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Cosmographia

Cosmographia is a Latin term meaning “description of the world.” Historically, it referred to a branch of learning that sought to describe the Earth’s geography, peoples, and natural phenomena, often combining elements of geography, astronomy, and natural history in a single discipline.

The most famous work bearing the title is Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia, Basel, 1544. Münster’s atlas-like compendium

Beyond Münster, the title Cosmographia was used for other geographical or cosmographical works in the early

paired
descriptive
regional
text
with
a
large
collection
of
woodcut
maps
and
illustrations,
presenting
the
known
world—Europe,
Asia,
Africa,
and
the
Americas—to
readers.
It
became
one
of
the
most
influential
geographical
books
of
the
early
modern
period
and
was
widely
copied
and
translated
in
subsequent
editions,
helping
to
standardize
geographic
knowledge
and
cartographic
conventions.
modern
period.
The
term
contributed
to
the
development
of
cosmography
as
a
field
describing
the
world
in
its
spatial,
celestial,
and
natural
aspects,
and
the
phrase
continues
to
appear
in
historical
contexts
when
discussing
mapmaking
and
descriptive
geography.