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Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was a cosmographer and professor of Hebrew who taught at Tübingen, Heidelberg, and Basel. He settled in the latter in 1529 and died there, of plague, in 1552. Münster made himself the center of a large network of scholars from whom he obtained geographic descriptions, maps, and directions.

As a young man, Münster joined the Franciscan order, in which he became a priest. He then studied geography at Tübingen, graduating in 1518. He moved to Basel, where he published a Hebrew grammar, one of the first books in Hebrew published in Germany. In 1521 Münster moved again, to Heidelberg, where he continued to publish Hebrew texts and the first German-produced books in Aramaic. After converting to Protestantism in 1529, he took over the chair of Hebrew at Basel, where he published his main Hebrew work, a two-volume Old Testament with a Latin translation.

Münster published his first known map, a map of Germany, in 1525. Three years later, he released a treatise on sundials. In 1540, he published Geographia universalis vetus et nova, an updated edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia. In addition to the Ptolemaic maps, Münster added 21 modern maps. One of Münster’s innovations was to include one map for each continent, a concept that would influence Ortelius and other early atlas makers. The Geographia was reprinted in 1542, 1545, and 1552.  

He is best known for his Cosmographia universalis, first published in 1544 and released in at least 35 editions by 1628. It was the first German-language description of the world and contained 471 woodcuts and 26 maps over six volumes. Many of the maps were taken from the Geographia and modified over time. The Cosmographia was widely used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The text, woodcuts, and maps all influenced geographical thought for generations.

Place/Date:
Basle / 1555
Size:
21.5 x 14 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
57814
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
76322
Place/Date:
Basel / 1560
Size:
8 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
102986
Place/Date:
Basel / 1560 circa
Size:
8 x 12 inches (sheet size)
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
75156
Place/Date:
Venice / 1545
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
82782
Place/Date:
Basle / 1550 circa
Size:
14.5 x 12 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
81290
Place/Date:
Basle / 1560
Size:
6 x 5.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
101319
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
77556
Place/Date:
Basel / 1628 circa
Size:
13 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
82525
Place/Date:
Basle / 1560 circa
Size:
13.5 x 9.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
26079
Place/Date:
Basel / 1554 circa
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
81282
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95910
Place/Date:
Basel / 1545
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95848
Place/Date:
Basel / 1550 circa
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95847
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95917
Place/Date:
London / 1598 circa
Size:
15 x 12.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
74642
Place/Date:
Basel / 1550 circa
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
91197
Place/Date:
Basle / 1552 circa
Size:
15 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94434
Place/Date:
Basel / 1552 circa
Size:
14 x 12 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
81273
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94609
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95913
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94639
Place/Date:
Basle / 1575 circa
Size:
15.5 x 9.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
87984
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
14 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
95914
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
15 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95908
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
96984
Place/Date:
Basel / 1554
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
81285
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94703
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94616

Archived

Place/Date:
Basle / 1555
Size:
21.5 x 14 inches
Condition:
Good
Stock#:
94392
Place/Date:
Basel / 1590 circa
Size:
14 x 12.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
102113
Place/Date:
Basle / 1545
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
74886
Place/Date:
Basel / 1545
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
86021
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
98106
Place/Date:
Basle / 1544 circa
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95772
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95905
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
97003
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94646
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
71170
Place/Date:
Basel / 1550
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches (including text)
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
78339
Place/Date:
Basel / 1570 circa
Size:
6.5 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
79363
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94630
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95916
Place/Date:
Basle / 1545
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
76188
Place/Date:
Basle / 1552
Size:
15 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
75746
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95906
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94643
Place/Date:
Basel / 1545 circa
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95779
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
86475
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94632
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94623
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
96982
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94615
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95915
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
96997
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
15 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94629
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
96985
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
97004
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94640
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94624
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
14 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94644
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94605
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94612
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
15 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94617
Place/Date:
Venice / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94628