America
„Die newen Inseln/so hinder Hispaniam gegen Orient/bey dem Lande Indie gelegen. -Americae Novi Orbis, Nova Description.“
Beautiful 1588 edition of Sebastian Münster´s map of America depicting all of North and South America. This map is a major revision of Sebastian Münster's original map of America from 1540 and is based almost entirely on the map of the same region by Abraham Ortelius from 1570. The map has many of the false suppositions common to the period like the huge size of New Guinea, Tierra del Fuego remains connected to the mysterious southern continent, etc.
Cartographer: Sebastian Münster (1489-1552) „Cosmographey“, Basel 1588, after a design of Abraham Ortelius first map of America „ Americae sive/novi Orbis…“ , verso: text in German Publisher: Heinrich Petri, Basel 1588
Print size: 31 cm x 36,3 cm
Decorative wood cut map, hand coloured in very good condition.
€ 1.380,-
Sebastian Münster (1488 Ingelheim - Basel 1552). Cosmographer, cartographer and Christian Hebraist.
Georg Reisch, one of his famous teachers, a cosmographer, scholar and writer of the encyclopedia „Margarita Philosophica“, inspired Münster to study geography, Hebraic and science. Münster translated Ptolemy's „Geographia“ from Greek to Latin and published it together with 48 maps, created after Ptolemy's descriptions. The first edition was published by Heinrich Petri, Basel 1540.
Münster's main work, the „Cosmographia“, a world history written by several historians and richly illustrated by impoprtant artists of his time, kept him busy for many years. The first edition was published in Latin by Heinrich Petri, Basel 1544. Included was a set of maps, with a world map and for the first time maps of the 4 continents: Europe, America, Africa and Asia. All the other maps published show more detailed areas of Europe, Africa and Asia. The „Cosmographia“ had been reissued, revised and extended for many times and was published in many different languages till 1628. It was one of the most successful and popular books of the 16th century. Münster also published many other works, e.g. several Habrew grammars.