1552 Munster Leaf: Arabia Felix Sheba Spices Myrrh
1552 Description of Asia
from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Arabia Felix, Kingdom of Sheba, Spices, Myrrh
"Arabia felix"
"Quae aromata nascantur apud Atabes felices"
One Woodcut Picture
Single authentic woodcut leaf from
"Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. Latin edition; Basel printing
house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1552. Book V
("De terris Asiae maioris"), pages
1033/4.
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.
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.
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 early Latin edition of Cosmographia is devoted to
Arabia.
Page 1033 describes
Arabia Felix - a
comparatively fertile region in southwestern and southern Arabia
(in present-day Asir and Yemen), a region that contrasted with Arabia
Deserta in barren central and northern Arabia and with Arabia Petraea
("Stony Arabia") in northwestern Arabia.
The text talks about history of the region,
customs and habits of the Arabs ("Nomades Arabiae"), resources,
and
biblical Sheba ("Saba") kingdom in pre-Islamic southwestern Arabia,
frequently mentioned in the Bible (notably in the story of King Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba).
Page 1034 deals with spices of Arabia: myrrh, cinnamin, and cassia.
Cinnamon, cassia
and myrrh were among spices traded by the
South Arabians. The cinnamon comes from the bark of Cinnamonum verum, a tree
that grows only in India and places farther east. Cassia, an inferior
form of cinnamon, is also the bark of a tree, today known as Cinnamomum
cassia. Herodotus listed both cinnamon and cassia as
products of Arabia.
The leaf contains a nice
woodcut picture
of a tree with huge acorns.
See pictures for more details; click image to view larger version.
Page measures 8.1 x 12.25 inches. Margins suitable
for framing. Printed on laid paper.
The leaf 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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This item is unconditionally guaranteed to be original and as described. We do not sell reproductions or
copies.
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I am a member of
the International Map Collectors' Society (IMCoS)
and
the Washington Map Society.
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