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Chapter VI Globes of the Early Sixteenth Century
ОглавлениеSummary of fifteenth century globe characteristics.—Increasing interest in globes.—Globes of Pope Julius II.—Friar Marco da Benevento.—Importance of the Rosselli family of Florence.—The globe of Barnaba 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 globe.—Jagellonicus globe.—Hauslab.—Green globe of Paris.—Nordenskiöld gores.—So-called Leonardo da Vinci gores.—Boulengier gores.—Acton globes.—Globes of Magellan and of del Cano.—Globes of Schöner.
TERRESTRIAL globes of the early years of great geographical discoveries, that is, of the fifteenth century, to which reference was made in the preceding chapter, appear to have been constructed either of metal, on the surface of which the map was engraved, of which the Laon globe is an example; of a composition fashioned into a ball over a mould on which strips of parchment or paper were then pasted, having the map drawn by hand, as the Behaim globe; or the ball was of wood with map in manuscript, as was probably the globe attributed to John Cabot. Here were beginnings, and the following century witnessed a remarkable increase of interest in globe construction. Fig. 26. Title-page of Johann Schöner’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 copper engraved plates on paper gores, which were so fashioned mathematically that they could be made to fit the surface of a prepared ball, with careful adjustment and manipulation. In this manner globes in great numbers could be prepared, with the added advantage that they were all alike, or similar. The sixteenth century soon furnished rules for globe-gore construction, and while the methods of globe making hitherto common were not entirely given over, as many artistic pieces of the period, which have come down to us, testify, the new method was soon in general favor and became in the course of time practically the only method employed. It is the globe maker’s method today.
If the actual number of globes constructed shortly before and shortly after 1500 appears to have been small, judging from the number extant, we often find additional 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 well as armillart spheres, frequently appeared on title-pages (Figs. 26, 27), in paintings (Fig. 28), or constituted a part of the library furnishings (Fig. 29).124
Fig. 27. Second Title-page of Mauro Fiorentino’s Sphera Volgare, 1537.
Fig. 28. Holbein’s Ambassadors, ca. 1536.
Fig. 29. Library of Escorial.
Among the ducal houses, famous in Italy in this period for interest in matters geographical, none was more conspicuous than was the house of Este of Ferrara.125 We have an interesting letter dated Rome, January 17, 1509, and written by Fioramonte Brognoli to Isabel of Este, wife of Francis II, Marquis of Mantua, daughter of Hercules I, Duke of Ferrara, who was responsible for the draughting of the Cantino map of the year 1502,126 and granddaughter of Duke Borso, to whom Donnus Nicholas Germanus dedicated or addressed, in 1466, his twenty-seven Ptolemy maps.127 Brognoli, having received from the Marchioness an order for a copy of the globes, terrestrial and celestial, possessed by 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 Excellency wrote me some time ago, tells me that to make them with linen it will cost more than forty ducats, but to draw them on paper according to a certain design which is painted on canvas in that place, it would cost very little. I thought I would inform Your Excellency before giving the order, that I might ascertain your wishes, for I shall do exactly that which you desire.”129 February 20, 1505, the Marchioness replied from Mantua, saying that “the expense of forty ducats will not deter us, if the copy of the map and of the zodiac is well made and is similar to that found in the library of the Pope. You may order it to be made with extreme diligence and with exactness.”130
The globe of Pope Julius II, in question, must then have been constructed prior to 1505, seeing this to be the year of the correspondence to which reference has been made above. From the partial description given in the letters we are led to the conclusion that they were not engraved metal globes, but their maps were manuscript, and were well decorated by hand. The Vatican Museum is still in possession of a celestial globe which may well be one of those once belonging to Pope Julius II, the terrestrial globe having disappeared. From the interesting description of Denza131 we learn that this remaining one is a hollow wooden ball, 95 cm. in diameter. That there might be an even surface on which to draw the star map, a covering of plaster had been provided, 4 mm. in thickness. It is furnished with a somewhat 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 ecliptic, its twelve signs being represented in gilded characters. The coat of arms, painted near the south pole, is not that of Pope Julius II, but of Cardinal Gian Stefano Ferrero, Bishop of Bologna, who became a supporter of Juliani della Rovere in his candidacy for the papal office, and to which office he was elected, becoming known as Julius II. Fiorini thinks it probable that the globe was presented by Cardinal Ferrero to the Pope, and that while in his possession the coat of arms was painted on its surface. It is indeed not improbable that it was originally constructed for the Cardinal. Contrary to the opinion of Denza, Fiorini’s conclusion is that the decoration of the globe is not to be attributed to Giulio Romano, a distinguished pupil of Raphael, and the arguments presented seem acceptable.132
As proof of an existing interest in globes, in Italy, in the first years of the sixteenth century, other than that given by the letters of Isabel of Este, and the globes of Pope Julius, we find an allusion to the subject by Friar Marco da Benevento, member of the order of Celestini and a renowned mathematician. 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 the larger the globe the more difficult it is to take in at a glance any considerable part of the map. While making no specific mention of any of the globe makers of the time, his reference to the subject seems to assure us that globes were objects more or less familiar to students of geography in his day.
