Tavola della oriental regione dell’Asia, che comprende l’estremeterre & regni di quella

Acquired From: Gowrie Galleries

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Very Good

Confirmed: 28/09/2024

Date Acquired: 9/12/2003

Dealers ID No.: M238/4 (STK 1412.01)

Description: Sebastian Münster was a German mapmaker, cosmographer and professor of Hebrew at the University of Basel. One of his notable works was a Latin edition of Claudius Ptolemys Geography, first published in Basel in 1540. This edition included twenty-seven Ptolemaic maps, alongside twenty-one modern maps, including the India Extrema, XIX, Nova Tabula (Far or Outermost India, View Record (#5)). Unlike his earlier 1538 map of Asia (View Record (#232)), this version incorporated more contemporary exploration and reduced reliance on Ptolemys traditional descriptions. It spans the Indian Ocean, extending from Arabia and India to Southeast and East Asia, and reaching as far north as China. nMünsters Geography was reprinted in several Latin editions including 1542, 1545, 1551 and 1552. Four years after the release of his Geography, Münster published Cosmographia: Beschreibung aller Länder (commonly known as Cosmographia universalis), a more expansive and comprehensive work incorporating broader geographical, historical, and cultural content. Initially published in German in 1544, it was later translated into Latin (1550 and French (1552). nFollowing Münsters death in 1552, his stepson, Henric Petri continued to publish editions of the Cosmographia until his own death in 1579. This included three Italian editions: one in Basel in 1558, another undated edition in Venice, possible 1571 and a third in Cologne in 1575. nThe 1558 Italian edition of Cosmographia includes this map titled Tavola della oriental regione dell'Asia, che comprende l'estremeterre & regni di quella, which corresponds to the India Extrema, XIX, Nova Tabula (View Record (#5)) found in Münster's earlier Geography. One notable feature of the map is the depiction of a cluster of islands off the coast of China labelled Archipelago of 7448 islands. This detail derives from Marco Polos account, as described in the 1532 edition of Johann Huttichs Novus orbis regionum (Regions of the New World). In his description of the islands near Zipangri (Japan), Polo mentioned 7,448 islands, a figure Münster incorporated into his cartography.nWhile largely influenced by Ptolemy, Münsters map integrates elements of recent Portuguese discoveries, highlighting key trading posts in the Indian Ocean such as Aden, Goa, and Calicutthe latter being Vasco da Gamas landing site in 1497. The prominence of the spice trade is evident in the inclusion of Moluca, a crucial commercial hub and a focal point of Spanish-Portuguese rivalry. Further west, Münster identified Taprobana (Sri Lanka) and Sumatra, and depicted Java as two separate islands: Java Minor and Java Major. nAdding a mythical touch, the map also features a sea monster and a mermaid-like creature.

First published: Münster, Sebastian Geographia universalis, vetus et nova complectens Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini enarrationis libros VIII, Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1540

Mapmaker: Münster, Sebastian (1488-1552)

Other states: First 1540 (View Record (#5))

Price: A1850 plus gst

Primary Category: Asia

Purchase Reference: Inv. 1993

Rarity: R3 Uncommon – dealers can usually obtain a copy

References: Parry, The Cartography of the East Indian Islands. pg 65, pl 3.8; nSuarez, Early Mapping of Southeast Asia, pg 127, pl. 2;nKarrow, Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and Their Maps, 58/119, pg 425; nDewez, Printed World III, map 19, pg 15. nHarold Ruland, A Survey of the Double-Page Maps in Thirty-Five Editions of the Comographia Universals 1544-1628 of Sebastian Münster and in His Editions of Ptolemys Geographia 1540-1552, Imago Mundi 16 (1962): 8497. nMatthew McLean, The Cosmographia of Sebastian Münster: Describing the World in the Reformation (Routledge, 2007).

Technique: Woodcut

This state: 1558, Eighth