Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Città di Laufenburg e Monastero di Säckingen - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page taken from the Latin edition of 1550 of Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia universalis, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri and part of Liber III dedicated to Germany. The text and the detailed period woodcut describe anthropogeography and the historical and economic institutions that arose along the upper course of the Rhine. The narrative touches on the affairs of the fortress of Hohentwiel (Summum Duellium, commonly Hohen Thiel, Cap. CCLII) and the designation of Klettgau (Pagus Latobricus, commonly Landgraueschafft Kleckgöuu, Cap. CCLIII), before concentrating on the town of Laufenburg (Lauffenberg, Cap. CCLV). The text describes the peculiar formation of the village, divided in two parts by the course of the Rhine, and the presence of a sharp narrowing among the rocks where the riverbed becomes so narrow as to permit the throwing of a stone from one bank to the other. This evocative setting is illustrated by a beautiful woodcut that shows the fortified view of Laufenburg and its wooden covered bridge that unites the two banks of the Rhine. The chronicle continues by examining the nearby village and the Monastery of Säckingen (Seckingen, Cap. CCLVI), one of the oldest monastic institutions in the region founded by Saint Fridolin (S. Fridolinus) in the era of the Frankish king Clodoveo, detailing the chronology of its noble abbesses (Abbatisse Seckingenses) and the rich deposits of iron mines (Ferri minere) in the nearby Fricktal valley.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
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