Born in Hessen in 1488, Sebastian Munster studied first in Heidelberg and later in Tubingen, finally settling in Baisle. Originally a scholar studying Hebrew, Greek and mathematics, Munster began to specialize in mathematical geography and cartography and his works contained descriptions of the world-both known & unknown. His best known works are Typus Cosmograph Universalis coming out in 1532, 1537, and 1555, his Geographia Universalis was issued in 1540, and Cosmographia first appeared in 1544. The text and illustrations were based on various literary sources, original manuscript materials and observations from actual travels. Munster was the first to issue a map for each of the four then known continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, a practice that has been almost universally followed since.