Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Vol I

e Early Sixt

arnaba Canti.-Friar Giuliano Vannelli.-Interest of Trithemius in globes.-The Bunau globe.-Waldseemüller's map and globe.-Liechtenstein globes.-Büchlin reference.-Globus Mundi.-Welt Kugel.-Lenox gl

Title-page of Johann Sch?ner's Terrae Descriptio, 1518.As the true position of places on the earth's surface, as well as the distance between any two places, could best be represented on a globe, cartographers and globe makers became active in their endeavors to meet the desires of those interested in geography. They no longer confined themselves to such globes as the Behaim and the Laon, which, in reality, are artistically interesting rather than scientifically useful, but they sought to make use of the new invention of printing. Maps giving the outlines of continents, with place names, rivers, constellations, and star names were printed from wood blocks or from coppe

al assurance of interest in such instruments in the use that was made of them for illustrative purposes, and for decoration. Terrestrial and celestial globes, as w

age of Mauro Fiorentino

ein's Ambassa

Library o

y Pope Julius II, made reply that "the map and celestial signs which are painted on two solid spheres in the library of the Pope, of which your Excellency would like to have copies, I have ordered, and the same to be made by a good painter of the Palace, who tells me that it will take some time because the matter is quite difficult. I will not fail in care, and will provide the necessary funds, so that as soon as possible I will send them to you by a trusty messenger."128 Again the Roman correspondent wrote, the letter bearing date February 1, 1505, "That master painter who would like to make copies of the map and the zodiac which are in the library of the Pope, about which Your

at elaborate base, ornamented with sphinxes with the heads of eagles and the feet of lions. Its horizon circle, supported by four quarter circles, is a band 5 cm. wide, the surface of which is divided into five concentric circles, within which are the names of the several signs of the zodiac in Latin, the names of the days of the month, and the names of the eight principal winds in the Italian language. Along the outer edge of this horizon circle is the following inscription, "Daniel Chassignet. Fecit. Romae 1617," a name and date clearly applying only to this circle or to the globe's mounting. It has a meridian circle within which the sphere revolves. On the surface of the ball we find represented the principal circles, that is, the equator, the tropics, the polar circles, with five meridians, and the

tician. In his 'Orbis nova descriptio,'133 which he added to an edition of Ptolemy, issued in Rome in the year 1507 or 1508, he alludes to the difficulty of representing the earth upon a solid sphere, adding that the greater the size of the same the greater the difficulty there is in moving it, and that

miniaturist, who issued for his establishment numerous maps, printed, likewise, globe gores. While the inventory gives us intimation of his great activity, we have no further knowledge of his work as a globe maker than is contained therein. It may well have been that

, who had been asked to describe a map on which the newly discovered lands were well drawn, there being written on the map the history of the islands, with a description of the lands and of the customs of the peoples. Attention is likewise called to a globe which Canti possessed, it being designated a

d as map and globe maker, and that the globe referred to by Acciaioli was one in the construction of which the globe gores of Rosse

remarkable celestial sphere which was placed near by: "ut similis sit et non discrepet, in sua qualitate, a mirabili orologio predicto, et a convicina et mirabili palla, ubi apparet figura et ambitus celi." Having knowledge of the ability and skill of Friar Giuliano Vannelli, it was decided to entrust the reconstruction to him. We learn that on June 28, 1516, the Signoria directed payment of fifty large florins be made to Friar Giuliano, in addition to the six already paid, for the painted sphere; that on July 17, 1516, the officers of the Monte Comune directed the payment of fifty-six large gold florins to "Don Giuliani

u a small ball de situ orbis, of the size and character of that of Giovanni Ruccellai.... I have made the said ball, and have varnished it, but the weather being bad it will not be dry for eight or ten days.... Your Excellency also

uadet. Comparavi autem mihi, ante paucos dies, pro aere modico sphaeram orbis pulchram in quantitate parva ..." "I wanted to buy a finely painted globe of the earth, seas, and islands, which I wrote was for sale in Worms, but I could hardly be induced to give such a price for it as forty florins. I purchased, however, a few days since at a low price, a beautiful terrestrial globe of small size."140 He wrote further, "Henricum de Bunau dies vita audini defunctum, sed

