1561 Munster Leaf Scythia Ukraine Tomyris Cyrus

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1561 Description of Scythia (Ukraine, Russia) from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Scythians, Tomyris and Cyrus
One Impressive Woodcut Picture: Tomyris carrying Cyrus's head

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1561. Book V ("Von den landern Asie"), pages Mccclxxxiii-Mccclxxxiiii (1383-4).

Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) 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 geographic thought in 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. Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included an encyclopaedic amount of detail 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 (including the first separate printed map of the Western Hemisphere), 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.

Click here for more information about Münster and Cosmographia, including the content and list of editions and artists

This most interesting authentic leaf from the 1561 German edition of Cosmographia is devoted to Scythia. Centred on what is now the Crimea, the Scythians founded a rich, powerful empire that survived for several centuries before succumbing to the Sarmatians during the 4th century BC to the 2nd century AD. The Scythians were feared and admired for their prowess in war and, in particular, for their horsemanship. They were among the earliest people to master the art of riding, and their mobility astonished their neighbours. The migration of the Scythians from Asia eventually brought them into the territory of the Cimmerians, who had traditionally controlled the Caucasus and the plains north of the Black Sea. In a war that lasted 30 years, the Scythians destroyed the Cimmerians and set themselves up as rulers of an empire stretching from west Persia through Syria and Judaea to the borders of Egypt. The Medes, who ruled Persia, attacked them and drove them out of Anatolia, leaving them finally in control of lands which stretched from the Persian border north through the Kuban and into southern Russia. Their power was sufficient to repel an invasion by the Persian king Darius I in about 513 BC. Herodotus mentiones Queen Tomyris (Thamaris) of the Massagetai (Scythia), who led her troops against Cyrus II the Great of Persia and killed him in 529 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus captured Tomirys's son. On the son's committing suicide in captivity, his mother swore revenge and defeated and killed Cyrus. Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus brought to her, then decapitated him and dipped his head in a vessel of blood, in a symbolic gesture of revenge for his bloodlust and the death of her son. She allegedly kept his head with her at all times and drank wine from it until her death.

The leaf contains one woodcut of Thamaris, Queen of Scythia, standing over the barrel that catches the blood of her enemy, Cyrus the Great. She carries Cyrus's head by his hair. See pictures for more details; click image to view larger version.

Page measures 7.7 x 11.8 inches. Printed on laid paper. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: handling and soiling in margins; marginal repairs. The woodcut picture is in very good condition. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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