Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Lettera Dedicatoria all'Imperatore Carlo V - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the introductory sections of the 1550 Latin edition of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia universalis, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri. The front of the page hosts the solemn dedicatory letter titled Invictissimo Imperatori, Caesari Carolo, huius nominis V. Pio, Felici, Augusto, expressly addressed by Münster to the powerful Emperor Charles V of the House of Habsburg. The Latin text opens by celebrating the universal value of historiography and geography as fundamental tools for preserving the memory of the great civilizations of the past, citing the wisdom of the Egyptians, the Jews, the Greeks, and the majesty of the Roman Empire. The visual composition of the front is enriched by a refined initial letter “A” woodcut (Ametsi à multis...), richly decorated with putti and Renaissance geometric motifs. Of extraordinary collectible interest is the presence of ancient handwritten ink annotations on the upper part (Liber Monasterii...), bearing the historical date of 1593, which attest to the book’s ancient provenance from a monastic library of the era. Turning the page, the back continues the development of the introductory essay with the title Praefatio ad Invictissimum. The Latin text unfolds as a dense and erudite philosophical and historiographical treatise on the evolution of the ancient and modern world. Münster draws parallels between the customs and military exploits of the Greeks, the Italians, the Spaniards, the French, and the Germans, analyzing how the use of letters, sciences, and culture allowed these nations to emerge from their original barbarism and to establish solid governments based on laws. The preface introduces the methodological motivations and the intellectual labors that guided the author in composing the 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 shifts of the peoples of the Earth through the centuries.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
Will be shipped by courier