Cosmographia (Sebastian Münster)

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Heinrich Petri

The Cosmographia ("Cosmography") from 1544 by Sebastian Münster (1488–1552) is the earliest German-language description of the world.[1]

It had numerous editions in different languages including

Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, and David Kandel). It was most important in reviving geography in 16th-century Europe. Among the notable maps within Cosmographia is the map "Tabula novarum insularum", which is credited as the first map to show the American continents as geographically discrete.[2]

Some of its editions also contain one of the earliest preserved texts in the Latvian language.[3]

His earlier geographic works were Germania descriptio (1530) and Mappa Europae (1536). In 1540, he published a Latin edition of

Geographia
with illustrations.

Contents

Europa regina in the 1570 Cosmographia

As late as the 1598 edition, the content consisted of:

Book I: Astronomy, Mathematics, Physical Geography, Cartography
Book II: England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Savoy, Trier, Italy
Book III: Germany,
Livland
Book IV: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia,
Walachia
, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Turkey
Book V: Asia Minor, Cyprus, Armenia, Palestine, Arabia, Persia, Central Asia, Afghanistan,
Ceylon
, Burma, China, East Indies, Madagascar, Zanzibar, America
Book VI: Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, South Africa, East Africa

Editions

  • German: 1544 Basel, 1545 Basel, 1546, 1548, 1550, 1553, 1556, 1558, 1561, 1564, 1567, 1569, 1572, 1574, 1578, 1588, 1592, 1598, 1614, 1628
  • Latin: 1550 Basel, 1552, 1554, 1559, 1572
  • French: 1552 Basel, 1556, 1560, 1565, 1568, 1575 Paris (editor Francois de Belleforest).
  • Italian: 1558 Basel, undated Venezia, 1575 Koln.
  • Czech: 1554 Praha.

Excerpts only:

  • German: 1820 J.G.J. Seybold, Munchen.
  • French: 1779 Ruault, Paris (ed. Nicolas Gobet); 1872 Librarie des Philosophes, Paris; 1883 A. Quantin, Paris.
  • English: 1552 W. Marshall, London (abridged ed.); 1553 Edward Sutton, London (ed. Richard Eden); 1561 Lahon Awdely, London (ed. George North); 1572 Thomas Marche, London (ed. Richard Eden); 1574 Thomas Marche, London (ed. Richard Eden); 1577 Richard Jugge, London (ed. Richard Eden); 1885 Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh & Birmingham (ed. Edward Arber); 1895 A. Constable & Co., Westminster (ed. Edward Arber).

Gallery

  • Map of the Bavarian Nordgau
    Map of the
    Bavarian Nordgau
  • Ingelheim
    Ingelheim
  • Blemmye, a fantastic creature
    Blemmye
    , a fantastic creature
  • Frankfurt (Main)
    Frankfurt (Main)
  • Frankfurt (Oder)
    Frankfurt (Oder)
  • Map of Germany
    Map of Germany
  • Map of central and eastern Europe
    Map of central and eastern Europe
  • Speyer
    Speyer
  • Skyline of Riga
    Skyline of Riga
  • Map of showing North and South America, or the 'New World'[4]
    Map of showing North and South
    America, or the 'New World'[4]

References

  1. ^ Lepore, Jill (2002). Encounters in the New World: A History in Documents, Pages from History. Oxford University Press. p. 24.
  2. ^ "The Riga Skyline - Then and Now". Latvians.com. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  3. ^ Munster, Sebastian (1544). Cosmographia.

Further reading

External links