| Method | Woodcut |
| Artist | Münster, Sebastian |
| Published | [Getruckt zu Basel durch Henrichum Petri. Anno MDLXXXVIII. c. 1588] |
| Dimensions | 320 x 365 mm |
| Notes |
Munster's third and final map of Scandinavia, 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 shows the whole of northern Europe and the north pole, from the easternmost parts of Canada on the left, to the Russian arctic territories on the right. The British Isles are shown in full, as are all of the nations bordering the Baltic. In the northern Atlantic, Greenland appears twice, as 'Gronlandt' and 'Groclandt,' along with Iceland and numerous fictional island including Friesland and Icaria. A note in the arctic circle describes it as being inhabited by pygmies. 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 timetoning to central fold. Insect holes to bottom centre of map, in the German Ocean between Denmark and the British Isles. German title and woodcut header on verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £800.00 |
| Stock ID | 45457 |