Fiorini cites at some length an inventory relating to the printing establishment of Alexander Rosselli of Florence, under whose father, Francesco, this establishment became famous.134 The father died in the year 1510, but it is probable that this artist, painter, and 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 the construction of globes with printed gore maps had its origin in Florence in the very early sixteenth century, and that a credit we have been accustomed to give to German map makers135 is in reality due the Rosselli family of Italy, particularly Francesco Rosselli.
Fiorini likewise alludes to a letter written by Friar Zenobio Acciaioli, dated Lucca, May 12, 1509, and addressed to the Florentine, Luigi Pietro Guicciardini, brother of the distinguished historian.136 Request is made in this letter that assistance and advice be given to a brother monk, Barnaba Canti, 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 as “sphaerula” or small. The letter further notes, “Cupit autem illam Joannes teutonicus astrologus, ut ex suis ad me literis quas inclusas tibi in his mitto, videre poteris.” “John the German astronomer desires this (map?) as you will be able to see from his letters to me which enclosed I send to you.”
It is ingeniously argued that the Joannes referred to was none other than John Schöner, who later became famous as mathematician and as map and globe maker, and that the globe referred to by Acciaioli was one in the construction of which the globe gores of Rosselli had been used, since “Joannes teutonicus” in all probability would not have thought of receiving from Italy a manuscript globe.
For the history of globe making as practiced in Florence in these early years, there is in the record of the deliberations of the Florentine Signoria, dated December 30, 1515, an entry of interest.137 The Priors and Gonfaloniers directed attention to the sphere, which had been placed in the orologia or clock room, noting that the terrestrial orb which had been painted thereon was greatly damaged, “… super qua depicta est figura et situs orbis terrarum … devastata et male picta.” They expressed a desire that it should be fully repaired and be made suitable as an adornment of the wonderful clock, and in keeping with the 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 Vanegli” “in appreciation of his work, and as a reward for having made one of the two balls of the clock, which is in the large room of the Signoria, which ball he both designed and painted, showing on it the entire universe, according to Ptolemy and other authors who deal with the subject.” Fiorini notes that as at this time the terrestrial sphere was damaged it probably was several years old, and that if badly painted (male picta) the inference is, it failed to record the latest discoveries. If the exact date of the construction of the spheres which adorn this clock cannot be ascertained, it was at least before 1500.138
We have further evidence of Vannelli’s interest in globe construction contained in a letter dated Rome, November, 1524, and addressed to Cardinal Giovanni Salviati, a legate of Lombardy. “Your Excellency has asked me to make for you 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 tells me that you would like to have a large globe similar to that of Mons. R. Rodulphis, which I have begun. If you desire that I should go on with the work, I shall willingly do so, putting aside all other work to serve you.”139
To the interest in globe making north of the Alps in the first quarter of the sixteenth century attention may next be directed. In a letter written by Johannes Trithemius to Vuilhelmus Veldicus Monapius, dated August 12, 1507, may be found an early allusion to globes. He says: “Orbem terrae marisqui et insularum quem pulchre depictum in Vuormotia scribis esse venalem, me quidem consequi posse obtarum, sed quadraginta pro illo expendere florenos, nemo mihi facile persuadet. 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 libros eius et globum cosmographiae quem alim comparavit ex officina tua remanisse apud Saxoniae Principes, quod tu existimas non audini.” “I am informed that Henry Bunau died some time ago, but I never heard it said that his books and the cosmographical globe which he bought in your work-shop remained with the Princes of Saxony, as you believe.”141 It has been thought by some that the globe referred to as having been purchased in Worms was the globe of Waldseemüller.
Since the discovery in 1902 of the long-lost Waldseemüller maps of 1507 and of 1516 by Professor Joseph Fischer, S.J., in the library of Prince de Waldburg-Wolfegg (Fig. 30), great interest has centered especially in the work of that early German map maker. As the new transatlantic discoveries of the Spanish and the Portuguese greatly quickened interest in 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 country had been for some time in intimate touch with the important maritime trade centers of Spain and Portugal. Word of the newest discoveries was quickly carried over the Alps to France and to Germany, and the latest publication of the writer on matters geographical had its references to the parts of the world newly found of which Ptolemy had not known.
Fig. 30. Castle of Prince Waldburg de Wolfegg.
