Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account

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 / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94608
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94609
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94616
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94618
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94625
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94639
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94640
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#:
95910
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95913
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
14 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
95914
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95917
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
96564
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94703
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
96984
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
95794
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
71170
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
77556
Place/Date:
Basle / 1542
Size:
13.5 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
86489
Place/Date:
Venice / 1545
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
82782
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#:
81292
Place/Date:
Basle / 1550 circa
Size:
14.5 x 12 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
81290
Place/Date:
Basle / 1550 circa
Size:
13.75 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
95795
Place/Date:
Basle / 1550
Size:
7 x 10 inches Including Text
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
77251
Place/Date:
Basel / 1550
Size:
15 x 10 inches Including Text
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
77299
Place/Date:
Basel / 1550 circa
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
77668
Place/Date:
Basle / 1550 circa
Size:
14.8 x 10.8 inches (including text)
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
77890
Place/Date:
Basle / 1550 circa
Size:
6 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
78197

Archived

Place/Date:
Basle / 1532
Size:
21.5 x 14 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
30390
Place/Date:
Basel / 1532
Size:
22 x 14.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
48989
Place/Date:
Basle / 1532
Size:
21.5 x 14 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
59063
Place/Date:
Basle / 1532
Size:
21.5 x 14.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
60824
Place/Date:
Basle / 1537 circa
Size:
21.5 x 14 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
52543
Place/Date:
Basel / 1538 (1580)
Size:
31.25 x 15.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
91019
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
10 x 14 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
9114
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540 circa
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
19223
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
19226
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
20001
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG-
Stock#:
20638
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
23008
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
23697
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
15 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
33181gm
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
34956
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
36516
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540 circa
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
37096
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
51940
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
53730
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
53743
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
53763
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540 (1542)
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
55129
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
15 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
54884
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
60649
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
64284
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
66333
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
72797
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
73512
Place/Date:
Venice / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
74964
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
15 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
86089
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94605
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94606
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94607
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94611
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94612
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
15 x 11 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94613
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
94615
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
15 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94617
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94623
Place/Date:
Basel / 1540
Size:
14 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94624
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94627
Place/Date:
Venice / 1540
Size:
13.5 x 10.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94628
Place/Date:
Basle / 1540
Size:
15 x 11.5 inches
Condition:
VG+
Stock#:
94629