MÜNSTER (Sebastien) Cosmographia, das ist: Beschreibung der gantzen Welt, darinnen aller Monarchien, Keyserthumben, Königreichen, Fürstenthumben, Graff- und Herrschafften, Ländern ... Auff das newe ubersehen und mit vielerley nohtwendigen Sachen trefflich vermehrt. Basel, Heinrich Pietri, 1628. Small and large folio, ais covered with heavily browned leather, wormholes on the first cover and partially detached leather, brass clasps and corners, remainder of label at foot (Binding of the period). Illustrated with an engraved title, a portrait of the author, 26 double-page maps numbered I to XXVI at the beginning of the work and more than 1400 woodcuts in the text, including many maps. Pagination: [1]: frontispiece, [II to [IV]: blanks, [V]: title, [VI]: portrait, [VII] to [XXVIII]: index, [XXIX] to [CXXXII]: 26 double-page maps, 1752 pp. [i.e. 1748]. Last early edition, considerably enriched: since the previous edition of 1614, the work has been augmented by 25 new maps and 3 maps and plans in the text as well as 350 woodcuts in the text. This famous "cosmography" includes mountain regions, with varying degrees of accuracy; in the section on the Valais, Münster mentions glaciers. In the section on Alexander the Great, there are two engravings depicting his army grappling with a rocky peak: as far as we know, these are the first engravings depicting climbing scenes. Several pagination errors with no gaps and no real page inversion. Occasionally heavy spotting, a few minor tears, most of which are not missing, wormholes on the first few leaves, but overall the interior is fine. Sebastien Münster (Nieder-Ingelheim 1488 - Basel 1552) was a humanist scholar and cartographer from southern Germany. His "Cosmographie" was the most famous work of topography of the 16th century. Perret, 3154 - Regards sur les Alpes 4A - Brunet III, 1945 - Lonchamp 2160 - Sabin 51396