1552 Munster Leaf Scythia Victorious Amazons Siberia

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1552 Description of Scythia from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Amazons, Conquest of Central Asia by Alexander, Scythia Beyond the Imaus Mountains
One splendid woodcut picture: Victorious Amazons

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. French edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1552. Book IV, pages 1303-4.

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 authentic leaf from the early French edition of Cosmographia is devoted to Asia. Page 1303 talks about the Amazons - the warrior women. The Greeks, Romans and other early civilizations wrote about or depicted the Amazons in their art. The name Amazon has survived through the ages as a generic term for women warriors. Myrene, the Gorgon Amazons greatest Queen, conquered parts of Syria, Egypt, Phygia and lands in the Mediterranean including the islands of Samos, Lesbos, Pathmos and Samothrace. She founded several cities which bore her name including the ancient city of Smyrna. After years of warfare, the combined armies of the Thracian and Scythian empires retook part of Myrene's colonial conquest. When she died the Gorgon Amazons abandoned their remaining colonies and returned to their base in North Africa. Myrene was buried near Troy and was later named a Trojan ancestress by the Greeks. Centuries later the Thermodontine Amazons reconquered much of the same area Myrene had held. They were a matriarchal bronze age nation of allied city-states located on a plain by the River Thermodon near the Sea of Azov. The nation was founded by Lysippe (from Scythia) with Themiscyra ("Themiscyre") as it's capital. Thermodontine Amazon government was decentralized with numerous Queens serving as tribal leaders, but by law throughout the empire only women could govern, or engage in warfare and agriculture. After Lysippe's death her daughter ruled the Amazons. Other notable Queens included Lampedo and Marpesia ("Marthesia"), who was one of the greatest of the Amazon empire builders.

The following section describes the conquest of Central Asia by Alexander in 328. From Maracanda (modern Samarkand) Alexander advanced by way of Cyropolis to the Jaxartes (modern Syrdarya), the boundary of the Persian Empire. There he broke the opposition of the Scythian nomads by his use of catapults and, after defeating them in a battle on the north bank of the river, pursued them into the interior. Meanwhile, Spitamenes had raised all Sogdiana in revolt behind him, bringing in the Massagetai, a people of the Saka confederacy. It took Alexander until the autumn of 328 to crush the most determined opponent he encountered in his campaigns. The text, based on "Life of Alexander the Great" by Quintus Curtius Rufus, mentions Naura (Nautaca) and Gabaza.

The remaining text on p. 1304 is devoted to the Imaus Mountains and Serica. These legendary eastmost parts of the world as known to the Greeks and Romans lie behind the iron gates of Alexander and correspond to the Asian steppes where the barbarian Scyths live (Scythia) and the remote mysterious land that produces the silk. Serica in Ptolemy's Geography was somewhere in the northeast of Siberia which region in the Scythian period was quite heavily populated. The leaf contains one excellent woodcut picture (2.2 x 5 inches) of fighting Amazons. See pictures for more details; click image to view larger version.

Page measures 7.1 x 10.9 inches. Printed on laid paper. The woodcut picture is in very good condition. The leaf is in good condition. Imperfections: margins trimmed; a candle wax spot. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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