SEBASTIAN MüNSTER

'Sebastian Münster' (1488 – 1552), was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and a Hebrew scholar.
Münster was born at Ingelheim near Mainz. He was appointed to the University of Basel in 1527. As Professor of Hebrew, he edited the Hebrew Bible, accompanied by a Latin translation.
His work, the ''Cosmographia'' from 1544 was the earliest German description of the world. It had numerous editions in different languages including Latin, French (translated by François de Belleforest), Italian, English, and even Czech. The last German edition was published in 1628, long after his death. The ''Cosmographia'' was one of the most successful and popular books of the 16th century. It passed through 24 editions in 100 years.[1]This success was due to the fascinating woodcuts (some by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, and David Kandel). It was most important in reviving geography in 16th century Europe.
In 1540 he published a Latin edition of Ptolemy's ''Geographia'' with illustrations. The 1550 edition contains cities, portraits, and costumes. These editions, printed in Germany, are the most valued of the ''Cosmographias''.
Münster also wrote the ''Dictionarium trilingue'' in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and ''Mappa Europae'' (map of Europe) in 1536. He died at Basel.
He was pictured on the old 100 DM banknotes that were replaced at the beginning of the 1990s.

Contents

Content of the 1544-1598 Editions

Editions of Cosmographia

Content of the 1544-1598 Editions

Book I -
Astronomy, Mathematics, Physical Geography, Cartography
Book II -
England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Savoy, Trier, Italy
Book III -
Germany, Alsace, Switzerland, Austria, Carniola, Istria, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Pomerania, Prussia, Livland
Book IV -
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Walachia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey
Book V -
Asia Minor, Cyprus, Armenia, Palestine, Arabia, Persia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Scythia, Tartary, India, Ceylon, Burma, China, East Indies, Madagascar, Zanzibar, America
Book VI -
Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, South Africa, East Africa

Editions of Cosmographia

German
1544, 1546, 1548, 1550, 1553, 1556, 1558, 1561, 1564, 1567, 1569, 1572, 1574, 1578, 1588, 1592, 1598, 1614, 1628
Latin
1550, 1552, 1554, 1559, 1572
French
1552, 1556, 1560, 1565, 1568, 1575
Italian
1558, 1575
Czech
1554

'External link'
Sebastian Münster, ''La Cosmographie universelle'' online excerpts
His Map of Asia (1544 AD), ''Tabula orientalis regionis, Asiae scilicet extremas complectens terras & regna''
''Historic Cities : Sebastian Münster''