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Description

Beautifully hand-colored example of Bunting's map of Europe.

This striking version of the map appears to be a larger and more finely engraved edition than those which appear in the usual Hanover and Magdeberg editions, with additional placenames and the date 1548 in the lower left corner. This could reflect ackowledgement of the first appearance of the Munster edition of Europe as a Queen in his Cosmographia, although we have yet to find an explanation of the annotation (C.P. 1548). There is also no text on the verso.

Protestant theologian Heinrich Bunting's map showing Europe as a queen is one of the most sought after anthropomorphic maps of the 16th Century. The depiction of Europe as a queen began in the 14th Century. Europe was named for princess Europa (Daughter of Phoenicia), who had been carried off and raped by Zeus. The earliest depiction of Europe as a woman is believed to be by the 14th Century Pavian Cleric Opicinus de Canistris for the papal court, then at Avignon. The woman represents the Mother Church, who is being seduced from the true path.

In 1537 the Tirolese cartographer Johann Putsch celebrated the Hapsburg rule over Europe by presenting a placid "Europa Regina" wearing Charles V's Spain as a crown and Ferdinand's Austria as a medal at her waist, representing the triumph of the Hapsburgs. The queen's crown (Spain), orb (Sicily), and heart (Bohemia), form a triangle that directs the viewer's eye away from eastern Europe toward the West. The British Isles are a shapeless blob perched near her shoulder. Her skirt is composed of the Baltics and Greece; Turkey and Russia are beneath her feet. Later editions of Europe as a queen were issued by Sebastian Münster, Heinrich Bunting, and Matthias Quad.

Condition Description
Minor loss at lower right corner, expertly reinstated, just affecting the lower corner neatline.
Heinrich Bunting Biography

Henrich Bunting was a Protestant theologian and teacher born in Hanover, in what is now Germany. He attended the University of Wittenberg and graduated in 1569. He then began work as a preacher but caused some controversy with his teachings; he was dismissed from appointments in both Lemgo and Goslar.

He is best known today for his book, Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae (Travel book through Holy Scripture), a travel collection and commentary of the geography of the Bible. The book provided the most complete summary of biblical geography then available and described the Holy Land by following the travels of various notable people from the Old and New Testaments. First published in Madgeburg in 1581, Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae was a very popular book for the time. Over 60 editions were published between 1581 and 1757.  

A particularly notable feature of the book were its many woodcut maps, many of them showing unique depictions of geographic features and continents. In addition to the conventional maps, the book also contained three figurative maps; the world depicted using a cloverleaf design (thought to possibly represent the Trinity with Jerusalem in the center), Europe in the form of a crowned and robed woman, and Asia as the winged horse Pegasus.