Dat tweede boeck der cosmo / De minder oft westerluche lingde / De meerder oft dosteluche lingde

Peter Apian was a German mathematician, astronomer, mapmaker, and professor of mathematics at the University of Ingolstadt.

His Cosmographicus liber, first published at Landshut in 1524, introduced readers to cosmography: the study of the earth in relation to the heavens.

This printed page comes from the 1561 Dutch edition of Cosmographia, published in Antwerp by Jan Verwithagen.

It serves as the title page for the second book, Dat tweede boeck der cosmo, which divides the known world into western and eastern longitudes: De minder oft westerluche lingde and De meerder oft dosteluche lingde.

At the centre of the page is a woodcut wind rose with thirty-two compass directions labelled in Dutch.

The four corners carry classical wind names, including Lebeccis, Greco, Syroccho, and Magistrallinking vernacular navigational instruction with older Mediterranean wind traditions.

The text beneath the diagram explains terms used to describe inhabitants of different parts of the globe, including Perieci, Anteci, Antipodes, Periscij, and Amphisen.

These terms reflect the educational purpose of the work, translating classical cosmographical ideas into a form accessible to Dutch readers.

The page shows how Apian’s cosmography was adapted for vernacular audiences in the Low Countries.

It combines practical navigational knowledge, classical terminology, and printed diagrammatic teaching, presenting cosmography as both learned and usable.