The ''Cosmographia'' ("

Cosmography The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...

") from 1544 by

Sebastian Münster Sebastian Münster (20 January 1488 – 26 May 1552) was a German cartographer and cosmographer. He also was a Christian Hebraist scholar who taught as a professor at the University of Basel. His well-known work, the highly accurate world map, '' ...

(1488–1552) is the earliest

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-language description of the world. It had numerous editions in different languages including

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, French (translated by

François de Belleforest François de Belleforest (1530 – 1 January 1583) was a prolific French author, poet and translator of the Renaissance. He was born in Samatan (actual department of Gers), into a poor family, and his father (a soldier) was killed when he was s ...

), Italian and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

. Only extracts have been translated into English. The last German edition was published in 1628, long after Munster's death. The ''Cosmographia'' was one of the most successful and popular books of the 16th century. It passed through 24 editions in 100 years. This success was due to the notable

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s (some by

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered o ...

Urs Graf Urs Graf (c. 1485 in Solothurn, Switzerland – possibly before 13 October 1528) was a Swiss Renaissance goldsmith, painter and printmaker (of woodcuts, etchings and engravings), as well as a Swiss mercenary. He only produced two etchings, one ...

, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, and

David Kandel David Kandel (1520–1592) was a Renaissance artist and one of the pioneers of botanical and natural history illustration. Very little is known of his personal life. Biography He was probably born in Strasbourg, in 1520. He married in 1554 an ...

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

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

's ''

Geographia The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...

'' with illustrations.

Europe As A Queen Sebastian Munster 1570

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 Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, Italy : Book III: Germany,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, Switzerland, Austria,

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Livland Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

: Book IV: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia,

Walachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Turkey : Book V: Asia Minor, Cyprus, Armenia, Palestine, Arabia, Persia, Central Asia, Afghanistan,

Scythia Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Hi ...

Tartary Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounde ...

, India,

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Burma, China, East Indies, Madagascar, Zanzibar, America : Book VI: Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, South Africa, East Africa

Editions

* German: 1544 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

Karte vom Nordgau Cosmographia Sebastian Muenster 1628.jpg, Map of the

Bavarian Nordgau The Margraviate of the Nordgau (german: Markgrafschaft Nordgau) or Bavarian Nordgau () was a medieval administrative unit ('' Gau'') on the frontier of the German Duchy of Bavaria. It comprised the region north of the Danube and Regensburg (Ratisb ...

Saal-Ingelheim-Cosmographia-1628.jpg,

Ingelheim Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein ( en, Ingelheim upon Rhine), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's west bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat ...

Blemmyes.jpg, Blemmye, a fantastic creature Frankfurt Münster 1550.jpg,

Frankfurt (Main) Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Frankfurt oder 1550.jpg, Frankfurt (Oder) Deutschlandkarte aus der Ausgabe der Cosmographia von 1538.jpg, Map of Germany De Regno et tota regione Poloniae, S. Münster, Cosmographia universalis.png, Map of central and eastern Europe Sebastian munster 1550 speyer.jpeg, Speyer Riga wodcut 1575.gif, Skyline of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Novae Insulae Nova Tabula (New Map of the New World).jpg, Map of showing North and South

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, or the 'New World'

References

External links

* *
Tabula_novarum_insularum"_[Map_of_America
(Sebastian_Münster),_at_the_State_Library_of_New_South_Wales..html" ;"title="ap of America">Tabula novarum insularum" [Map of America
(Sebastian Münster), at the State Library of New South Wales.">ap of America">Tabula novarum insularum" [Map of America
(Sebastian Münster), at the State Library of New South Wales. * "Cosmographia (Sebastian Münster)"
Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL)
(in German). *
Artikel in der TRE

- Umfangreiche Dokumentensammlung des Sebastian-Münster-Gymnasiums in Ingelheim.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071008101608/http://www.oldworldauctions.com/detail.asp?owa_id=2145226733 His Map of Asia (1544 AD), ''Tabula orientalis regionis, Asiae scilicet extremas complectens terras & regna'']
''Historic Cities: Sebastian Münster''
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110607164651/http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/at/schreckenfuchs_1553_oratio-funebris-de-obitu-sebastiani-munsteri.pdf
Munster Map - Simcoe County Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmographia Muenster Sebastian 1544 books Geography books

Contents

Editions

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links