Networked Nation: Mapping German Cities in Sebastian Münster's 'Cosmographia'

378 Pages·2017·22.92 MB·English

by  Jasper van Putten

Networked Nation
Maps, Spaces, Cultures
Editors
Surekha Davies (Western Connecticut State University)
Asa Simon Mittman (California State University, Chico)
Editorial Board
Ricardo Padrón (University of Virginia)
Ayesha Ramachandran (Yale University)
Dan Terkla (Illinois Wesleyan University)
Michiel van Groesen (Leiden University)
VOLUME 1
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/msc
Networked Nation
Mapping German Cities in Sebastian
Münster’s ‘Cosmographia’
By
Jasper van Putten
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover image: Monogrammist MH (woodcutter), View of Frankfurt am Main, 1549, after a drawing by Conrad
Faber von Creuznach, 1545. From Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei (Basel: Heinrich Petri, ca. 1570). Colored
woodcut, 24.6 × 37.9 cm. Private collection. Photo: Barry Ruderman, Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique
Maps Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Van Putten, Jasper, author.
Title: Networked nation : mapping German cities in Sebastian Munster’s
 Cosmographia / by Jasper van Putten.
Description: Boston : Brill, 2018. | Series: Maps, spaces, cultures ;
 Volume 1 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017037834 (print) | LCCN 2017042204 (ebook) |
 ISBN 9789004353961 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004335998 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Cities and towns in art. | Munster, Sebastian, 1489–1552.
 Cosmographia. | Nationalism in art. | National characteristics, German,
 in art. | National characteristics, Swiss, in art. | Wood-engraving,
 German—Themes, motives. | Wood-engraving, Swiss—Themes, motives.
Classification: LCC NE962.C5 (ebook) | LCC NE962.C5 V36 2017 (print) |
 DDC 700/.4581—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017037834
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 2352-7900
isbn 978-90-04-33599-8 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-35396-1 (e-book)
Copyright 2018 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi
and Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
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that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive,
Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Voor Pia,
jij bent er altijd voor me, ook tijdens dit hoofdstuk van ons avontuur,
voor Paula en Kees,
uit dank voor jullie steun.
∵

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Illustrations xi
List of Tables xxiv
Introduction: Networked Nation 1
1 Sebastian Münster and His City Views 18
2 City Portraits 44
3 The Origins, Politics, and Economics of the City View 89
4 Bishops vs. Bürger 127
5 Ottheinrich’s View of Heidelberg 154
6 Depicting Swiss Pride 185
7 The Evolution of the City Book 228
Conclusion: New World, New Order 261
Tables 265
Appendices 286
Bibliography 317
Index 340

Acknowledgments
I was lucky to receive the generous help and support of many people during the
research and writing of my dissertation, which formed the basis of this book.
I’m most indebted to my dissertation committee. My advisor Joseph Koerner
has been a great example as researcher, teacher, and mentor. His sharp insights
and unflagging enthusiasm and encouragement were of great value through-
out my dissertation journey. I am also very grateful to my second reader, Tom
Conley. Tom’s curious and adventurous mind has been a wonderful source of
inspiration and zealous support. I further thank Henri Zerner and Hugo van
der Velden for their perceptive comments and suggestions.
My conversations and collaborations with Susan Dackerman also had
a profound impact on my work. The topic of my dissertation emerged from
my research for Susan’s groundbreaking exhibition Prints and the Pursuit of
Knowledge in Early Modern Europe at the Harvard Art Museums. During the
years in which the Fogg Museum was closed for renovation, the preparations
for this exhibition created a remarkable community of scholars of prints at
Harvard. Susan’s work has been a continuous inspiration and I am very grateful
for her support. I further want to thank Walter Denny, Monika Schmitter, and
Elmer Kolfin. The continued advice and encouragement of these mentors has
meant a great deal to me.
I want to give special thanks to the great faculty and staff of Harvard’s
Department of History of Art and Architecture and of the Graduate School of
Arts and Sciences (GSAS). Deanna Dalrymple, the department’s highly knowl-
edgeable administrator, is in many ways the unit’s backbone and key to over-
coming many a hurdle on the dissertation path. I also want to thank David
Roxburgh and Maria Gough, as well as Bob Lapointe at GSAS. Their support in
challenging situations has made all the difference.
Many others have made important contributions. I am especially grateful
to Rachel Greenblatt, Zur Shalev, and Richard Tarrant for their generous help
with translations from Hebrew and Latin. I thank Owen Gingerich for allowing
me to study his personal collection of books by and about Sebastian Münster.
Valentin Groebner kindly offered insightful and valuable advice during my
research visits to Switzerland. The expertise of Scott Walker and Benjamin
Lewis was indispensable to my work as they taught me the basics of GIS.
I also remember fondly my many discussions with Caroline Duroselle-Melish,
whose suggestions were always discerning and helpful. Ann Blair invited me
to speak several times at History of the Book and History of Science sessions
which helped me immensely in presenting, discussing, and testing my research