1561 Munster Leaf Savoy and Geneva 2 Woodcuts Genealogy

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1561 Description of Savoy and Geneva from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Two Woodcut Pictures
One Genealogical Tree

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1561. Book II ("Von Gallia"), pages CXIX-CXX (119/120).

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. Münster divided his material into six books. Book I is a useful summary of astronomical-mathematical and physical geography. Book II deals with England, Spain, France, and Italy. Book III deals with Germany and surrounding lands. Book IV embraces northern, eastern, and south-eastern Europe. Books V (Asia and America) and VI (Africa) are of modest proportions.

This authentic leaf from the German edition of Cosmographia is devoted to Switzerland and France. Page 119 deals with Savoy ("Sophoy"). After the breakdown of the Carolingian empire in the 9th century, Savoy formed part of a series of kingdoms covering middle Europe and came under the suzerainty of the German Holy Roman emperor in the mid-11th century. By this date a feudal lord, Humbert I the Whitehanded, founder of the house of Savoy, actually controlled much of the area. Humbert and his successors during the European Middle Ages built up a considerable state for themselves with Savoy as its base and extending east across the Alps into Piedmont. In the early modern period, Savoy became an object of French expansion because of its strategic position commanding the roads into Italy. Although Savoy was occupied a number of times by French troops in the 16th and 17th centuries, the dukes of Savoy were able to recover it. Page 119 contains the genealogical tree of the Dukes of Savoy. The tree begins with Amadeus VIII (Anti-Pope Felix V; 1383-1451) and ends with Charles III (1553).

Page 120 contains a section on Geneva (Genff). By AD 379 Geneva was the seat of a bishop and was within the Roman Empire. During the early feudal period the city formed the hub of the lands belonging to the Genevese counts. With the final extinction of their line in 1401, the bishop, who was a direct vassal of the Holy Roman emperor and invested with temporal power, vied for control with the neighbouring counts of Savoy. In the 15th century the counts of Savoy rose to the status of dukes and made strenuous efforts to assert their sovereignty in Geneva at the expense of the bishops, who made correspondingly generous offers to the burghers to win their support against the dukes. The dukes used cunning as well as force to uphold their sovereignty, and from 1449 until 1522 they had members of their own family enthroned as bishop of Geneva. The last ruling bishop fled from Geneva in 1533, and a year later the burghers declared the see vacant and proclaimed themselves a state. When the Savoyards threatened invasion a year later, the Bernese offered to incorporate Geneva under their government. Having no wish to exchange the domination of Savoy for that of Bern, the Genevans refused. Because they desperately needed Bernese troops, however, they could not safely object to a rapprochement with Protestant Bern in the matter of religion; so in 1536 they declared themselves Protestant.

The leaf contains two woodcut pictures:

• Generalogical tree of the Dukes of Savoy; a very nice floral motif (5.25 x 2.75 inches)
• Geveva coat-of-arms. It represents the union of the Empire symbols (eagle) to which Geneva had been attached to since the 11th century and of the Bishop (key) from whom the citizen obtained their freedom and autonomy in 1387.

Page measures 7.9 x 11.8 inches. Printed on laid paper. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: age toning; one small tear in the lower margin This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame (far from the printed area).

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