€550.00
| Reference: | ms5770 |
| Author | Sebastian Münster |
| Year: | 1540 ca. |
| Zone: | The Holy Land |
| Printed: | Basle |
| Measures: | 335 x 250 mm |
€550.00
Description
Nice example of Munster's map of the Holy Land, Cyprus, Syria, etc., from the 1542 Latin edition of Munster's Geographia.
Sebastian Munster's "Tabulae Asiae IIII" offers a rich depiction of geographical knowledge Claudius Ptolemy, through the interpretive eyes of one of the 16th Century's most important geographers, Sebastian Munster.
The ancient island of Cyprus, depicted in the bottom left of the map, is remarkably well-formed, with place-names inscribed across the island providing an engaging historical snapshot. Similarly, the representation of the Holy Land is filled with historical and geographical data from ancient times, offering a detailed guide to the region as known to Ptolemy.
Syria, Mesopotamia, and Arabia each find their place on this map as well, with key cities noted in distinct text boxes.
Munster's detailing of the Arabian Desert is particularly noteworthy. Carefully rendered images of Bedouin tents, a wagon, and an oasis near the locations Raabeni and Tugaria lend an air of lived authenticity to the largely unadorned desert terrain. These illustrations serve as pictorial narratives, telling tales of nomadic life and survival in the barren landscapes, breaking the monotony of the otherwise sparse desert expanse.
Map taken from the Geographia universalis, vetus et nova, complectens. Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini Ennarationis libros VIII, published for the first time in 1540 in Basel by Heinrich Petri, stepson of Münster and his trusted printer.
The book is illustrated by 27 maps built following the indications of Ptolemy, which are flanked by 21 "modern" maps, outlined on the basis of recent geographical discoveries. The Geographia of Münster was a great success, and Petri reprinted it the following year (1541) and then in 1542..
Having increased the number of modern maps by six, including the Carta Marina of Olao Magnus describing Scandinavia, the publisher reprinted it again in 1545, in 1551 and finally in 1552, still with 54 maps, but with the substitution of Pomerania in place of Lake Constance. At the death of Münster the work was not reprinted; some of the maps were instead used by Heinrich Petri for the posthumous editions of the Cosmographiae Universalis. The woodblock of the maps, duly amended, were used for the Rerum Geographicarum of Strabo, edition printed in Basileae: Ex Officina Henricpetriana, 1571 Mense Augusto.
Woodcut, fine later hand colour, in excellent condition.
Sebastian Münster (1488 - 1552)
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Sebastian Münster was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and Hebrew scholar whose Cosmographia (1544; "Cosmography") was the earliest German description of the world and a major work - after the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 - in the revival of geography in the 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared during 1544-1628. Although other cosmographies predate Münster's, he is given first place in historical discussions of this sort of publication, and was a major influence on his subject for over 200 years.
In nearly all works by Münster, his Cosmographia is given pride of place. Despite this, we still lack a detailed survey of its contents from edition to edition, along the years from 1544 to 1628, and an account of its influence on a wide range of scientific disciplines. Münster obtained the material for his book in three ways. He used all available literary sources. He tried to obtain original manuscript material for description of the countryside and of villages and towns. Finally, he obtained further material on his travels (primarily in south-west Germany, Switzerland, and Alsace). The Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included an encyclopaedic amount of details about the known - and unknown - world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time.
Aside from the well-known maps and views present in the Cosmographia, the text is thickly sprinkled with vigorous woodcuts: portraits of kings and princes, costumes and occupations, habits and customs, flora and fauna, monsters and horrors. The 1614 and 1628 editions of Cosmographia are divided into nine books. Nearly all the sections, especially those dealing with history, were enlarged. Descriptions were extended, additional places included, errors rectified.
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Sebastian Münster (1488 - 1552)
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Sebastian Münster was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and Hebrew scholar whose Cosmographia (1544; "Cosmography") was the earliest German description of the world and a major work - after the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 - in the revival of geography in the 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared during 1544-1628. Although other cosmographies predate Münster's, he is given first place in historical discussions of this sort of publication, and was a major influence on his subject for over 200 years.
In nearly all works by Münster, his Cosmographia is given pride of place. Despite this, we still lack a detailed survey of its contents from edition to edition, along the years from 1544 to 1628, and an account of its influence on a wide range of scientific disciplines. Münster obtained the material for his book in three ways. He used all available literary sources. He tried to obtain original manuscript material for description of the countryside and of villages and towns. Finally, he obtained further material on his travels (primarily in south-west Germany, Switzerland, and Alsace). The Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included an encyclopaedic amount of details about the known - and unknown - world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time.
Aside from the well-known maps and views present in the Cosmographia, the text is thickly sprinkled with vigorous woodcuts: portraits of kings and princes, costumes and occupations, habits and customs, flora and fauna, monsters and horrors. The 1614 and 1628 editions of Cosmographia are divided into nine books. Nearly all the sections, especially those dealing with history, were enlarged. Descriptions were extended, additional places included, errors rectified.
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