Catalog Archive
Auction 186, Lot 592

"Contrafehtung der Furnemmen Stat Venedig/ Sampt den Umbligen den Inseln", Munster, Sebastian

Subject: Venice, Italy

Period: 1628 (published)

Publication: Cosmographia, das Ist Beschreibung der Gantzen Welt

Color: Hand Color

Size:
15.3 x 9.7 inches
38.9 x 24.6 cm
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Sebastian Munster (1489 - 1552) was one of the three most renowned cartographers of the sixteenth century, along with Mercator and Ortelius. Munster's Geographia and Cosmographia Universalis were two of the most widely read and influential books of the period. His editions of Ptolemy's Geographia, published between 1540 and 1552, were illustrated with 48 woodcut maps, the standard 27 Ptolemaic maps supplemented by 21 new maps. These new maps included a separate map of each of the known continents and marked the development of regional cartography in Central Europe. The antique geography was a prelude to Munster's major work, the Cosmographia, which was published in nearly 30 editions in six languages between 1544 and 1578 and then was revised and reissued by Sebastian Petri from 1588 to 1628. The Cosmographia was a geographical as well as historical and ethnographic description of the world. It contained the maps from the Geographia plus additional regional maps and city views with nearly 500 illustrations which made it one of the most popular pictorial encyclopedias of the sixteen century.

Bird's-eye view of Venice and the surrounding islands from a French edition of this influential 16th century history of the world. Rendered in the unique woodblock style with the calm lagoon contrasting with the roiling seas outside the sandbanks that protect the city. Two text blocks describe the city and its history. German text on verso.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) T.MUN-1o #100.

Condition: A

A bright sheet with marginal soiling and archival repairs to a tiny tear adjacent to the left text block in the image and to some chips along the edges of the sheet.

Estimate: $400 - $475

Sold for: $425

Closed on 2/9/2022

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