Die Länder Asie nach ihrer gelegenheit biß in India werden in dieser Tafeln verzeichnet. [The Countries of Asia as Situated till India are Shown in this Map]

Description

hand-coloured wood engraving; verso: chapter title vignette: “India
neüw wie es zu unsern Zeiten erfaren unnd beschriben ist zü Landt und zü
Wasser / mit unzäligen Inseln Groβ und Klein / etc. ” [New India Presently
Collected and Described Lands and Waters with Countless Islands Large
and Small…].
A very important map for the Philippines from the “Cosmographia” (German edition),
published by Heinrich Petri in Basel. Münster created 3 firsts of great significance:
1) the first map to present Asia on its own; part of presenting each of the four known continents
(America, Africa, Asia and Europe separately in one publication.
2) the first map of a German cartographer to identify a Philippine Island: Puloan [Palawan]
3) the first description of the world in German language.
It had numerous editions in different languages including Latin, French, Italian, English, and even
Czech, making the Cosmographia one of the most successful and popular works of the 16th C.
It amassed 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), and
the many detailed maps. The last posthumous German edition was published 1628.