Das Ander Buch / Der Insel Ilva oder Elba Beschreibung und Gelegenheit dem Herzog von Florentz z gehörig so Anno 1555 von dem Türcken ist beschediget

Title

Das Ander Buch / Der Insel Ilva oder Elba Beschreibung und Gelegenheit dem Herzog von Florentz z gehörig so Anno 1555 von dem Türcken ist beschediget

Description

Map shows the Italian island of Elba in 1555 with the towns of Capoliveri, Marciana, "Senosa", "Feralo", "Wacht", "S Adrian" and the fortress Foret Falcone. On the reverse the illustration of the "Warhaffte abcontrafactur der Insel Serbe sampt ihrer fruchtbarkeit."

ca. 1560

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

The oldest people known by name who lived on the island of Elba were the Ilvates, a tribe of Ligurian origin. From about 750 BC, Elba was under the increasing influence of the Etruscans, who were interested in the extensive iron ore deposits. In 246 BC, the Romans conquered the island, which belonged to the Roman Empire or its successor empires for about 800 years. The Romans named the island Ilva. At the end of the 6th century the Longobards arrived on Elba. Their presence is evidenced by place names of Longobard origin. In 1015, the Pope commissioned the emerging naval power of Pisa to protect Elba from Saracen attacks. In the 13th century Elba was repeatedly attacked by Genoa, Pisa's greatest rival. In 1399 the then ruler of Pisa Gherardo Appiano sold the Pisan state to the Duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Visconti, but in the process retained Piombino, the island of Elba and other, smaller territories for himself. In 1593 Piombino was elevated to a principality. The island of Elba was temporarily occupied by Great Britain in connection with the Revolutionary Wars and was granted to France in 1802. In the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1814, the island was transferred as a sovereign principality to Napoleon, who abdicated as Emperor of the French on the same day. Napoleon landed on Elba on May 4, 1814, and undertook extensive reforms here as ruler over a population of about 10,000. As early as February 1815, however, he fled again from his exile on the island of Elba and returned to France. At the Congress of Vienna, Elba was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and, together with it, became part of the united Kingdom of Italy in 1860.