geographical science and made necessary the construction of new maps in rapid succession, Germany, already a land in which the renaissance spirit had found an enthusiastic reception, and whose people were awake to every new interest, soon became a center for the spread of information concerning the new regions. Commercially important trade cities of this

of Prince Wald

1513 was printed in the city of Strassburg.147 It probably was as early as 1505 that the plan was under consideration for a new translation of Ptolemy from the Greek into the Latin, and that thought perhaps had its inspiration in the letters of Vespucci, in which he gave an account of his four voyages, and in the new chart which but recently had fallen into the hands of Ringmann. These charts, says Lud, in his 'Speculum,' came from Portugal, which, if true, leads one to the belief that they exhibited genuine Vespucian data.148 Whatever the truth concerning the origin of these charts, that determination became a starting point for a most important evolution in cartographical history of the world.149 In April, 1507, Waldseemüller had written to his friend, Amerbach, in Basel, "Non credo te latere nos Ptholomei cosmographiam, recognitio et adiectis quibusdam novis tabulis impressuros in oppido Divi Deodati.... Solidum quod ad generale Ptholomei paravimus nondum impressum est, erit autem impressum infra mensis spacium."150 "I think you know already that I am on the point of printing in the town of St. Dié (Lorraine), the Cosmography of Ptolemy, after having added to the same some new maps.... the globe comprising Ptolemy in general, which we have prepared, is not yet printed, but will be so in a month." While great interest centers in these "new maps," prepared for the proposed edition of Ptolemy, a greater

ap of Martin Wal

hich the allusions are made in the 'Cosmographiae.'154 These gores, twelve in number, and each 12 cm. in length, this length representing the length of a meridian of the globe ball which the gores could be made to cover, were printed from a wood engraved block. They exhibit the Old World, in the main, in accord with the Ptolemaic idea, and the New World with a close resemblance to the Canerio map record, and that of Waldseemüller's world map of 1507.155 The North American region is nameless, but the S

Attributed to Marti

globe maps of the first quarter of the century, produced by such cartographers as Johann Sch?ner of Nürnberg, and by those of his school, as will be noted below. Both the globe and the large world map were dou

Emanuel, K. z?. Portugal haben das weyte m?r ers?chet unnd funden vil Insulen unnd ein Nüwe welt von wilden nackenden Leüten vormals vnbekant." "Gedruct zü Strassburg durch Johānē Grün?ger Im Iar M.CCCCC.IX vff Letare. Wie du aber dye Kugel dü beschreibung der gantzenn welt verston soltt würst die hernach finden vnnd lesen." "This little book relates how the two most illustrious Lords Ferdinand, King of Castile and Emanuel,

ti vt spera solida. Qua cuiuis etiā mediocriter docto ad oculū videre licet antipodes esse, quos pedes nostris oppositi sunt." "Valete feliciter ex Argentina ultima Augusti. Anno post natü salutatorē. M.D.ix. Johannes grüniger imprimebat. Adelpho castigatore." "The world globe. Exposition or description of the world and of the terrestrial sphere constructed as a round globe similar to a solid s

ucht zū Strassburg. Von Johanne Gruniger in yar. M.D.ix. uff ostern. Johanne Adelpho castigator." "Description of the world globe, of the world and the entire terrestrial sphere here constructed and made to resemble a round ball and is so arranged that the merchant and every man may clearly see how that men live underneath us, and here may be seen how the sun moves about (the earth) with many wonderful things. Printed at Strassburg. By Johann Grüniger in the year 1509 at easter. Johann Adelpho corrector."161 This can as confidently be

Globus Mu

rs in giving to the eastern hemisphere, or the Old World, too great an extension in longitude, the principal latitudes are well given. The globe was found in the year 1850, in Paris, by Mr. Richard Hunt, by whom it was presented to Mr. James Lenox, and is now one of the choicest objects in that great collector's library, which library constitutes an important part of the New York Public Library. In its New World representation, South America appears as a large island having three regional names, "Mundus Novus," "Terra Sanctae Crucis," and

