1550 Munster Leaf Bavaria Germany 3 Woodcut Pictures

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1550 Description of Bavaria, Germany from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
History, Geography, Towns
Three Woodcut Pictures

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1550. Book III ("Von dem Deutschen land"), pages dcclxxi-dcclxxi (771-2).

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 woodcut leaf from the 1550 German edition of Cosmographia is devoted to the Land of Bavaria in Germany: geography (cities, rivers) and history. Page 771 (top) describes the Roman period; it talks about Noricum. Noricum was a region of Europe north of what is now Italy, roughly comprising modern central Austria and parts of Bavaria. It was annexed by Rome, apparently as a bloodless conquest, about 15 BC. The Romans built fortifications along the northern boundary to keep out the Teutons. Flourishing Roman colonies arose in the south at Augsburg, Kempten, Regensburg (in 529 it became the capital of Bavaria), Passau and Lorch (near Passau). Page 772 talks about the kings of Bavaria. It mentions Ariovistus - a leader of the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. He and his followers took part in a war in Gaul, assisting the Arverni and Sequani to defeat their rivals the Aedui, and settled in large numbers in conquered Gallic territory in the Alsace region, but were defeated in the Battle of Vosges and driven back over the Rhine in 58 BC by Julius Caesar. The Romans were overcome in the 5th century by repeated Germanic attacks. The lands were eventually settled by Germanic tribes from the east and north who mixed with the remaining Celts and Romans. The tribe that gave the territory its name was the Baiovarii (Bavarians), who settled in the south between AD 488 and 520. From about 555 to 788 the Bavarians were ruled by Frankish dukes of the Agilolfing family. In the 7th and 8th centuries Bavaria was Christianized by Irish and Scottish monks. The last duke of the Agilolfing family, Tassilo III ("Tassilo"), was deposed in 788 by Charlemagne (742-814), who incorporated Bavaria into the Carolingian empire.

The leaf contains three woodcut pictures:

• A coat of arms
• A miner
• Ariovistus

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: minor browning and handling in margins; marginal wormholes. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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