Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Historia de Polonia / Albertus dux Prussiae - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the inner sections of the third book in the Latin edition of 1550 of Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia universalis, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri. The front of the page hosts the solemn chorographic section titled LIBER III, expressly dedicated by Münster to the description of the Historia de Polonia. The Latin text opens by celebrating the first mediation of the emperor Sigismund to establish peace between Poland and the Teutonic Order, then moves to the detailed chronicle of the Polish–Prussian wars that led to the bloody sieges of historical strongholds such as Danzig, Thorn, and the majestic fortress of Marienburg, and concluding with the description of the succession of the Grand Masters of the Order up to the figure of Albert of Brandenburg. The visual composition of the front is enriched by an important woodcut portraying the face of Albert, Duke of Prussia, richly decorated in the Renaissance geometric style and defined in the most significant passages. Of extraordinary collectible interest is the presence of ancient notes and typographic glosses printed in the outer margins of the sheet (Facies Alberti ducis Prussiae, Magister superat regem), which testify to the contemporary critical apparatus of the work aimed at highlighting the most important historical passages.
Turning the page, the back continues the development of the historical chronicle with the heading DE GERMANIA containing the historical chapters Verba Conventionis and Epilogus totius historiae. The Latin text unfolds as a dense and scholarly philosophical and historiographical dissertation on the concord treaties concluded between Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, the Dukes of Silesia, and the King of Poland Sigismund for the stability of the Prussian duchy. Münster places in parallel the customs, feudal agreements, and diplomatic undertakings of the historical transition of 1525, analyzing how the use of laws and formal treaties allowed these nations to define the borders of their territories and to establish solid governments based on law. The preface introduces the methodological motivations that guided the author in writing the Cosmographia, understood as a monumental work aimed at offering rulers and scholars of the 16th century a universal guide to understand the morality, geography, and changes of the peoples of the Earth through the centuries.
Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
Will be shipped by courier