Riga by Munster (6 results)

10 x 16 cm (image). Woodcut on full folio page with French text. Excellent condition. Riga, the capital of Latvia, was officially founded in 1201. Early 16th century original woodcut, more than 425 years old.

Condition: Very Good. A fine view of Riga, Latvia, from the late 16th century. German text on verso. Sebastian Münster (1488 ? 1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and a Christian Hebraist scholar. His work, the Cosmographia from 1544, was the earliest German description of the world., Image Size : 100x155 (mm), 3.94x6.10 (Inches), Platemark Size : , Paper Size : 365x226 (mm), 14.37x8.90 (Inches), Hand Colored, Wood Engraving.

Condition: Very good. A 16th century panoramic view of Riga, capital of Latvia.The Cosmographia by Sebastian Münster (1488 ? 1552) from 1544 is the earliest German description of the world. It had numerous editions in different languages including Latin, French (translated by François de Belleforest), Italian, English, and even Czech. The last German edition was published in 1628, long after his death. The Cosmographia was one of the most successful and popular books of the 16th century. It passed through 24 editions in 100 years. This success was due to the fascinating woodcuts (some by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, and David Kandel). It was most important in reviving geography in 16th century Europe.German Text, Size : 95x155 (mm), 3.75x6.125 (Inches), Hand Colored.

Technic: Woodcut, colorit: original colored, condition: Stain at the outer margin, size (in cm): 25,5 x 16 cm, Map showing the city of Riga on the Daugava River with two coat of arms illustrations and a title banner in the sky. Back side with text.

@ Type / Typ: rycina; @ Reference / Haslo: Ryga / R?ga / Riga; @ Administrative affiliation / Przyn. adm.: Kresy - Lotwa; @ Signature / Sygnatura: Rycina niesygnowana; @ Technique / Technika: drzeworyt langowy na papierze; @ Format: 102x158 mm (kompozycja); 294x206 mm (karta); @ Origin / Pochodzenie: Z: Sebastian Münster: Cosmographia, z jednego z lacinskich wydan okolo polowy XVI wieku; @ Information about an Author / Inf o autorze: Sebastian Münster (20.01.1488 Ingelheim am Rheim - 26.05.1552 Bazylea) niemiecki geograf, kartograf i hebraista, zwiazany przede wszystkim z uniwersytetem w Bazylei, jego glownym dzielem byla "Cosmographia. Beschreibüng aller Länder." wydane w 1544 z drzeworytniczymi mapami i widokami miast, liczne pozniejsze wydania zmienione i uzupelnione w kilku jezykach po XVII wiek; @ Literature / Literatura: Zob. Portrety miast na monetach, medalach i rycinach. Widoki miast europejskich od starozytnosci po wiek XIX. [Wystawa], Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie. Krakow: Muzeum Narodowe, [czerwiec-sierpien] 2000 s. 90 z ilustracja i opis poz. 256; @ Comments / Uwagi: Zachowana cala karta; @ Thematic categories / Kategorie tematyczne: architektura panoramy / Architektur Panoramas / Panorama / architecture panoramas / panorama / Holzschnitt / woodcut; Pozycja w ladnym stanie, brzegi kart postrzepione (karta po konserwacji).

Good. Minor soiling. Trimmed; image complete but separated from text. Size 4 x 6.25 Inches. This is the 1550 / 1572 Sebastian Münster woodcut view of Riga, Latvia - the earliest printed image of that city and one of the only glimpses of the city as it was prior to the great fire that destroyed the city in 1547. It represents the standard view of the city for about a century. A Closer Look This woodcut depicts the walled city viewed from the southwest across the Daugava River, also known as the Western Dvina, or the Duna, as here. The cardinal directions are labeled. The spires of Riga's great churches, castle, and city hall are named. The river is busy with ships and boats, reflecting the importance of Riga and the river as a conduit of trade. The city's name is displayed on a banner above the view, flanked by the city's lesser and greater coats of arms. A Glimpse of the Lost Past The woodcut presents us with an image of the city that was lost even as it was published. Münster's text in the 1550 edition translates an explanation: We have drawn here, from the report of Johannes Leporicidae, the face of the city of Riga, such as it was before the terrible conflagration which happened to it last year, when most of the houses around the castle were set on fire, and the fire progressed to the cathedral as well, and all the houses from the episcopal court to the tower called Schalthurn, in which is preserved the gunpowder. Half of the city would then have fallen, if the fire had also destroyed the tower mentioned, which the master of powder asserted was in danger from the smoke. The fire destroyed the 13th-century cathedral pictured in the view (which contained the largest pipe organ ever built.) Keeping A Masterpiece Up-To-Date Münster's Cosmographia was first printed in 1544. It was an ambitious attempt at describing, as thoroughly as possible in a single volume, the whole of creation. Plainly, Münster did not consider the work complete with the first edition, and thereafter, the work was assiduously expanded. The most dramatically changed edition, printed in 1550, included many city views interspersed throughout the work. Most of the woodcut artists, or formschneiders , who produced the images for the book did not sign their work, and so the artist behind this view is lost to us. Münster credited this view, and the historical description accompanying it, to one Johannes Leporicidae - one of Münster's humanist correspondents ( a man very experienced in many things and regions ) whose identity, masked by the Latinization of his name, remains obscure to us. Publication History and Census This woodcut was executed by an anonymous formschneider for inclusion in the 1550 edition of Münster's Cosmographia , and remained in every edition to 1628. This example conforms typographically with the 1572 Latin text edition (all earlier Latin editions appear on page 788, whereas the 1572 was on page 938 as here.) In its many editions, the book is well represented in institutional collections. This image is cataloged separately seventeen times in OCLC and appears on the market from time to time. References: OCLC 163135544.