Siciliae Insulae atque totius regni eius descriptio
| Reference: | S45988 |
| Author | Sebastian Münster |
| Year: | 1550 ca. |
| Zone: | Sicily |
| Printed: | Basle |
| Measures: | 200 x 305 mm |
€425.00
| Reference: | S45988 |
| Author | Sebastian Münster |
| Year: | 1550 ca. |
| Zone: | Sicily |
| Printed: | Basle |
| Measures: | 200 x 305 mm |
€425.00
Description
Plate taken from the Cosmographiae Universalis, Latin edition, Basel, middle of the 16th Century.
“La carta della Sicilia in formato maggiore è pubblicata per la prima volta nel 1550 ed è inserita sia nell'edizione latina dal titolo Cosmographiae universalis Lib. VI. In quibus iuxta certioris fidei scriptorum traditionem describuntur, Omnium habitabilis orbis partium situs, propriaequae dotes Autore Sebast. Munstero; al Colophon: Basileae apud Henricum Petri, Mense Martio anno salutis M.D.L, che in quella in lingua tedesca Cosmographei oder beschreibung al- ler länder ... sere durch Sebastianum Munsterum gemeret und gebessert in wedtlichen und natürlichen historien... Getruckt zu Basel; al Colophon: Getruckt zu Basel durch Henrichum Petri Anno M.D.L. Quella in formato minore è pubblicata per la prima volta nel 1564 in Cosmografey oder beschreibung aller länder... seer durch Sebastianum Munsterum gebessert in wed- tlichen und natürlichen historien... Getruckt zu Basel; al Co- lophon: Getruckt zu Basel durch Henrichum Petri Im jar M.D.LXIIII.” (cfr. V. Valerio, Sicilia 1477-1861, pp. 136-138, n. 22).
"Il disegno della Sicilia si associa concettualmente alle produzioni tolemaiche che privilegiano l'aspetto artistico alla pura divulgazione geografica. Il profilo dell'Isola è assimilable a un triangolo equilatero che pone la costa meridionale sul fianco basso del foglio in parallelo alle coste africane, con proporzioni del tutto falsate. La rimodulazione sulla carta Münster 1550 è manifesta sia nel comparto grafico (ripresi i riferimenti a Graecia magna Calabria e Africa Barbarie), sia nella semiologia dell'entroterra e dei litorali, riprodotti con le tipiche rientranze semicircolari delle carte nautiche; la dislocazione e il disegno delle isole minori, l'idrografia fluviale e l'orografia sono anch'esse nuove interpretazioni della Münster 1550. Scarsa la toponomastica, con la citazione Saragozza (Siracusa) tipica delle carte nautiche e varianti riconoscibili in Lustegua per Ustica e Maretamo per Ma- rettimo, discostandosi in parte dal modello Münster anche nella resa di Capo passaro per Pachynus, Trapani per Drepanum Stromboli per Stringoli. Malgrado il ridotto numero di toponimi è segnalato, sullo stretto di Messina, Raso culmo (già nella Gastaldi-Maurolico pubblicata nel 1545) a sostituire Pharus della Münster. Animali marini e velieri arricchiscono l'apparato decorativo" (cfr. L. Dufour - A. La Gumina, "Imago Siciliae", p. 71).
The Cosmographiae Universalis of Sebastian Münster (1488-1552), printed for the first time in Basel in 1544 by the publisher Heinrich Petri, was updated several times and increased with new maps and urban representations in its many editions until the beginning of the next century. Münster had worked to collect information in order to obtain a work that did not disappoint expectations and, after a further publication in German embellished with 910 woodblock prints, arrived in 1550 to the final edition in Latin, illustrated by 970 woodcuts.
There were then numerous editions in different languages, including Latin, French, Italian, English and Czech. After his death in Münster (1552), Heinrich Petri first, and then his son Sebastian, continued the publication of the work. The Cosmographia universalis was one of the most popular and successful books of the 16th century, and saw as many as 24 editions in 100 years: the last German edition was published in 1628, long after the author's death. The Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of all the most famous cities, but also a series of encyclopedic details related to the known, and unknown, world.
The particular commercial success of this work was due in part to the beautiful engravings (among whose authors can be mentioned Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, David Kandel).
Woodcut, beautiful hand-coloring, in good condition.
Bibliografia
L. Dufour - A. La Gumina, "Imago Siciliae", p. 71; V. Valerio in Sicilia 1477-1861 - La collezione Spagnolo- Patermo, n. 22.
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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