Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Cannibali / Spiedo Umano - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page taken from the 1550 Latin edition of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia universalis, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri and dedicated to the great transoceanic geographical discoveries. The front of the page, numbered 1261, continues the description of the island of Hispaniola (Hispana insula) before delving into the exploration of the customs of the peoples encountered with the famous and dramatic chapter Cannibals Anthropophagi (Cap. CLVII). The Latin text describes the astonishment of European navigators in the face of anthropophagic tribes, who consumed smoked and preserved human flesh (Corpora humana fumantur). The visual composition of the front is enriched by a famous and stark woodcut that shows a cannibal butcher in the act of severing a human body hanging from a trunk. In the lower part, the chapter De moribus habitatorum Hispane (Cap. CLVIII) delves into daily life, the diet based on bread-making from roots (Panis ex radicibus) and the extraordinary abundance of gold and exotic parrots, illustrated in a second woodcut that shows the birds resting among the island’s vegetation. Turning the page, the back, numbered 1262 (beneath the header De terris Asiae maioris, where Münster inserted the lands initially regarded as extensions of Asia), houses the chapter Columbus inventis novis insulis redit in Hispaniam, ac classe parata revertitur ad Canibalos (Cap. CLIX). The text recounts the deeds of Christopher Columbus, solemnly defined as “Admiral” (Columbus appellatur Admirans), narrating his triumphant return to Spain, the preparation of a new great fleet, and the subsequent expedition that led him to discover the island of Dominica (Dominica insula) and to again confront the lands of the Caribbean. A striking woodcut placed at the center of the page illustrates the architecture of the indigenous villages through the depiction of their characteristic huts and pyramidal houses (Domus pyramidales), interwoven with wooden posts and palm leaves. The page finally concludes by introducing the chapter Plurimas praeteriit Admirans insulas, et quid suis passim acciderit (Cap. CLX), which documents the continuation of Columbus’s voyage among the minor islands and the first dramatic tensions arising in the early colonial settlements.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
Will be shipped by courier