Il Cuscho Citta Principale Della Provincia Del Peru.

A 1550's decorative bird's-eye view of Cusco, from a German edition of Münster's 'Cosmographia', one of the most influential geographical works of the 16th century. One of the earliest obtainable views of the New World.
The earliest European depiction of the Peruvian city of Cusco presented as a bird’s eye view. This grand bird’s eye view of Cusco was well-known in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and was included in a number of publications in which attributions differed according to the publishing house.
The map depicts a regular geometric street pattern suggesting that the Incan city had been built according to plan, with a large temple-palace complex dominating the city on the left. The map reveals a well-planned and organised city with both natural and man-made fortifications. Indigenous peoples and well armed Spaniards are depicted in various areas of the map.

This particular edition, with German text, in addition to the Italian 'Il Cuscho Citta Principale Della Provinci Del Peru' emblazoned in the banner, is attributed to Sebastien Munster, even though it was published some twenty four years after his demise. The same map is attributed to at least three 16th century cartographers, including Giovanni Battista Ramusio, whose work 'Raccolta di Navigationi et Viaggi', was one of the most influential geographical works of the 16th century, Francois de Belleforest, and Giacoma Gastaldi.
The first edition of this map is said to have been published by Ramusio and Gastaldi in 1556, just 22 years following the Spanish conquest of the city, and shows the Incan capital city as it would be been seen by Spanish troops under Pizarro as they made their initial approach. Following its conquest by Spain, the city became the centre of the Spanish colonial empire in South America, and would prosper for quite some time. The verso has a section title page in German and a map of ancient Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) accompanied by text in German.

Sebastian Münster, a German geographer, cartographer, Hebraist, and theologian, was born in Ingelheim, near Mainz In 1505, he went to Heidelberg to enter the Franciscan order. In 1507 he went to Louvain, where he studied mathematics, geography, and astronomy. In 1509 Münster became a student of Konrad Pelikan, who taught Hebrew and Greek as well as mathematics and cosmography. In 1518 he completed his studies at the University of Tübingen. He was the favorite of the famous mathematician and astronomer Johann Stöffler.
In 1524 Münster was appointed professor of Hebrew at Heidelberg University. In 1525 he published his first map as part of a broadside: 'The Instrument of the Suns' combined a map, calendar, astrological almanac, sundial, and nocturnal all on one attractive sheet, suitable for wall mounting.
In 1540 he published a Latin edition of Ptolemy's Geographia with illustrations. He based this edition on the Latin translation by Willibald Pirkheimer and produced new maps to supplement the Ptolemaic maps. The twenty-seven maps of the Ptolemaic canon are supplemented by twenty-one new maps. Further editions appeared in 1541 and 1542.
In 1544 he published the 'Cosmographia', a bulky book with 659 pages and some 520 woodcuts. Maps in this edition included three maps from the Ptolemaic canon and fourteen modern maps (from previous editions of the 'Geographia'), as well as nine new maps. Later editions (1545, 1546, 1548) enlarged the 'Cosmographia'. The 1550 edition contains cities, portraits, and costumes. These editions in both Latin and German constitute the full fruition of Münster's dream of a comprehensive geography.
The 'Cosmographia' was one of the most successful works of the 16th century. It passed through 24 editions in 100 years, in different languages, including Latin, French, Italian, English, and even Czech. The last German edition was published in 1628. He died in Basel of the plague in 1552.
As a cartographer, Münster deserves special recognition for formulating a plan for a comprehensive and uniform map of a country. As a geographer, his greatest achievement was the 'Cosmographia' (Karrow).