The ''Cosmographia'' (" Cosmography") from 1544 by Sebastian Münster (1488–1552) is the earliest German-language description of the world. It had numerous editions in different languages including

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, French (translated by

François de Belleforest François de Belleforest (1530 – 1 January 1583) was a French writer, poet and translator of the Renaissance. He was born in Samatan, into a poor family, and his father (a soldier) was killed when he was seven. He spent some time in the cour ...

), 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 *Czech (surnam ...

. 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 ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...

, Urs Graf, 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. Some of its editions also contain one of the earliest preserved texts in the

Latvian language Latvian (, ), also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken in the Baltic region, and is the language of the Latvians. It is the official language of Latvia ...

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

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

's '' Geographia'' 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 (; )  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 and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, Italy : Book III: Germany,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, Switzerland, Austria,

Carniola Carniola ( ; ; ; ) 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 still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, 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,

Scythia Scythia (, ) or Scythica (, ) was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the Pontic steppe. It was inhabited by Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people. Etymology The names ...

Tartary Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China, ...

, India,

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, 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

Karte vom Nordgau Cosmographia Sebastian Muenster 1628.jpg, Map of the Bavarian Nordgau Saal-Ingelheim-Cosmographia-1628.jpg,

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

Blemmyes - Cosmographiae uniuersalis 1550 (87683009).jpg, Blemmye, a fantastic creature Frankfurt Münster 1550.jpg, Frankfurt (Main) 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 woodcut 1575.gif, Skyline of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

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

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, or the 'New World'

References

External links

* *
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