1628 Munster Leaf: Basel, Battle of St.Jacob

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1628 Description of Basel, Switzerland from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
The Council of Basel, Felix V, the Battle of St. Jacob on the Birs
Two Woodcut Pictures

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1628. Book V ("Von Deutsch Landt"), pages 813/4.

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.

In nearly all works about Münster, his Cosmographia is given pride of place. Despite this, we still lack a detailed survey of its contents from edition to edition, during the years 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). 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. 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.

This authentic leaf from the last edition of Cosmographia is devoted to Basel in Switzerland. Page 819 (top) describes the Council of Basel, a general council of the Roman Catholic church. It was called by Pope Martin V a few weeks before his death in 1431 and then confirmed by Pope Eugenius IV. When Eugenius IV broke off relations with the rebellious Council, in 1439, the mutinous prelates elected the duke of Savoy Amadeus VIII pope under the name of Felix V. Amadeus-Felix resigned 10 years later, under pressure from the kings of France, England, and Sicily, and was a cardinal for his last two years.

Thereafter follows the description of the battle against the Dauphin of France (Louis XI) Aug. 26, 1444, at St. Jacob on the Birs river near Basel (the Thermopylae of the Swiss). When the Anglo-French truce of 1444 left numbers of mercenary troops unemployed, the dauphin Louis led a large body of them to attack Basel, in ostensible support of the German king Frederick V (later Holy Roman emperor as Frederick III) in his quarrel with the Swiss confederacy. The expedition resulted in a costly French victory over the Swiss at Saint Jacob-en-Birs. The campaign had nothing to do with the Hundred Years' War, but did manage to divert the écorcheurs from marauding French territory. Failing to take Basel, Louis attacked the Habsburg possessions in Alsace since Frederick would not grant him the promised winter quarters.

The leaf contains two woodcut pictures:

• Large portrait of Felix V (4 1/2" x 4 3/4")
• The Battle of St. Jacob (2 1/2" x 5 1/4")

Page measures 8 3/4" x 13 1/2". Wide margins suitable for framing. Printed on laid paper. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: browning and soiling, mainly in margins. It is a remarkable historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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