Lenox Glo

ox Globe in

richer. The large island which lies southeast of Madagascar and is nameless on the Lenox appears on the Jagellonicus with a very interesting inscription, reading "America noviter reperta." Comparing the coast of "Mundus Novus" with the coast of this "America noviter reperta," Tadeus Estreicher finds support for the belief that the globe was constructed soon after the year 1507, in which year Waldseemüller suggested the name America for the region discovered by Amerigo Vespucci. He, however, seems not to have noticed the possibility that the inscription appearing on this large island indicated not only an acquaintance, on the part of the Jagellonicus cartographer, with Waldseemüller's suggestion as to the name America, but a belief that America was actually loca

gellonicus

lonicus Globe

"I am of the opinion," says Luksch, "that the globe of Sch?ner of 1515 and the Hauslab globe were drawn from one common original sketch," a conclusion based largely upon the fact that on the two globes the outlines of the New World are almost identical. As to the date when constructed, a comparison with other globes of the second decade of the century has led to the conclusion that it must have been prior to the year 1515, and perhaps as early as 1513. In its representation of the Old World, the land is made to extend through 240 degrees, counting from the island of Porto Santo, whose meridian has been taken as the prime meridian. The northern section of the New World is given the name "Par(ias)," the last letters of the word having bee

ten, clearly suggesting that the globe was constructed in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, perhaps as early as 1513 or 1515. The equator, the tropics, and the polar circles are traced in gold; the degrees of latitude and longitude are marked in red, and at intervals of ten degrees. The prime meridian is made to pass through the Cape Verde Islands, islands referred to as "Insule Portugalensium invente anno Domini 1472." This globe shows a striking resemblance to those of Sch?ner of 1515, a fact which has led Marcel to refer it to the Sch?nerian school, though not to attribute it directly to Sch?ner himself. A very important and interesting feature of the globe is the appearance of the name "America" no less than four times in the New World; twice in what we now call North America and twice in So

he Green G

e maps North America bears the name "Terra Cuba" and "Parias." South America has the name "America" inscribed in large letters, with an accompanying legend reading "Terra Noua Inuenta est Anno 1497." "The New World discovered in the year 1497."170 The austral land, appearing on the Sch?ner globes, is wanting. By reason of the fact that the names of but tw

enstein Globe G

obe gores.172 Major described the map as the oldest known on which the name America appears, giving as the probable date of construction the year 1514, which date is thought by Harrisse to be five or six years too early.173 Such a distinction as was claimed for the record of the name America by Major, being likewise assigned at various times to other early maps, has at last been definitely fixed as belonging to the world map of Waldse

between November 27, 1517, and May 26, 1518.176 With this engraved world map were found two other copper plates, one bearing the title "Astrolabium Phisicum," the other "Motus novae spere et trepidacionis spere MDXIV," and signed "Artificis Ludovici Boulengier, Allebie, 1514." As this edition of the 'Cosmographiae' was prepared for the press by Boulengier,177 who in his day achieved distinction as a mathematician, astronomer, and geographer, this gore map has been ascribed to him. It appears from a statement on the verso of a folded plate belonging to Chapter VIII that a globe had been prepared to accompany it.178 This statement, while

l Globe Gores of Bo

xpresses the opinion that it may be of Spanish or of Portuguese origin, an opinion based upon the nomenclature. It seems, however, probable that the author was an Italian and that he merely employed the Spanish or the Portuguese sources, as was so frequent, and in so large a measure necessary, in that day. In Africa the author has represented the "Peludes nili," and two lakes into which several rivers flow having their source in the Mountains of the Moon. To the south-east of the continent is represented "Zanzibar insula," and near this are a number of small islands with the legend "Iste insule ex mandato regis Portugalliae lustrate sunt." The islands of Ceylon and Sumatra are laid down but are given the names "Taprobana" and "Seula" respectively. In the interior of Asia we read "Carama civitas magna," near this "Thebet provincia mais," and below "Hic d?at prespiter Johannes rex totius Indiae." In eastern Asia is the name "Catay" and near this the legend "Zumsay est qued? civitas mag. in medio lacus magnus," the Paris globe hav

lan. "Traìa el Magallanes vn Globo bien pintado, en que toda la tierra estaba, y alli se?alò el camino que habia de llevar, salvo que el estracho dejò, de industria, en blanco, porque alguno no se lo saltease."180 "

