Sebastian Munster (1489 - 1552) was one of the three most renowned cartographers of the sixteenth century, along with Mercator and Ortelius. Munster's Geographia and Cosmographia Universalis were two of the most widely read and influential books of the period. His editions of Ptolemy's Geographia, published between 1540 and 1552, were illustrated with 48 woodcut maps, the standard 27 Ptolemaic maps supplemented by 21 new maps. These new maps included a separate map of each of the known continents and marked the development of regional cartography in Central Europe. The antique geography was a prelude to Munster's major work, the Cosmographia, which was published in nearly 30 editions in six languages between 1544 and 1578 and then was revised and reissued by Sebastian Petri from 1588 to 1628. The Cosmographia was a geographical as well as historical and ethnographic description of the world. It contained the maps from the Geographia plus additional regional maps and city views with nearly 500 illustrations which made it one of the most popular pictorial encyclopedias of the sixteen century.

This splendid bird's-eye view depicts the Alsatian village of Rouffach. Set amidst the equally detailed countryside, the view provides individual renderings of each building, the city walls, the Chateau d’Isenbourg, and the river that passes in front of the town. A long flowing banner bearing the name of the city and the date 1548 runs across the top. French text on verso, published in 1552.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) T.MUN-1d #53.

Condition: B+

A nice impression with light soiling along the centerfold and in the blank margins and faint dampstains in the left and right margins.