Geographia Universalis

Geographia universalis - de la Croix: Geographia Universalis, Gleditsch u. Weidmann Erben , 1697.
de la Croix, Geographia universalis, Allgemeine Welt-Beschreibung, 1697- äusserst Rar, nach neuer Art und Weise... Tle. 3 u. 4 (von 4) in 1 Bd. Lpz., Gleditsch u. Weidmann Erben 1697. 4°. Mit 2 gest. Frontisp., 6 gefalt. Kupferktn. u. ings. 34 (tls. gefalt.) Kupfertaf. mit Trachten-Darst u. Ansichten sowie einigen Textholzschn. 358+384 S., 3 Bl., 420 S. in Schweinsleder d. Zt. gebunden, mit Eintragungen, Besitzerstempel, tlw. gebräunt, aber sonst gutes Exemplar Graesse IV, 65. Jöcher I, 2209. Vgl. Sabin 38504 (holländische Ausg.); nicht bei Lipperheide. Erste deutsche Ausgabe der umfangreichen Weltbeschreibung, übers. von H. Dicelius. - Das Gesamtwerk umfaßt 4 Frontisp., 17 Faltkarten, 7 astronimische Tafeln und 49 Trachtenkupfer

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MÜNSTER, Sebastian (1488-1552): Novae Insulae XVII Nova Tabula,

[Basel: Heinrich Petri in the 'Geographia Universalis', 1542]. Woodcut map, in excellent condition, apart from faint soiling at centerfold. 11 3/4 x 15 1/8 inches. A very rare first-state example of Münster's highly- important map of the New World, from the second edition of his celebrated 'Geographia Universalis,' and an iconic masterpiece of Renaissance cartography This map, Novae Insule XVII, Nova Tabula, which is of great epistemological importance, depicts the immense lands newly discovered in the Western Hemisphere during the preceding two generations. Sebastian Münster's use of the term "Americam" on the map, in addition to the hemisphere's designation as the "Novus Orbis" (New World), helped to solidify America as the name for the New World. This is also the earliest printed map to use the name "Mare Pacificum" for the Pacific Ocean, first discovered by Balboa in 1513. South America is much more clearly defined and accurately drawn than North America, as it was the object of greater European exploration. The Portuguese flag is shown flying over the South Atlantic and the Spanish banner flies over her possessions in the Caribbean, alluding to the papal Edict of Tordesillas (1494), which divided the world between the two Iberian powers. The Straits of Magellan are named and Magellan's ship, Victoria, is shown in the Pacific Ocean. A woodcut of a pyre with a leg hanging from a tree limb identifies the region where "Canibali" live in the eastern bulge of South America, now known as Brazil, in light of the vivid tales of Amerigo Vespucci. The area now encompassed by Argentina is called "Regio Gigantum" in honor of the gargantuan Patagonians that Magellan's men reported meeting there. Several islands are shown in the Caribbean, including Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica, while the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico is also shown as an island. The only place named in what is now the United States is "Terra Florida," having been discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. The French territories in Canada, "Francisca," discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1534, is shown lying far to the east of the rest of North America. Münster showed North America narrowing into a slender isthmus in the area of modern North Carolina. This was due to Giovanni di Verrazzano's mis- identification of the Outer Banks of North Carolina as "Oriental Sea" that led to Cathay and the Spice Islands, and this led to greater interest in the exploration of the Atlantic Coast of North America. "Zipangri" (Japan) is located in the middle of the Pacific amidst 7,446 islands following the tales of Marco Polo. Münster was a brilliant polymath and one of the most important intellectuals of the Renaissance era. Educated at Tübingen, his surviving college notebooks, Kollegienbuch, reveal a mind of insatiable curiosity, especially with regards to cosmography. Münster later became a professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg, and then from 1529 at the University of Basel. In the 1530s, he turned his attentions to translating Ptolemy's Geography, adding new material that related to the lands newly discovered in the Americas and Asia. The result was the publication of his highly regarded Geographia Universalis, first printed in 1540, of which the present map of the New World was by far its most celebrated component. The present map is from the second edition, but still represents the first-state of the map, as the same unaltered woodblock from the initial printing was employed in the production of the second edition. Münster was also a trend-setter in his ideas regarding design and layout of maps, and he was one of the first to create space on his woodblocks for the insertion of place names in metal type. Münster later published his Cosmographia (1544, revised 1550), a monumental encyclopedic book of contemporary knowledge and legend that became one of the most widely read books in Europe. Burden, Mapping of North America I, 12 (Latin text, state 1): Kershaw, Early Printed Maps of Canada I:1b; Suarez, Shedding the Veil, pp.81-85. pl.16. Cf. Schwartz & Ehrenberg, Mapping of America, p.45, pl.18; Cf. Skelton, Decorative Printed Maps, p.40; Suarez, Early Mapping of the Pacific, p.49; Tooley, Mapping & Mapmakers, p.112, pl.80.

