Peru, Cusco S. Münster, 1588, Die Statt Cusco in dem Königreich Peru in West Indien

A fine view of Cusco, Peru, during the late 16th century.
The view details various buildings, the outer fortifications, and is embellished with houses outside of the city walls, and people traversing the roadways heading towards the city. German text on verso. Title in German (above the image) and Italian (inside the image).

Sebastian Munster (1489 - 1552) was one of the three most renowned cartographers of the sixteenth century, along with Mercator and Ortelius. Munster's Geographia and Cosmographia Universalis were two of the most widely read and influential books of the period. His editions of Ptolemy's Geographia, published between 1540 and 1552, were illustrated with 48 woodcut maps, the standard 27 Ptolemaic maps supplemented by 21 new maps. These new maps included a separate map of each of the known continents and marked the development of regional cartography in Central Europe. The antique geography was a prelude to Munster's major work, the Cosmographia, which was published in nearly 30 editions in six languages between 1544 and 1578 and then was revised and reissued by Sebastian Petri from 1588 to 1628. The Cosmographia was a geographical as well as historical and ethnographic description of the world. It contained the maps from the Geographia plus additional regional maps and city views with nearly 500 illustrations which made it one of the most popular pictorial encyclopedias of the sixteen century.

Reasonable/good condition, given the age. Minor repairs and some closed small worm holes, with only very minimal impact on the image. Some light browning and staining. Margins slightly cut shorter, but still sufficient. Central fold, as issued.

Image 27x37,5cm, page 32x40cm