| Method | Woodcut |
| Artist | Münster, Sebastian |
| Published | [Getruckt zu Basel durch Henrichum Petri. Anno MDLXXXVIII. c. 1588] |
| Dimensions | 356 x 307 mm |
| Notes |
Munster's revised map of Africa, issued in editions of the Cosmographia from 1588 onwards. This particular example is the first issue of this map, from Henricus Petrus' 1588 Basel printing in German. The map, which replaced an earlier, smaller-scale woodcut of most of Africa from the 1540s, shows the entire continent in much finer detail than its predecessor. Rivers, lakes, and mountains are shown pictorially, and adjoining parts of the Arabian peninsula, southern Europe, and even the eastern coasts of Brazil are shown. The seas, hatchured and featuring numerous islands, are adorned with sailing ships, shipwrecks, and a sea monster off the coast of Madagascar. Sebastian Münster (20th January 1488 - 26th May 1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and theologian. A gifted scholar of Hebraic, Münster originally joined the Franciscans, but left the order in favour of the Lutheran Church. He was appointed to the University of Basel in 1529, and published a number of works in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. His most celebrated works are his Latin edition of Ptolemy's Geographia in 1540, and the Cosmographia in 1544. The Cosmographia was the earliest German description of the world, an ambitious work of 6 volumes published in numerous editions in German, Latin, French, Italian, and Czech. Henricus Petrus (1508-1579) was a German printer and published, whose print-works in Basel produced some of the most influential works of the German Renaissance, including Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium and Munster's Cosmographia. Condition: Central vertical fold, as issued. Minor time toning to central fold and to edges of sheet. German title and woodcut header on verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £750.00 |
| Stock ID | 53150 |