[Nile River delta] / Bacchus

Early woodcut map of the Nile River delta by Sebastian Münster. Shows the Mediterranean coast with parts of the Gulf of Suez. With Alexandria in the West, Cairo with the Pyramids of Giza in the centre and the Sinai Peninsula in the east. On verso description of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon with a woodcut of Bacchus. From the German edition of Sebastian Münster's Cosmography, titled Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Länder, published 1550 by Heinrich Petri in Basel.

Somewhat stained. Very good condition.

Sebastian Münster was born 1489 in Ingelheim (Pfalz). First being a Franciscan, he became Professor for Theology, Hebrew and Mathematics after he converted to Protestantism in 1529. He became one of the most influencing geographers of the sixteenth century. His Cosmographia, published in 1544, spread geographical knowledge wide over Europe. It was issued in nearly 40 editions and 6 languages. Münster was the first cartographer publishing each known continent on a separate map. His second important work was the Geographia, a new edition of Ptolemys Geographia. He died May 1552 in Basel on Black Death.