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1628 Münster/ Petri Map of Germany
Germany-munster-1628$150.00
Title
Teutschlandt/ mit seinem gantzen Begriff und eyngeschlosznen Landtschafften.
1628 (undated) 12.5 x 14.25 in (31.75 x 36.195 cm) 1 : 4300000
1628 (undated) 12.5 x 14.25 in (31.75 x 36.195 cm) 1 : 4300000
Description
This is the modern map of Germany from Sebastian Petri's updated edition of Münster's Cosmographia. It was added by the publisher toCosmographia in 1588, to replace the map which had first appeared in Münster's work in 1540, which over the course of almost fifty years had become supplanted by the more modern and detailed map printed by Ortelius. Indeed, most of the maps which Petri caused to be made for Cosmographia were reduced-format, woodcut versions of Ortelius' copperplate maps, an acknowledgement of their superiority to the older Münster maps. In this respect, the present map stands out: while some of its features reflect Ortelius' work, the overall composition of the map - especially its southern orientation - are more reflective of the original Münster map: perhaps evoking the sentiment that a German could make a better map of Germany than the Flemish Ortelius.
The Southern Orientation
The southern orientation which distinguishes Münster's 1540 map of Germany as well as Petri's replacement here, was neither an error, nor a regression, nor a touch of whimsy. It was an indication of the map’s modernity. The convention of keeping north at the 'top' of a map was inherited from Ptolemy's maps, and those which Münster produced based on Ptolemaic sources retained that second-century geographer’s northern orientation. However, regional maps printed in Germany in the first part of the 16th century for the use of travelers were oriented to the south in order to be used in conjunction with a solar compass. Since these represented Munster’s most accurate and detailed modern sources, his maps derived from them virtually all shared the same, southern, orientation. Münster's adherence to a southern orientation derives from his study of Martin Waldseemüller (1470 - 1520), and Erhard Etzlaub (1455 - 1532) before him.Publication History and Census
This map was among the newly-produced woodcut maps added to the German edition of Cosmographia in 1588 by Sebastian Petri, who had inherited the print shop from his father Heinrich Petri. It remained in the subsequent editions without material change. The present example corresponds, both typographically and with respect to cracking on the woodblock, with the map found in the 1628 German edition. The German and Latin editions of Cosmographia are well represented in institutional collections. Three examples of different editions of the separate map are cataloged in OCLC; one of these is of this edition, at the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek Klassik.CartographerS
Sebastian Münster (January 20, 1488 - May 26, 1552), was a German cartographer, cosmographer, Hebrew scholar and humanist. He was born at Ingelheim near Mainz, the son of Andreas Munster. He completed his studies at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen in 1518, after which he was appointed to the University of Basel in 1527. As Professor of Hebrew, he edited the Hebrew Bible, accompanied by a Latin translation. In 1540 he published a Latin edition of Ptolemy's Geographia, which presented the ancient cartographer's 2nd century geographical data supplemented systematically with maps of the modern world. This was followed by what can be considered his principal work, the Cosmographia. First issued in 1544, this was the earliest German description of the modern world. It would become the go-to book for any literate layperson who wished to know about anywhere that was further than a day's journey from home. In preparation for his work on Cosmographia, Münster reached out to humanists around Europe and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, enlisting colleagues to provide him with up-to-date maps and views of their countries and cities, with the result that the book contains a disproportionate number of maps providing the first modern depictions of the areas they depict. Münster, as a religious man, was not producing a travel guide. Just as his work in ancient languages was intended to provide his students with as direct a connection as possible to scriptural revelation, his object in producing Cosmographia was to provide the reader with a description of all of creation: a further means of gaining revelation. The book, unsurprisingly, proved popular and was reissued in numerous editions and languages including Latin, French, Italian, and Czech. The last German edition was published in 1628, long after Münster's death of the plague in 1552. Cosmographia was one of the most successful and popular books of the 16th century, passing through 24 editions between 1544 and 1628. This success was due in part to its fascinating woodcuts (some by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, and David Kandel). Münster's work was highly influential in reviving classical geography in 16th century Europe, and providing the intellectual foundations for the production of later compilations of cartographic work, such as Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Münster's output includes a small format 1536 map of Europe; the 1532 Grynaeus map of the world is also attributed to him. His non-geographical output includes Dictionarium trilingue in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and his 1537 Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. Most of Munster's work was published by his stepson, Heinrich Petri (Henricus Petrus), and his son Sebastian Henric Petri. More by this mapmaker...
Heinrich Petri (1508 - 1579) and his son Sebastian Henric Petri (1545 – 1627) were printers based in Basel, Switzerland. Heinrich was the son of the printer Adam Petri and Anna Selber. After Adam died in 1527, Anna married the humanist and geographer Sebastian Münster - one of Adam's collaborators. Sebastian contracted his stepson, Henricus Petri (Petrus), to print editions of his wildly popular Cosmographia. Later Petri, brought his son, Sebastian Henric Petri, into the family business. Their firm was known as the Officina Henricpetrina. In addition to the Cosmographia, they also published a number of other seminal works including the 1566 second edition of Nicolaus Copernicus's De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium and Georg Joachim Rheticus's Narratio. Learn More...
Source
Münster, Sebastian, Cosmographey, das ist Beschreibung aller Länder..., (Basel: Petri) 1628.
Condition
Very good. Light toning.
References
OCLC 837238081.