Sebastian Munster (1489 - 1552)

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After Waldseemuller three names dominated cartography in the 16th century; Mercator, Ortelius & Munster, and of these three Munster probably had the widest influence in spreading geographical knowledge throughout Europe in the middle years of the century. His Cosmographica, issued in 1544, contained not only the latest views of many well known cities, but included an encyclopedic amount of detail about the known – and unknown – world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time, going through nearly forty editions in six languages.

An eminent German mathematician and linguist, Munster became professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg and later at Basle, where he settled in 1529. In 1528, following his first mapping of Germany, he appealed to German scholars to send him descriptions, so that all Germany with its villages, towns, trades etc. may be seen in a `mirror`, even going so far as to give instructions on how they should map their own localities. The response was far greater than expected and much information was sent by foreigners as well as Germans so that, eventually, he was able to include many up-to-date, if not very accurate, maps in his atlases. He was the first to provide a separate map of each of the four known continents and the first separately printed map of England. His maps, printed from woodblocks, are now greatly valued by collectors. His two major works, the Geographia and Cosmographia were published in Basle by his sep-son, Henri Petri, who continued to issue many editions after Munsters death of the plague in 1552.

Munster’s dominance of the cartographic market was relatively short lived once Ortelius produced his “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum” in 1570. Munster's somewhat naive engravings of the world, continents and countries were revised and re-published by Sebastian Petri with more sophisticated maps in 1588, using the Ortelius Atlas as a guide. In Munsters defense though, he had little in the way of examples or reference to help produce what was the first comprehensive atlas of the known world.

Sebastian Munster'sGeographia (first published in 1540) and his later Cosmographia (first published in 1544) were cartographic landmarks. TheGeographia included not only Ptolemaic maps, but also a number of landmark modern maps, including the first separate maps of the 4 continents, the first map of England and the earliest obtainable map of Scandinavia. The Cosmographia was the earliest German description of the world and a major work in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared between 1544 and 1628.   

Munster dominated cartographic publication during the mid-16th Century and is generally regarded as one of the important map makers of the 16th Century. Originally a scholar studying Hebrew, Greek and mathematics, Munster (1489-1552) eventually specialised in mathematical geography and cartography. He is best known for his edition of the Geographia, a translation of Ptolemy's landmark geographical text. Munster's version is illustrated with maps based on Ptolemy's calculations, but also, in recognition of the increased geographical awareness of the period, contains a section of modern maps including the first set of maps of each continent. In the first edition of the Geographia, Munster included twenty-seven ancient Ptolemaic maps and twenty-one modern maps, printed from woodblocks. Subsequent editions of the Cosmographia much expanded his Geographia and contained a vast number of maps and plans.