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C1540
(1554)
Typus Orbis Universalis.
Mapmaker:
Early C16th woodcut map of the world by the German cartographer Sebastian Münster. Munster made this new and modern map of the world in an ovaloid projection for the 1550 edition of his Cosmographia. This example was published in either … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
Typus Orbis Universalis.
Date:
C1540
(1554)
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition, with centre fold as issued.
Technique:
Hand coloured woodcut.
Image Size:
360mm
x 310mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1554
Description:
Early C16th woodcut map of the world by the German cartographer Sebastian Münster.
Munster made this new and modern map of the world in an ovaloid projection for the 1550 edition of his Cosmographia. This example was published in either 1554 or 1559 as these are the only two editions to have Latin text on the verso.
Surrounding the map are decorative clouds and personified depictions of the twelve winds of the wind-system proposed by Aristotle with their names appearing in banners. The initials of the wood carver David Kandel can be seen in the lower left corner of the map.
Moving away from the classically accepted Ptolemaic model of the world, Munster’s new world map omits, Terra Australis Incognita, usually found on world maps of the period and adds the recently discovered America. The ship depicted on the right is Magellan’s ship Victoria honouring his circumnavigation of the world 1519-1522. With this map Munster was one of the first to provide a more realistic picture of the world.
Latin text on the verso.
From Münster’s Cosmographia.
References:
Shirley 92, p.103, ill.pl. 78
Sebastian Munster (1488 - 1552)
Sebastian Munster (1488-1552) was an important German cartographer, cosmographer and Hebrew scholar who is best known for his 1540 Latin translation and publication of Ptolemy's Geography titled, Cosmographia. Prior to the introduction of printing for books, of works such as Ptolemy's groundbreaking Geography, they could only be copied individually by scribes, consequently this slow process inhibited the dissemination of geographic knowledge to a wide audience. As information became available especially of the new world, Munster found that Ptolemy's theories were contradicted by these new discoveries that were related to him by ships captains and explorers. One such theory was a land locked Indian Ocean which Ptolemy had shown in his Geography and which was being disproved by the trading ships returning from China and the Spice Islands with their precious cargos. As a result Munster began to add new maps to his own Cosmographia that reflected these new discoveries and made available to a wider audience this changing knowledge of the world.
