1552 Munster Leaf Greece Peloponnese Sparta Lycurgus

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1552 Description of Greece from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Peloponnese, Laconia, Sparta, Lycurgus
"Peloponnese qui est la plus noble partie de la Grece"
"Distinction de toutes la Grece enses regions & terres particulieres"
"Laconie ou Laconicque, Lacedemonie, qui est aussi nommee Sparte"
Two woodcut pictures; One Table

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. French edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1552. Book IV, pages 1143/4.

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.

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 first French edition of Cosmographia is devoted to Greece. Pages 1143 (top) describes the history of the Peloponnese, from ancient times to its conquest by the Turks in 1460. The text mentions the Hexamilion wall built across the Isthmus of Corinth to protect southern Greece. The second section on p. 1143 contains the table showing the four major provinces of Greece (Macedonia, Epirus, Achaea, and the Peloponnese) together with their divisions.

Page 1144 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.

The leaf contains two interesting woodcut pictures:

• Portrait of Lycurgus
• A monk

Page measures 7.2 x 10.7 inches. Printed on laid paper. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: minor browning; one small marginal hole; margins have been slightly trimmed. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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