1550 Munster Leaf: India Punjab Porus Ichthyophagi

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1550 Description of Asia from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Punjab and India; Conquest of India by Alexander; Porus and the Battle of the Hydaspes; Ichthyophages
One woodcut picture

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1550. Book V ("Von dem land Asie"), pages Mclxiii-Mclxiiii (1163/4).

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. 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 1163 German edition of Cosmographia is devoted to to the conquest of India by Alexander the Great. Page 1079 describes the greatest of Alexander's battles in India against Porus, one of the most powerful Indian leaders - the rajah of the lands between the Jhelum and the Chenab rivers in Punjab. The battle took place in July 326 B.C. at the river Hydaspes. Alexander's army crossed the heavily defended river in dramatic fashion during a violent thunderstorm to meet Porus' forces. The Indians were defeated in a fierce battle, even though they fought with elephants, which the Macedonians had never before seen. Alexander captured Porus and, like the other local rulers he had defeated, allowed him to continue to govern his territory. Alexander even subdued an independent province and granted it to Porus as a gift.

Thereafter follows a section on habits and customs of the Indians. It also contains a comment on Bacchus and Hercules and the Ichthyophages (fish eaters). As written by Strabo (Geography, c. 22 CE):

"The Ichtyophagi, on the ebbing of the tide, collect fish, which they cast upon the rocks and dry in the sun. When they have well-broiled them, the bones are piled in heaps, and the flesh trodden with the feet is made into cakes, which are again exposed to the sun and used as food. In bad weather, when fish cannot be procured, the bones of which they have made heaps are pounded, made into cakes and eaten, but they suck the fresh bones. Some also live upon shellfish, when they are fattened, which is done by throwing them into holes and standing pools of the sea, where they are supplied with small fish, and used as food when other fish are scarce. They have various kinds of places for preserving and feeding fish, from whence they derive their supply."

Page measures 8.4 x 12.8 inches. Wide margins suitable for framing. Printed on quality laid paper. The leaf is in fair condition. Imperfections: several brownish stains, including one large stain in the side margin; wormholes; handling in margins. Margins 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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