Maps: The Sebastian Munster Atlas.
 
Sebastian Munster (1488-1552)  was born in Nierder, a small town of the Rhineland  Palatinate in 1488, the son of Andreas Munster. He studied arts and theology at Heidelberg and later Hebrew, Greek , cosmography and mathematics under humanist Pellikan and mathematician Stoffler. Under Stoffler he was introduced to cartography and to Ptolemy's Geographia, the then ' Bible' of cartography. He was later, first appointed to teach Hebrew at Heidelberg and then, in 1529, headed the chair of Hebrew at Basel university. At Basel he was to spend the rest of his life until his death from plague in 1552. In 1530, a year after he moved to Basel, he married the widow of Adam Petri( the well known printer), thus acquiring a measure of financial security for himself and the services of the substantial printing house of his stepson Heinrich Petri, who was to produce much of his later works. Heinrich Petri, Munster's successor , continued to publish new editions of Cosmographia as did Hienrich's son, Sebastian Heinrich Petri. Young Sebastian slowly ( 1588 onwards) started using some maps and city plans to illustrate Munster's Cosmographia from Abraham Ortelius' s  Theatrum Orbis Terrarum and Braun and Hogenberg's Civitates Orbis Terrarum, but using woodcuts cut in emulation of the copperplates of Ortelius's maps.
Author: Munster, Sebastian:
Title: Cosmographey; das ist, Beschreibung aller Lander, Herrschafften,
und furnemesten Stetten,des gantzen Erbodens [...] biss ins MDCXIV Jahr gemehret.
Publisher: Basel: Sebastian Henricipetri
Date of publication: 1614
 
All maps, city plans and other woodcut engravings are in very good condition, with no holes and no or minimal foxing confined to margins only; unless otherwise indicated.  Impression is dark and deep and margins are wide. Size given is of map/image area only and is given in centimeters, width by height. Size of full page is 22x36 cms. Prices are in U.S. Dollars.
 
 

Anonymous. 12.5 x15.5 cms. Portrait of Sebastian Munster, the cartographer. Creases. Price: $ 60.00

Grundtlicher bercht von dem Meer / desselben natur und beschaffenheit. 15.7x11.5 cms. Page 1, Chapter 1  of Munster's 1576 page Atlas. I have included this woodcut in this, my navigation page, to emphasize the  Europeans' thirst for knowledge and exploration in the sixteenth century,  which was mixed with religion, myth, war between kingdoms, burnings at the stake  and the fear of the Ottoman advance towards Rome. It depicts the Creator encircled by clouds , the sun, the moon and angels on either side; two devils at the bottom of the woodcut. The earth and the sea in the middle with animals, birds and fish; a sailing ship, too. 
Price: $ 90.00 
[ Untitled ]... Wilheim Thell. 14.4x13 cms. I have added this lovely woodcut next to the Creation scene as it brought back memories of my childhood and the fascinating legend of William Tell ( the Swiss national hero who was forced to shoot an apple from his son's head with a crossbow at a distance of eighty paces by the hated Austrian governor of Switzerland...an event that led to a revolt by the Swiss against Austrian oppression, or so the legend goes ). Alas I couldn't find a woodcut of Robin Hood and his bunch of merry men to include here; plenty of monsters though which I have allocated to the 'mythical' section below.
Price: $ 90.00
 
 
Maps & City plans ( uploaded at a rate of ten per day ). Areas uploaded are indicated by a RED Click*
 

THE WORLD

The World Click*(2 )
 
Continents Click* (6)
EUROPE
Armenia Click* (1 page)
 
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MISCELLANEOUS                 
 
Animals Click* (7 pages)
 
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