Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Storia d'Egitto, Cleopatra e i Sultani - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the inner sections of the sixth book of 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 VI. (page 1299), expressly dedicated by Münster to the description of Egypt and the great kingdoms of the African continent.

The Latin text unfolds as a dense and erudite historical and dynastic dissertation that recounts the fortunes of the Ptolemaic rulers, focusing in particular on the figure of Cleopatra.

Münster describes with profound solemnity the famous Alexandrian Library (Alexandrina bibliotheca), the tense geopolitical relations with the Roman Empire, the alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and the subsequent, dramatic suicide of the queen of Egypt in her tomb by means of a bitter poison.

The visual composition of the front is magnificently enriched by a fine woodcut that depicts Queen Cleopatra in lavish Renaissance attire as she brings snakes to her chest and arms, and is accompanied by contemporaneous marginal glosses printed in period (Alexandrina bibliotheca, Cleopatra impudica mulier, Psylli) guiding the scholar through the tumultuous events of this turbulent chapter in ancient history.

Turning the page, the back (page 1300) continues the development of the territorial chronicle with the heading DE AFRICAE REGIONIBVS, containing the chorographic chapters titled AEGYPTVS SVLTANOS HABVIT NOVISSImos pro regibus (Cap. XX), DE CIVITATIBVS AEGYPTTI (Cap. XXI), HELIOPOLIS (Cap. XXII) and MEMPHIS, BABYLON, CAYRVM (Cap. XXIII).

The Latin text develops as a learned historiographical dissertation centered on the subsequent domination of the Sultans of Egypt and on submission to the power of the Ottoman Emperor Selim, before turning to the topographical analysis of the ancient Egyptian cities of Thebes and Heliopolis.

Münster examines in detail the privileges of these lands, invoking the famous testimony of Dionysius the Areopagite on the prodigious solar eclipse that occurred during the Passion of Christ, before delving into the description of the great pyramids of Memphis.

The page is solemnly enriched by typographic marginal notes (Decem & octo millia ciuitatum, Dionysius Areopagita, Memphis, Babylon, Cayrum) and closes with the author's historiographical notes, whose monumental work is aimed at offering 16th‑century scholars a universal guide to understanding the morals, geography, and changes of the peoples of the Earth through the ages.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
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