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.

Great woodblock map depicting the Hanseatic city on the banks of the river Oder with several boats in the river and farmers and workmen on the road leading to the bridge into the city. The ribbon style title cartouche contains the monogram RMD of the engraver, Hans Rudolf Manuel Deutsch. There is a key below the view. German text on verso, published in 1556.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) T.MUN-1f #95.

Condition: A

A nice impression with marginal soiling. There are professional repairs to chips in the bottom corners of the sheet, centerfold separations that barely enter the image at top and bottom, and several edge tears, only one of which enters the image 0.25" at top.