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MÜNSTER, Sebastian (1488-1552): India Extrema, XIX; Nova Tabula,

[Basel: Heinrich Petri in the 'Geographia Universalis', 1542]. Woodcut, in excellent condition. 11 3/4 x 15 1/8 inches. The rare first state of Münster's highly important map of Asia, a veritable masterpiece of Renaissance cartography Münster's India Extrema, XIX, Nova Tabula is a very elegant map, that embraces most of Asia, from the Persian Gulf to the Far East. Although largely based on Ptolemy's ancient template, it includes some advancements gleaned from recent Portuguese discoveries. The outlines of the Indian subcontinent, between the Indus and the Ganges rivers begins to take a recognizable form, with "Zaylon" (Sri Lanka) correctly appearing as its own island. The Portuguese outpost of Goa and Calicut, the first place where Vasco da Gama landed in 1497, are depicted. Further to the east "Taprobana" (the name Ptolemy gave to Sri Lanka) is also designated as "Sumatra.".On the adjacent Malay Peninsula is the important trading port of "Malaqua" (Malacca). Java is also portrayed, but is depicted as two separate islands. "Moloca" (The Moluccas), the Spice Islands that were a major point of contention between Spain and Portugal are shown. The resolution of the dispute was the official purpose of Magellan's epic circumnavigation. The depiction of "Cathay" (China) is shown to be largely predicated on Venetian lore. The seas to the south of the map are adorned with a large sea monster and a mermaid with a bifurcated tail. Münster was a brilliant polymath and one of the most important intellectuals of the Renaissance era. Educated at Tübingen, his surviving college notebooks, Kollegienbuch, reveal a mind of insatiable curiosity, especially with regards to cosmography. Münster later became a professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg, and then from 1529 at the University of Basle. In the 1530s, he turned his attention to translating Ptolemy's Geography, adding new material that related to the lands newly discovered in the Americas and Asia. The result was the publication of his highly regarded Geographia Universalis, first printed in 1540. The present map is from the second edition, but still represents the first-state of the map, as the same unaltered woodblock from the initial printing was employed in the production of the second edition. Münster was also a trend-setter in his ideas regarding design and layout of maps, and he was one of the first to create space on his woodblocks for the insertion of place names in metal type. Münster later published his Cosmographia (1544, revised 1550), a monumental encyclopedic book of contemporary knowledge and legend that became one of the most widely read books in Europe. Parry, The Cartography of the East Indian Islands, pp.65-68, pl. 3.8

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MÜNSTER, Sebastian (1488-1552): Africa XVIII, Nova Tabula,

[Basel: Heinrich Petri in the 'Geographia Universalis', 1542]. Woodcut map, in excellent condition. 11 3/4 x 15 1/8 inches. The first state of the earliest reasonably obtainable map to focus on the depiction of the entire continent of Africa, and a veritable masterpiece of Renaissance cartography This highly important map represents the earliest reasonably obtainable map to depict the entire continent of Africa. Africa XVIII, Nova Tabula, is a fantastic visual synergy of archaic imagination and recent exploration. The overall shape of the continent is quite well defined, having been extensively explored by the Portuguese since the time of Prince Henry the Navigator in the mid-fifteenth-century, a point highlighted by the appearance of a caravel in the lower part of the map. Africa's various kingdoms are denoted by pictorial symbols of a crown and sceptre. Following Ptolemaic tradition, the Nile has its source in a series of lakes that lie at the foot of the mysterious Mountains of the Moon. The land around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa is embellished by the appearance of an elephant, and exotic parrots occupy trees in Angola. Most amusingly, near the coast of east Africa, the "Monoculi," or one-eyed man imagined by Classical writers sits in wait for some hypothetical European visitor. Münster was a brilliant polymath and one of the most important intellectuals of the Renaissance era. Educated at Tübingen, his surviving college notebooks, Kollegienbuch, reveal a mind of insatiable curiosity, especially with regards to cosmography. Münster later became a professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg, and then from 1529 at the University of Basle. In the 1530s, he turned his attentions to translating Ptolemy's Geography, adding new material that related to the lands newly discovered in Africa, the Americas and Asia. The result was the publication of his highly regarded Geographia Universalis, first printed in 1540. The present map is from the second edition, but still represents the first-state of the map, as the same unaltered woodblock from the initial printing was employed in the production of the second edition. Münster was also a trend-setter in his ideas regarding design and layout of maps, and he was one of the first to create space on his woodblocks for the insertion of place names in metal type. Münster later published his Cosmographia (1544, revised 1550), a monumental encyclopedic book of contemporary knowledge and legend that became one of the most widely read books in Europe. Norwich, Maps of Africa, 2; Tooley, The Printed Maps of the Whole of the Continent of Africa, Part 1 (1500-1600), 6

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