c1598 Folio Leaf From Sebastian Munster's Cosmographey - Map of Gaul

Cosmographey: Germany, c1598.

Fine folio leaf with 3 woodcuts from an imprint of Sebastian Munster's Cosmographey, this edition likely printed in Germany circa 1598. All text in printed in gothic script German. Contents depict and describe a map of Gaul, its customs, traditions and mythology.

Sebastian Munster (1489-1552) was a famous cosmographer of the Renaissance, first publishing his "Cosmographey" in 1544. He initially only wanted to use his research for a description of Germany, but became sufficient for a map of the entire world and ultimately led to a cosmography.

It was the first scientific, yet generally understandable, description of the knowledge of the world in German, in which the basics of history and geography, astronomy and natural sciences, regional and folklore were summarized according to the state of knowledge at that time.

Cosmography is the science of describing the earth and the universe. Until the late Middle Ages, geography, geology and astronomy were also part of it. With Cosmographey, Sebastian Munster published for the first time a joint work by learned historians and artists, by publishers, wood cutters and engravers. The great success of this cosmography was also based on the precise work of the woodcuts mostly by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Deutsch and David Kandel.

Condition: As shown, on paper in good condition with minor age toning and spotting to outer margins and evidence of worm-holing throughout. 32 x 20.5 cm.