1550 Munster Leaf Switzerland Basel Battle Scene 2 Pics

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1550 Description of Basel in Switzerland from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
The Council of Basel, Felix V, the Battle of St. Jacob on the Birs
The Thermopylae of the Swiss
Two Splendid Woodcut Pictures

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1550. Book III ("Von dem Deutschen land"), pages ccccxcix-d (499-500).

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. Of about 20 German editions of the Cosmographia, the 1550 edition is the most valued. Click here for the title page of the 1550 German edition (not included).

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 1550 German edition of Cosmographia is devoted Basel in Switzerland. Page 499 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) on 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:

• A pope (Felix V)
• The Battle of St. Jacob (2.5 x 5.3 inches)

Page measures 8.4 x 12.8 inches. Margins suitable for framing. Printed on quality laid paper. The woodcuts are in very good condition. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: minor soiling in margins, one small marginal tear and one tiny marginal wormhole (can be covered or trimmed). This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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