1561 Munster Leaf America Cuba Francisca Japan Genesis

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1561 Introduction to Geography and the Old Testament from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Mapping the Earth, Seas, Islands, Genesis
Thule, America, Cuba, Hispaniola, Paria, Francisca, Japan, Ceylon, Cain and Enos, Noah and the great flood
One Woodcut Picture

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1561. Book I, pages xxxix-xl (39-40).

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 1561 German edition of Cosmographia deals with goography, explorations and the Book of Genesis. Page 39 (top) discusses basic geographical terms such as parallels (latitudes) and munutes. Ptolemy's most important geographical innovation was to record longitudes and latitudes in degrees for roughly 8,000 locations on his world map, making it possible to make an exact duplicate of his map. The text gives geographical coordinates of the Island of Thyle, Rhodes, and Meroe. Thyle (Thule) was mentioned by Pytheas of Massilia, a Greek merchant, geographer and explorer from the Phocaean colony Massilia (today Marseille). He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe around 325 BC. Pytheas visited an island six days sailing north of Britain, called Thule. Probably Thule was part of the Norwegian coast, although Iceland, the Shetland Islands, and Faroe Islands have also been suggested by historians. Pytheas said he was shown the place where the sun went to sleep, and he noted that the night in Thule was only two to three hours. One day further north the congealed sea began, he claimed.

Thereafter follows a section on the seas ("Von des Möres Schiffungen"), sea travel, and explorations. Münster mentions various islands, including America (sic!), Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti), Zipangri (Cipangu, Japan), Taprobane (Taprobana, Ceylon), Paria, and Francisca. Paria is an inlet of the Caribbean Sea, lying between the Venezuelan coast and Trinidad. Christopher Columbus, on his third voyage (1498), probably first sighted South America when he sailed into the Gulf of Paria. In Cosmographia, America was divided between France ("Francisca") to the north and Spain ("Terra Florida") to the south. Japan ("Zipangri") was placed just off the west coast of North America. The text also talks about Africa (the Nile), the Red Sea, and Asia (India, Calicut, Arabia, Ceylon). Page 40 (top) talks about Spanish discoveries, including new islands in America, Hispaniola (Haiti), and Yucatan.

The last section is devoted to the Old Testament. It mentions Cain and Enos, Noah and the great flood, Noah's sons (Cham and Japhet), Adam, Berosus, and Nimrod and his kingdom. The leaf contains one woodcut picture of a noble woman taking a ride on a gondole.

Page measures 8 x 11.9 inches. Printed on watermarked laid paper. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: handling in margins. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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