ortrait of

ynell a quall nò era acabada quando caa seu pay veo por ele, e seu pay acabou tudo e pos estas tr?ras de maluco e p este paderam se fazem todallas cartas as quaêes faz dio Ribeiro e faz as agulhas quadrantes e esperas, porem nò vay narmada nem q?r mais q? ganhar de comeer p seu engenho." "The course which it is said they are to take is straight to Cape Frio, Brazil remaining on their right hand until they reach the line of demarcation, thence they are to navigate to the west and

nd painted, as there is good reason for believing that such as were carried by early navigators on their vessels were of this character. Harrisse thinks "this globe would probably prove to be one of the most interesting of all for that period, exhibiting, do

mathematics in the gymnasium of Nürnberg, to the fame of which city, as a scientific center, Regiomontanus had so greatly contributed in the preceding century. His activities as a globe maker began as early as the second decade of the century, and his influence soon became very pronounced. In Nürnberg he labored until the time of his death in the

trait of Joh

ima quaedā terrae totius descriptio ... cum privilegio Invictis Romanor? Impera Maximiliani per acto annos: ne quis imprimat: aut imprimere procuret codices has: cum globis cosmographicis: Noribergae 1515.' 'A most luminous description of the whole earth ... wit

designate North America, he calls "Parias"; the South American continent bears the name "America" and the austral land the name "Brasilie regio." In addition to these principal regions he has represented the land discovered by the Cortereals, designating the same as "Litus incognitum." Cuba bears the name "Isabella" and Haiti the name "Spagnolla." The feature which seems to give special interest to these globes of Sch?ner is the representation of a strait between "America" and "Bra

Johann Sch?ner in

of the period.188 Sch?ner had written in his tract of 1515, "Hunc in modum terra quadriparita cognoscitur, et sunt tres primae partes continentes, id est terra firma. Sed quarta est insula, quia omniquoque mari circumdata conspicitur." "It has now been ascertained that the earth is divided into four parts, and the first three parts are continents, that is, main lands, but the fourth part

Seyler by Jo. Sch?ner.192 It is apparent that the same sources were used for the drafting of the map on this globe that had been used in the case of his earlier globes, but the geographical information on this last globe is much more detailed. The New World appears in five distinct parts, the first of which is called "Terra Corterealis," the second "Terra de C

isphere of Johann Sc

, that the globe gores, now in the possession of the New York Public Library (Fig. 44a), and described by them as the lost globe of Sch?ner of 1523, are of Sch?nerian origin. The critical studies of Harrisse are sufficiently convincing to set this question at rest.195 Sch?ner concludes his little tract in the following words: "Ego tam mirifice orbis pervagationi nonnihil volens adiicere, ut quae lectu videantur mirabilia, aspectu credantur prohabiliora, Globum hunc in orbis modum effingere studui, exemplar haud fallibile aemulatus, quod Hispaniarum solertia cuidam viro honore conspicuo transmisit. Nec ob id quem antea glomeraveram abolitum iri volens, quippē qui es temporè, quantum phas erat homini abdita mundi penetrare, abunde expressit, modo sese consona admissione patientur, quod invenienda inventis non obstent. Accipe igitur hunc a me formatum globum ea animi benignitate, qua eum laborem ad tui nominis honorem lubens aggressus sum. Cognoscam profecto meas lucubratiunculas tuae celsitudini nullatenus despectui fore. Vale." "Being desirous of making some small addition to this wonderful survey of the earth, so that what appears very ext

ymous Globe Go

endent portion of the earth in that fourth part of the world," but has an Asiatic connection, and h

a certain interest. In the year 1515 Johannes Stabius designed a map of the Old World on a stereographic projection (Fig. 45), one of the first of its kind, whi

ius World Glo

rlier known. It was not so drawn as to make possible its application to the surface of a sphere, but its reshaping for that purpose could

elestial Hemisphere

O

amiliar with the works of the period on geographical

, see Gardner, E. G. Princes and Poets of Ferrara. Lon

production of the western half of the map, in colors; Stevenson, E. L. Maps illustrating early discovery and exploration

