Hereditas Antikvárium

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14. Könyvárverés

Paris, 1575. Chez Michel Sonnius.
A rare woodcut depicting the mythical sea- and terrestrial monsters of the northern territories emerged as one of the most spectacular illustrations in François de Belleforest’s series “La cosmographie universelle de tout le monde”. The visual representation of the marine animals – some of which exist in real life – can be traced back to Olaus Magnus’ map of Scandinavia from 1539. The upper part of the engraving shows the terrestrial fauna, including the reindeer, bear, snake, and a small-sized predator resembling a weasel with the figures of „Carta Marina” as well. With explanatory text in French on the back.
The author was a writer, poet, and translator, serving as the royal historian from 1568. His main work – which had only one edition – is the French adaptation of Sebastian Münster’s cosmography published in Basel. Although the monumental undertaking utilised Münster’s representations, the engraved material was updated several times, and parts of the map were replaced with more modern ones. The textual content was also supplemented with information from Antoine du Pinet’s work „Plantz, Portraits et Descriptions de plusieurs villes et fortresses tant de l’Europe,” and particular research was conducted pertaining to the publication. The structure of the sections corresponding to the territories was standardised, ensuring that the description of each locality covers the etymology of the place names, topography, customs, and local governance.
Dimensions: 345 x 435 mm. Fine, clear copy.