Publication Design - Cosmographia by Sebastian Muller | Simar Paul

COSMOGRAPHIA C C O O S S M M O O G G COSMOGRAPHIA R R A A P P H H I I A A COSMOGRAPHIA Cosmogrphia - Sebastian Muler MD21MDES11007 Simar Paul

~ PREFACE ~

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he following publication designed as a part of Masters in Design curriculum at IIT- Hyderabad under the departmental elective titled " Graphics and Information Design". The assignment given was to design a publication by getting inspired by an ancient manuscript done in the past.

Manuscripts like the Hortus Eystettensis , The Discoverie of Witchcraft , Aubin Codex , Cosmographia Epitome , The Codex Leicester , Nuremberg Chronicle and Gutenberg Bible were given to choose from . Cosmographia as a topic of study was chosen by my group . Cosmographia written by Sebastian Muller was then researched and its key characterisitcs features and discoveries were then discussed with the faculty via a powerpoint persentation.

A brief description about Cosmographia by Sebastian Muller, It is regarded as the Renaissance mirror of the world . Cosmographia (1544) was the earliest German description of the world and a major work in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. The Cosmographia from 1544 by Sebastian Münster ( 14881552 ) is considered the earliest German - language description of the world.

The first edition was published in Basel in 1544 containing twenty four double-page maps with numerous woodcut views and illustrations . Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared between 1544 and 1628, reprinted in five different languages namely Latin, French, Italian and Czech and some parts in English.

Cosmographia is a compendium of historical and geographical knowledge compiled from information gathered as part of Münster’s personal research, international collaborations and editions of the classical authors.

Also certain guidelines were given by the faculty instructor Prof.Ankita Roy to be followed while designing the publication which are listed as follows.

"Booklet with 8/ 12 Pages _Portrait_8X10 inch_Print Book Cover (Front & Back) _ Portrait_8X10 inch_Print, Spine size - 1 inch Hence the dimensions were followed as mentioned.Also illustrations and graphics created in the publcation have been recreated ,developed from the orignal imagery and post production of the same has been done.All the sources and refrences taken by the author would be duly refrenced in the refrencing section of the publication.Lastly,at the end I would hope that you would have fun going through my work.

~ Contents ~

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About the Author

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Illustration Cosmigraphia

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Maps Cosmographia

~ List of Figures ~ Fig . 01 - Self Portrait of Sebastian Muller.........................................................06 Fig . 02 - Illustrations of Monstrous Humans......................................................08 Fig . 03 - Illustration of a Unicron , published ca 1560......................................09 Fig . 04 - Map of Speyer in Cosmographia...........................................................10 Fig . 05 - Map of the World by Ptolemy Cosmographia 1465..............................11

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~ Figu re-01 ~

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About the Author

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Contents -

ebastian Münster (14881552 ) was a true versatile scholar described as a cosmographer, geographer linguist , historian.

As late as the 1598 edition, the content consisted of : Book I : Astronomy, Mathematics, Physical Geography, Cartography, India Southeast Asia , Afghanistan Book II : England, Scotland,Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Savoy, Trier.

Book III : Germany, Alsace, Switzerland, Austria, Carniola, Istria,Bohemia Moravia, Silesia, Pomerania Book IV : Denmark , Norway , Sweden , Finland , Iceland , Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Walachia , Bos. Book V : Asia Minor, Cyprus , Armenia Palestine , Arabia, Persia, Central Asia , Afghanistan , Scythia .

Book VI : Mauritania, Tunisia , Libya, Egypt, Senegal, Gambia , Mali South Africa , East Africa.

Also a Hebrew scholar , theologian and mathematician. His earlier geographic works were Germania description (1530) and Mappa Europae (1536) . In 1540, he published a Latin edition of Ptolemy's Geographia with illustrations.

Münster not only was the first to introduce separate maps of four known continents , he also produced regional maps , many of which were the first printed depictions of a given region. Münster acquired the material for his book in three ways . He used all available literary sources . He tried to obtain original manuscript material for description of the countryside and of villages and towns.

Finally, he obtained further material on his travels . Instead of commissioning new woodblocks he re-used some of the blocks ( a number of which were created by artist such as Hans Holbein the Younger ) from his earlier published works including his edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia .

Editions -

Latin : 1550 Basel, 1552, 1554,1559,1572.

French : 1552 Basel, 1556, 1560, 1565, 1568, 1575 Paris (editor Francois de Belleforest).

German : 1544 Basel, 1546, 1548, 1550, 1553, 1556, 1558, 1561, 1564, 1567, 1569, 1572, 1574, 1578, 1588, 1592, 1598,1614.

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~ Figu re-02 ~

Illustrations in Cosmographia iversity in illustrations can be seen in the book . Encyclopaedic amount of detail about the known and unknown of the world . Ranging from mythology , folklore , astronomy , mortal combat, herbology and early medicine . An account of the comprehensive study of astronomy, mathematics and cartography

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with physical geography was done . Sun path diagrams according to latitude and longitude were amognst a few of work done in the book . Concept of Azimuth angle and Sun-inclination angle . Birth of concept of astronomical traingle . Astronomical number and calculations done with the usage of device of such nature.

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~ Figu re-03 ~

Mythology & Folklore

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conjunction of geographical areas with the creatures mythologically attached to it and its respective folklore and storie s which used to run the rounds over in at that time period Following Pliny, contains the description of some of these species: the Cyclops , the Blemmyai

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the Sciopods . But, most importantly, there were the Cynocephali , one of the best-known monstrous races .They lived in the mountains and barked to converse . The Gryffin of India is a creature described as having the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and a back covered with feathers.

Maps in Cosmographia Maps that were first seen from a different perspective Discovery of the undiscovered

~ Figu re-04 ~

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~ Figu re-05 ~

Sebastian Munster created four separate maps for 4 continents America , Africa Asia and Europe.

Münster was the first map-maker to make separate maps of each continent. He used different references which he mentioned in his book .This map is thought to be the first to depict North and South America connected to each other with no link to another continent.The Americas were thus

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represented as a completely New World.

Description of the world with special attention to Germany . His commissioned maps had names written on ribbons . He used methods which were different and never used in past to describe locations.

Detailed castles, High and low hills, rivers, colonies were prominent in his work . He followed a pattern to depict clouds, land, mountains etc.

Hi ! Myself Simar, I am an Architect and pursuing my Masters right now. I believe design arises out of need and its a problem which calls out for solution,which I wish to resolve. Problem solving offers a new challenge everytime and that is what I Enjoy the most as it brings the best out of me.Hope you had fun while going through the pages of this publication on cosmosgraphia done as part of departmental elective.