Beschreibung:

MÜNSTER, SEBASTIAN (1489-1552) and HANS HOLBEIN the Younger (1497-1543). Typus cosmographicus universalis . [Basel, 1532 or later]. Woodcut map of the world on 2 sheets joined, overall 373 x 561 mm., the map showing the world on an oval projection, including the Americas as two separate continents separated by a strait, the northernmost an elongated island labeled "Terra de Cuba", the seas embellished with ships, sea monsters, mermaids, etc., the borders filled with vignettes of local scenes including hunting scenes, exotic and fantastical plants and animals, cannibalism, and a European city, at the North and South Poles two cherubs turning crank handles, two cartouches with letterpress descriptions. (Skilfully repaired 5-inch tear at left edge, half-inch clean tear through headline at top.) Matted and framed. Münster's first world map, first published in the Basel 1532 edition of Johann Hüttich and Simon Grynaeus's Novus orbis regionum , and used repeatedly in later editions of this and other books. The map has been variously attributed to Münster, Holbein, and Grynaeus himself; Shirley attributes the cartography to Münster and the border decoration to Holbein, who was working with several Basel publishers at the time. "Geographically the map is quite antiquated and was probably prepared prior to 1532 based partly on the world configuration depicted in the Schöner globes [1515 and later], or on Apian's map of 1520" (Shirley). "This map is from an artistic point of view one of the most interesting of the many world maps turned out in the sixteenth century" ( The World Encompassed , 65). Shirley 67; cf. Sabin 34100.