1550 Munster Leaf Greece Peloponnese Sparta Lycurgus

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1550 Description of Greece from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Peloponnese, Laconia, Sparta, Lycurgus
One Woodcut Picture: Lycurgus

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1550. Book IV ("Von dem Griechen land"), pages Mxliii-Mxliiii (1043-1044).

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 Greece. The first part of p. 1043 describes the history of the Peloponnese, from ancient times to its conquest by the Turks in 1460. The text talks about the major provinces of the Peloponnese (Achaea, Laconia, and Messenia), towns (Corinth) and the Isthmus of Corinth.

The remaining part of the leaf is devoted to Laconia - historic region in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese. It was bounded by Arcadia and Argolis on the north and Messenia in the west. Throughout the classical period, the history of Laconia is that of its capital, Sparta, which at that time was called Lacedaemon. Münster writes about Lycurgus - the lawgiver who founded most of the institutions of ancient Sparta. Scholars have been unable to determine conclusively whether Lycurgus was a historical person and, if he did exist, which institutions should be attributed to him. In surviving ancient sources, he is first mentioned by the Greek writer Herodotus (5th century BC), who claimed that the lawgiver belonged to Sparta's Agiad house, one of the two houses (the other being the Eurypontid) that held Sparta's dual kingship. According to Herodotus, the Spartans of his day claimed that Lycurgus' reforms were inspired by the institutions of Crete. The historian Xenophon, writing in the first half of the 4th century BC, apparently believed that Lycurgus had founded Sparta's institutions soon after the Dorians invaded Laconia (c. 1000 BC) and reduced the native Achaean population to the status of serfs, or helots. The leaf containts one interesting woodcut portrait of Lycurgus. See pictures for more details; click image to view larger version.

Page measures 8.4 x 12.8 inches. Wide margins suitable for framing. Printed on quality laid paper. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: browning and soiling, mainly in margins (can be covered or trimmed if needed); several wormholes. The picture 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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