Das Engelland mit dem Anstossenden Reich Schottland so vor zeiten Albion und Britannia...

Early, unusual woodcut map of England, oriented to the East. Sebastian Munster's map was the first separately printed map of England and a landmark in the history of British maps. The map represents a major improvement over previous maps of the region and mentioned many cities for the first time. At the upper left is a key to the Latin and English place names. The flags of England and Scotland are shown. The title on verso is surrounded by a beautiful woodcut border. From the German edition of Sebastian Münster's Cosmography, titled Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Länder, published 1578 by Heinrich Petri in Basel. The woodblock of this map was used first in Münster's Geographia Universalis in 1540.

Somewhat browned and 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.