Sebastian Münster

An eminent German mathematician and linguist, Sebastian Munster became professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg and later at Basle, where he settled in 1529. In 1528, he completed his first mapping of Germany, including towns and villages. He was the first to provide a separate map of each of the four known continents and the first separately printed map of England. His maps, printed from woodblocks, are now greatly valued by collectors. His two major works, the Geographia and Cosmographia were published in Basle by his step-son, Henri Petri, who continued to issue many editions after Munsters death of the plague in 1552.