Cosmographia Universalis Sebastian Münster Florenz Firenze Florence XVI City View Engraving

Panoramic view of the city of Florence in Italy (Tuscany). Double-format sheet pages 527, 528, 529 and 530 of the "Cosmographia Universalis". Format: 37.4 x 32.5 cm (cut sheets) Double plate extracted from the Cosmographia Universalis, Sebastian Münster, 16th-century Rhineland humanist In 1544, the humanist Sebastien Münster published a work that would mark the 16th century: the Cosmographia Universalis. The author declares in the preamble that his work is the description of the world, as it is perceived in the Rhineland area of the 16th century. The precursor to Diderot's encyclopedia, this cosmography brings together geographical, genealogical, zoological and botanical data, with history as its common thread. The information collected covers Europe, Asia, Africa and the new continent of America. This work, which enjoyed immense success, was the subject of numerous editions, probably no fewer than 49 in various languages: Latin, German, French, Italian, English, Czech. All these editions are very uneven in terms of their content. Some texts were expanded, others had plates removed. During the 16th century, cartography was in full renaissance. Many maps were published. Those of Sebastian Münster, published in his cosmography, are most often cited as references. The success of this encyclopedia is certainly closely linked to the insertion of illustrations, some of which were produced by the greatest Rhenish artists of his time. Among these engravers were Rudolf Manuel Deutsch, G. Hofreuter, Holbein the Younger, and David Kandel.