London, 1903. pp. 112-118. Professor Fischer enjoys the di

degli artefici di Mantova. M

na, 1885. p. 143. (In: Estr. dagli Atti e Memorie delle Deputazioni di stori

se. Discov

Vaticana. (In: Publicazioni della Specola

, op. cit.,

Ptolemy. Geographia-M

. La bottega di Alessandro di Francesco Rosselli merciaje e stampatore (1525). (

dence. Gotha, 1806. Vol. XIII, p. 15

ni, op. c

i, op. cit

ni, op. c

her interest taken by Cardinal Salviati in

tolae familiares. Ha

rt of the lett

ris, 1867; Gallois. Les Géographes. Chap. iv. "L'école Alsacienne-Lorraine"; Schmidt, C. His

erlin, 1852. Vol. II, p. 363; Gallois, L. Le Gymnase Vosgien. (In: Bulletin de la S

us the information that he was the translator of th

and to the influence of the St. Dié press. Copies of Lud's most important little tract may be found in t

ertain necessary principles of geometry and astronomy to which are added the Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci a representation of the entire world, both in the solid (globe?) and projected on the plane, including also lands which were unknown to Ptolemy, and have been recently discovered.' Two editions of the work appeared in 1507, and others at later dates. A

best of the early print

f exactly that type? See Stevenson, E. L. Marine World Chart of Nicolo de Canerio Januensi

rmanic Cartography of the New World. New York, 1904. (In: Bulletin

de la Société d'Archéologie

ilus). Innsbruck, 1903. Text in German and English, the maps in facsimile. The authors in their text have considered such matters as the Wolfegg collective

ted on f

of folded leaf at the

es. p. 48; Fischer and v.

he map is in striking contra

the gores, copy of which was courteousl

s orbis typum, quem ante annos aucos absolutum non sine grandi labore ex Ptolomei

se. B. A.

se. Discov

se. B. A.

e. B. A. V.

se. Discov

plane projection. See for reproduction, Winsor, Nordenski?ld, Encyclopaedia Britannica. An excellent reproduction from a direct photograph of the glob

der Jagellonischen Bibliothek. (In: Bulletin International de

75. The globe is referred to by Stevenson, E. L., in Martin Waldseemüller and the Lusitano-Germanic Cart

ller, op. cit

3.); Varnhagen, F. A. Jo. Sch?ner e P. Apianus. Wien, 1872. On p. 52 the opinion is expressed that the globe was made in Brixen from

géographie historique et descriptive. Paris, 1889. p. 173.); same author, Reproductio

se. Discov

sextonde seklet. Stockholm, 1884. The latter has been translated under the title, A remarkable globe map of the sixteenth

clearly assigned to the entire con

below,

don, 1865; Wieser. Magalhaes-Strasse. pl. III, a reproduction of the gores showing the New World, joined in a hemisphere; d'Adda, Marquis Girolamo. Leonardo da Vinci e la C

se, op, ci

above,

XVIII; Catalogue de livres appartenant à M. H. Tross. P

, op. cit.,

Paris, 1890. (In: Bulletin de géographie

tes omni de regione tam per globum quam per sexagenarium." "You have, dear Reader, before you, a small plate on which are inscribed the degrees of latitude of the countries ..

ollezione di libri dei secoli XV e XVI. Rome, 1876. (In: Bollettino dell

likewise refers to this globe in Gazzetta di Venezia, January 15, 1876. It i

p. 377; Herrera, A. Descriptione las Indias Ocident

Publications. London, 1874. Vol. 52, p. xliv.); Pigafetta, Antonio. Magellan's Voyage around the world. The original tex

r la Historia de Espa?a. M

se, op. ci

. Johann Sch?ner, professor of Mathematics at Nuremberg; a reproduction of his globe of 1523 long lost; his dedicatory letter to Reymer von Streytperck and the 'De Moluccis' of Maximilianus Transylvanus, with

mere title we read "Cum Globis cosmographicis: sub mulcta quinquaginta florenorum Rhen. et amissione omnium exe

iii, "Der Globus Sch?ners vom J. 1515," and reprod

. p. xlix, note 156

seemüller and the early Lu

Luculentiss

culentissima. v

Kohl, J. G. History of the Discovery of Maine. (In: Documentary history of the State of Maine. Portland, 1869.) Vol. I, pp. 158-163. This contains a much reduced reprod

tion reads as g

r treat more or less fully of the geographical features o

acsimile with translation; Wieser, op. cit.,

, op. cit.,

r, op. ci

aissance in its relation to geography. (In: The Geographica