Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis...

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the inner sections of the fifth book in the Latin edition of 1550 of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia universalis, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri. The obverse of the page hosts the solemn chorographic section titled LIBER V, expressly dedicated by Münster to the description of the Holy Land under the chapter CHRISTIANI FACIVNT REGEM, INSTITVNT que regnum in terra sancta (Cap. XXXVIII). The Latin text opens with a celebration of the historic capture of Jerusalem in 1099 and the election of the pious count Godfrey of Bouillon, who wisely refused to crown himself with a golden crown where Christ had worn a crown of thorns, then proceeds to the detailed military chronicle of the subsequent rulers Baldwin I and Baldwin II, who expanded the crusader kingdom by conquering Caesarea, Acre, and Tolomaide with aid from Genoese and Venetian fleets, concluding with an accurate ramified genealogical table of the kings and counts of Jerusalem down to the lineage of Frederick, king of Sicily. The visual composition of the front is enhanced by a fine animated woodcut illustrating the solemn portrait of a Crusader knight in armor, shown standing and gripping the shield and the symbolic sword of the kingdom’s defensive power. Of extraordinary collectible interest is the presence of ancient marginal notes printed contemporaneously (Balduinus rex pugnauit) that attest to the critical apparatus of the work aimed at highlighting the most significant dynastic and historical passages. Turning the page, the reverse continues the development of the historical chronicle with the heading DE TERRA SANCTA containing the chorographic chapters QVID CONTIGERIT SVB BALDVINO REGE quintus (Cap. XXXIX) and QVAE GESTA SINT SVB ALMERICO SEXTO rege (Cap. XL). The Latin text unfolds as a dense and erudite philosophical and historiographical discourse on the complex political vicissitudes and the incessant military campaigns among the Principality of Antioch, the forces of the powerful sultan Nur ad-Din, and the Christian kingdoms, describing the struggles for strategic control of Ascalon, King Almeric’s punitive expedition into the territories of Egypt along the Nile, and subsequent fragile sworn truces with the Muslim rulers. Münster parallels the customs, the martial exertions, and the diplomatic exploits that also involved the masters of the Hospitaller and Templar orders, analyzing how the use of treaties, formal letters, and the alternating fates of battles shaped the Levantine domains of the sixteenth century. The page is soberly enriched by important typographic marginal glosses (Antiochia expugnatur, Aegyptus tributaria Christianis, Foederis uiolatio, multorum malorum causa). The Preface introduces the methodological motivations that guided the author in writing Cosmographia, understood as a monumental work aimed at offering rulers and scholars of the sixteenth century a universal guide to understanding the morals, geography, and changes of the peoples of the Earth through the ages. Dimensions 30 x 20 cm Will be shipped by courier

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