[16th c. book]. MUNSTER (Sebastian). Cosmographiae universal - Lot 18

[16th c. book]. MUNSTER (Sebastian). Cosmographiae universalis lib. VI. Basilea, Heinrich Petri, 1554 (September). A large folio volume (335 x 215 mm), contemporary full burgundy morocco, 4-nerved spine decorated with caissons with standing crowned lion and fleur-de-lys, heraldic figure on upper cover, gilded frieze and title on spine, 2 clasps (binding flaws including restored jaws, rubbing and damage to edges, 2 maps lacking (nos. 1 & 2), flaws including title-frontis. restored, tiny wormholes sometimes affecting contents notably maps no. 3-8, and p. 970-1132 in lower margin reach advertisements and a woodcut p. 1002, short lat. margin on engraving p. 662-663, stains p. 674-675, folded views browned and creased). Second Latin edition of the famous work by Münster, considered one of the most famous cosmographers of the Renaissance. The success of this work is due in part to its fine engravings, by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch and David Kandel. It consists of a woodcut frontispiece title with a portrait of Münster on the reverse, 12 preliminary leaves, 12 double-page maps (out of 14 maps) including map 14 Carte des nouvelles îles, which are called occidentales and indiennes according to various criteria, and 1162 pages of text richly illustrated with numerous woodcut vignettes in the text, including 37 double-page views of emblematic cities such as Trier, Paris, Geneva, Rome, Venice, Florence, Basel, Colmar, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Cologne, Choures, Augsburg, Heidelberg, Frisingue, Frankfurt am Main and Vienna... Collation: [12] f. (including title-frontis.), 12 double-page maps (of 14; num. 3-14), 1162-[16] p. (distributed throughout the volume), [1] f. (colophon on recto and typo. mark on verso). (Sabin 51381).