• Title : Misena Hermundurorum Urbs
• Ref #:  20222
• Size: 17in x 15in (435mm x 380mm)
• Date : 1558
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This fine wood-blocked engraved hand coloured original antique print a view of the German city of Meissen in Saxonia, Germany(with a view of the city of Dresden on the verso) was engraved in 1558 - date is engraved at the bottom of the image - byHiob Magdeburg and was published in the 1588 edition of Sebastian MunstersCosmographia published by Sebastian Petri, Basle.

Sebastian Petri re-release of Cosomgraphiain 1588 produced some fine woodcut maps in the "copperplate style". The maps in this release were more  sophisticated than with earlier publications of Cosomgraphia and were based on the 1570 release of Abraham Ortelius monumental work Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.

Hiob Magdeburg (1518 - 1595) was a German theologian, educator, cartographer and humanist of the Reformation period. Magdeburg important legacy is not of a theological or educational nature, but cartographic specifically of the region of Saxony, including Meissen.

Background: For a variety of reasons town plans were comparatively latecomers in the long history of cartography. Few cities in Europe in the middle ages had more than 20,00 inhabitants and even London in the late Elizabethan period had only 100-150,000 people which in itself was probably 10 times that of any other English city. The Nuremberg Chronicle in 1493 included one of the first town views of Jerusalem, thereafter, for most of the sixteenth century, German cartographers led the way in producing town plans in a modern sense. In 1544 Sebastian Munster issued in Basle his Cosmographia containing roughly sixty-six plans and views, some in the plan form, but many in the old panorama or birds eye view. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Light and stable
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Later
Colors used: - Blue, green, red, brown
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 17in x 15in (435mm x 380mm)
Margins: - Min ½in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - 9cm repair to left and right margins of image, no loss
Plate area: - 9cm repair to left and right of image, no loss
Verso: - 9cm repair to left and right of verso, no loss