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Auction archive: Lot number 239

Sebastian Munster Map of the New World, ca 1550

Estimate
n. a.
Price realised:
US$3,290
Auction archive: Lot number 239

Sebastian Munster Map of the New World, ca 1550

Estimate
n. a.
Price realised:
US$3,290
Beschreibung:

Munster, Sebastian (1488-1552) Die neuwen Inseln - So hinder Hispanien gegen Orient bey dem land Indie ligen. Basle, ca 1540-1556. Woodcut, not colored. 10 x 13.25 in. on 12.5 x 15.75 in. sheet. Text in title block on verso in German. Sebastian Munster set the stage for cartographers for the next four centuries with this map and similar works. The map was first published in Geographia, but soared in popularity with its inclusion in 1544 in Cosmographia. Munster accomplished many "firsts" with this map, but most significantly it was the first time the Western Hemisphere was depicted separately, as were the other continents. Up until this time, the latest European "discoveries" were added to maps of the world. Munster helped to perpetuate "America" for these landmasses. The name seems to have first been applied by another German geographer, Martin Waldseemuller, although Munster only places it on the South American landmass, which he also labels the southern continent Novus orbis and Die Nuw Welt (The New World in Latin and German). The northern landmass is identified as Terra Florida and Francisca for the very northeastern portion. Spanish and Portuguese holdings are indicated with flags in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Munster also indicated Japan ( Zipangri) off the coast of northern Asia, which he calls India superior, or upper India. Between the two are Marco Polo's 7448 spice islands, Archipelagus 7448 insularu, the region Columbus thought he had reached. There are the expected errors, such as the large body of water separating the two parts of the northern continent, giving explorers encouragement in their efforts to locate the "short-cut" to the spice islands. The Yucatan is an island, and the proportions of the various landmasses are not quite what we know them to be. But Munster did identify the Straits of Magellan, another early feature (if not the first), and further honors the explorer with a large galleon, Magellan's Victoria, in the Pacific Ocean, also indicated on the map (Mare pacificum). He also includes one of many European "fantasies," the presence of cannibals in Brasil, indicated with a bonfire of branches with human body parts hanging from them, ready for roasting. A wonderful piece of history indicating discoveries and how Europe was interpreting them. Condition: Center fold, as issued, with slight damage at lower end, most in the margin. One tiny hole in the "bulge" of Africa, possibly insect damage. Slight toning and scuffing of just a few millimeters of outer edge of sheet. Overall, excellent, in part because it was not colored, and thus didn't suffer the chemical effects of early paints.

Auction archive: Lot number 239
Auction:
Datum:
1 Dec 2011
Auction house:
Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Este Ave 6270
Cincinnati OH 45232
United States
info@cowans.com
+1 (0)513 8711670
+1 (0)513 8718670
Beschreibung:

Munster, Sebastian (1488-1552) Die neuwen Inseln - So hinder Hispanien gegen Orient bey dem land Indie ligen. Basle, ca 1540-1556. Woodcut, not colored. 10 x 13.25 in. on 12.5 x 15.75 in. sheet. Text in title block on verso in German. Sebastian Munster set the stage for cartographers for the next four centuries with this map and similar works. The map was first published in Geographia, but soared in popularity with its inclusion in 1544 in Cosmographia. Munster accomplished many "firsts" with this map, but most significantly it was the first time the Western Hemisphere was depicted separately, as were the other continents. Up until this time, the latest European "discoveries" were added to maps of the world. Munster helped to perpetuate "America" for these landmasses. The name seems to have first been applied by another German geographer, Martin Waldseemuller, although Munster only places it on the South American landmass, which he also labels the southern continent Novus orbis and Die Nuw Welt (The New World in Latin and German). The northern landmass is identified as Terra Florida and Francisca for the very northeastern portion. Spanish and Portuguese holdings are indicated with flags in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Munster also indicated Japan ( Zipangri) off the coast of northern Asia, which he calls India superior, or upper India. Between the two are Marco Polo's 7448 spice islands, Archipelagus 7448 insularu, the region Columbus thought he had reached. There are the expected errors, such as the large body of water separating the two parts of the northern continent, giving explorers encouragement in their efforts to locate the "short-cut" to the spice islands. The Yucatan is an island, and the proportions of the various landmasses are not quite what we know them to be. But Munster did identify the Straits of Magellan, another early feature (if not the first), and further honors the explorer with a large galleon, Magellan's Victoria, in the Pacific Ocean, also indicated on the map (Mare pacificum). He also includes one of many European "fantasies," the presence of cannibals in Brasil, indicated with a bonfire of branches with human body parts hanging from them, ready for roasting. A wonderful piece of history indicating discoveries and how Europe was interpreting them. Condition: Center fold, as issued, with slight damage at lower end, most in the margin. One tiny hole in the "bulge" of Africa, possibly insect damage. Slight toning and scuffing of just a few millimeters of outer edge of sheet. Overall, excellent, in part because it was not colored, and thus didn't suffer the chemical effects of early paints.

Auction archive: Lot number 239
Auction:
Datum:
1 Dec 2011
Auction house:
Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Este Ave 6270
Cincinnati OH 45232
United States
info@cowans.com
+1 (0)513 8711670
+1 (0)513 8718670
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