Europa — Sebastian Münster, 1588
Coming 11/11
- Cartographer
- Sebastian Münster
- Date
- 1588
- Publication
- Cosmographia · Basel, Sebastian Petri, 1588
- Subject
- Europe
- Medium
- Woodcut with original hand colour
- Dimensions
- 31 × 36 cm (woodcut); 35.5 × 43 cm (paper)
- Condition
- Very good; original hand colour
About this piece
Europa is a continental woodcut map from the 1588 German edition of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia, issued in Basel by Sebastian Petri. Continental maps like this one gave the book’s readers a way to place the individual kingdoms, cities and rivers described in the chapters that followed. The scale is broad enough to take in a continent, yet the closely set names invite the eye to move from place to place.
The outlines of the Iberian and Italian peninsulas give the Mediterranean its familiar shape, while the western and northern shores lead the eye around the Atlantic side of the continent. The woodcut has the distinctive balance of lettering and line that makes a Renaissance map rewarding to examine at close range. The hand colouring gives the geography a second layer of definition without obscuring the printed work.
This impression retains its original hand colouring. The paper is in very good condition. The woodcut measures 31 × 36 cm and the sheet measures 35.5 × 43 cm.