Das Fünffte Buch

Title

Das Fünffte Buch

Description

Map shows the Caucasus with Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and partly Russia. The reverse depicts a nobleman of Sarmatia with a horse and a German description of their traditions.

ca. 1550

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münsters (1489-1552) is one of the famous cosmographers of the Renaissance. Its real importance in the field of cartography is based on its famous cosmography, which he published in 1544 with 24 double-sided maps (including Moscow and Transylvania). The material for this came largely from research and the collection of information from around 1528, which he initially only wanted to use for a description of Germany, but was now sufficient for a map of the entire world and ultimately led to a cosmography. He constantly tried to improve this work, i.e. to replace or add to maps. In the edition of 1550, only 14 maps were taken over from the earlier editions. The 52 maps printed in the text were also only partially based on the old maps. The great success of this cosmography was also based on the precise work of the woodcuts mostly by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Deutsch and David Kandel. It was the first scientific and at the same time generally understandable description of the knowledge of the world in German, in which the basics of history and geography, astronomy and natural sciences, regional and folklore were summarized according to the state of knowledge at that time. Cosmography is the science of describing the earth and the universe. Until the late Middle Ages, geography, geology and astronomy were also part of it. The first edition of the Cosmographia took place in 1544 in German, printed in Heinrich Petri's office in Basel. Heinrich Petri was a son from the first marriage of Münster's wife to the Basel printer Adam Petri. Over half of all editions up to 1628 were also published in German. However, the work has also been published in Latin, French, Czech and Italian. The English editions all comprised only a part of the complete work. Viktor Hantzsch identified a total of 46 editions in 1898 (German 27; Latin 8; French 3; Italian 3; Czech 1) that appeared from 1544 to 1650, while Karl Heinz Burmeister only had 36 (German 21; Latin 5; French 6; Italian 3; Czech 1) that appeared between 1544 and 1628. The first edition from 1544 was followed by the second edition in 1545, the third in 1546, the fourth edition in 1548 and the fifth edition in 1550, each supplemented by new reports and details, text images, city views and maps and revised altogether. Little has been known about who - apart from the book printers Heinrich Petri and Sebastian Henricpetri - were responsible for the new editions after Münster's death. The 1628 edition was edited and expanded by the Basel theologian Wolfgang Meyer. With Cosmographia, Sebastian Münster has published for the first time a joint work by learned historians and artists, by publishers, wood cutters and engravers. The numerous vedute are usually made as woodcuts. Sebastian Münster obtained his knowledge from the travel reports and stories of various scholars, geographers, cartographers and sea travelers. Long after his death, "Kosmographie" was still a popular work with large editions: 27 German, 8 Latin, 3 French, 4 English and even 1 Czech editions appeared. The last edition appeared in Basel in 1650.

Historical Description

At the end of the tenth century, Georgia was united in its "golden age". The longstanding dependence on the Byzantine Empire was shaken off. Under Davit the Builder and Queen Tamar, Georgia became the strongest power in Transcaucasia between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. This was followed by a Mongol invasion under Timur. In the 16th century, Georgia disintegrated into the kingdoms of Imeretia, Kakheti and Kartlia as well as five principalities under Ottoman and Iranian influence. In 1783, Eastern Georgia (Kartlia-Kakheti) concluded a protection treaty with Russia. In 1801, Kartli Kakheti was annexed by decree of the tsar and its royal house dethroned. The regions in the west of the country remained independent for another decade. It was not until 1810 that Russia conquered the Georgian kingdom of Imeretia. It took Russia another 54 years to gain complete control over western Georgia. The region of Guria was abolished in 1828, Mingrelia in 1857. The region of Svaneti was annexed in the Caucasian War between 1857 and 1859, the principality of Abkhazia in 1864. In the Russian Empire, the western part of Georgia belonged to the Kutaisi Governorate, the eastern part to the Tbilisi Governorate. After the October Revolution, Georgia declared itself independent and a democratic republic on May 26, 1918. In 1921, the Democratic Republic of Georgia was occupied by the Red Army and incorporated into the Soviet Union, which lasted until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. As part of the Soviet Union, Georgia experienced industrialization, Georgian agriculture specialized in the export of southern fruits and the republic became one of the country's most important tourist and vacation regions. In 1991, before the August coup in Moscow, which accelerated the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia declared itself independent once again. Wars of secession broke out in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. However, due to Russia's strong military presence, the Georgian government still has no control over parts of its territory. Georgia's first president after regaining independence, Swiad Gamsakhurdia, was replaced by a coup in early 1992. His successor was the former Georgian Communist Party leader and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.