Lot 08

Johannes Honter (1498 - 1549) PRAGUE RENAISSANCE COSMOGRAPHY

Johannes Honter (1498-1549), a Transylvanian humanist, Protestant theologian and reformer, studied at the universities of Vienna and Krakow. He has published his main work in several cities, the Prague edition is an extremely rare gem of Bohemian book printing. One-page woodcuts depict the following topics: the armillary sphere, the Ptolemaic geocentric concept of the planetary system, and a schematic map of the world in the form of a hemisphere. The following is an important two-leaf map of the world of Universalis cosmographia in a cordial form of representation, where the name "America" ​​is probably shown for the first time in the Czech provenance of maps. The map, with its name and method of cartographic projection, refers to a large-format map of Martin Waldseemüller from 1507, where the name America is used for the first time. This legendary map is preserved in a single copy, now in the Library of Congress. On Honter's map, the name is used only for the southern part of the continent; Also included are two-page maps of the same size 19 x 14 cm in the order Hispania, Gallia, Germania, Polonia, Hungary, Graecia, Judaea, Asia minor, Asia major, Africa (with the sources of the Nile) and at the end one-page Sicilia 14 x 9.5 cm. The text and descriptions of the maps are in Latin, but in the header of the maps there are also equivalents in German and Czech, created by Schumann especially for this Prague edition. The names are: Spanish Kingdom, French Kingdom, German Countries (here names Boemia, Prague, Moravia, Olomouc), Polish Kingdom, Hungarian Kingdom, Rzecké Kingdom, Wlaska Country, Swatá Country, Asya Menssij, Asya Wětssijst, Mau Charming simple woodcut maps of Ptolemaic character are decorated with sailboats, mythical figures and sea monsters, they are important for the development of early cartography.