One of the first German geographers of the century, and now justly famed as one of the most distinguished of the period, was Martin Waldseemüller (ca. 1470–1522 ca.), whose name, according to the practice of the time, was classicized as Hylacomylus.142 So significant was the influence of Waldseemüller in the mapping of the New World that a somewhat detailed word concerning him may here well be given. When Duke René of Lorraine (1451–1508) became a patron of learning, with particular interest in cosmography or geography, the cartographical studies of the Germans began to have a place of far-reaching importance. It was under this enlightened duke that the little town of St. Dié became a center of culture. Here was organized the Vosgian Gymnasium,143 a society of learned men not unlike the Platonic Academy of Florence or the Danubian Society, Vienna. Of this St. Dié coterie none was more prominent than Jean Bassin de Sandacourt,144 the translator of the ‘Four Voyages’ of Amerigo Vespucci from the French into the Latin, Lud, the ducal secretary and author of an important little work of but few pages, which he called ‘Speculi orbis succinciss … ,’145 and Waldseemüller, the professor of cosmography, the author of the ‘Cosmographiae Introductio … ,’146 and a cartographer of great skill, who, with Ringmann, planned and carried well on toward completion, as early as 1507 or 1508, an edition of Ptolemy, which in 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 interest now centers in the map to which Waldseemüller repeatedly alludes in the years 1507–1511, especially in his ‘Cosmographiae Introductio’ (Fig. 31), which map it was the good fortune of Professor Joseph Fischer, S. J., to bring to light in the year 1902, as noted above.151 In the dedication of his little book to the Emperor Maximilian, he says, “Hinc factū est ṽt me libros Ptholomei ad exēplar Grecū quorunda ope p virili recognoscēte & quatuor Americi Vespucii navigationū lustratioēs adiiciēte: totius orbis typū tā in solido q̄ȝplano (velut preuiam quandā ysagogen) p cōmuno studiosorū vtilitate parauerim.”152 “Therefore studying to the best of my ability and with the aid of several persons, the Books of Ptolemy from a Greek copy, and adding the Relations of the Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, I have prepared for the general use of scholars a map of the whole world, like an introduction, so to speak, both in the solid and on a plane.” Waldseemüller says further, wherein he gives a description of his new map, “Propositum est hoc libello quandam Cosmographie introductionē scribere; quam nos tam in solido q̄ȝ plano depinximus. In solido quidem spacio exclusi strictissime. Sed latius in plano. …”153 “The purpose of this little book is to write a description of the world map, which we have designed, both as a globe and as a projection. The globe I have designed on a small scale, the map on a larger.”
Fig. 31. World Map of Martin Waldseemüller, 1507.
From the above citation it appears that as early as April, 1507, the same preparation had been made for a globe that had been made for the issue of a large world map. The map, as noted, has been found, but neither a globe nor a set of globe gores is known bearing the indisputable evidence of his authorship. In the library of Prince Liechtenstein, however, is a somewhat crudely executed gore map (Fig. 32) which, according to certain cartographical students, should be accepted as a copy of the work to which 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 South American region bears conspicuously the name “America.” At intervals of ten degrees lines of latitude and longitude are marked. As a title to a lithographic reproduction of this map issued some years since by the Prince, is the subscription “Erster gedruckter Globus. Martin Hylocomylus (Waltzemüller). Gehört wahrscheinlich zo seinem 1509 herausgegebenen Buche Globus Mundi.” “First printed globe. Martin Hylacomylus (Waltzemüller). Probably belonging to his Globus Mundus which appeared in 1509.”156
Fig. 32. Globe Gores Attributed to Martin Waldseemüller, 1509.
That which adds special significance to this young German’s representations of the new lands, so far as our study of globes is concerned, is the repeated recurrence of his particular outlines or contours in the globe maps of the first quarter of the century, produced by such cartographers as Johann Schöner of Nürnberg, and by those of his school, as will be noted below. Both the globe and the large world map were doubtless printed in large numbers and widely distributed. Waldseemüller states in a legend on his marine chart of 1516 that he had printed his map of 1507 in one thousand copies,157 but one of which is now known.
In a little tract, printed in Strassburg in the year 1509, there appears to be a reference to a globe which may be that constructed by Waldseemüller. It is this reference which the Prince of Liechtenstein, as noted above, has taken as a reference to the gore map, a copy of which is in his collection. The title of this tract reads, “Diss büchlin saget wie die zwē durchlüchtigstē herrē her Fernandus, K. zů Castilien und herr Emanuel, K. zů. Portugal haben das weyte mör ersůchet unnd funden vil Insulen unnd ein Nüwe welt von wilden nackenden Leüten vormals vnbekant.” “Gedruct zü Strassburg durch Johānē Grünĭger 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, King of Portugal have searched through the wide seas and discovered many islands and a new world and naked peoples hitherto unknown.” “Printed at Strassburg by Johann Grüniger. In the year MCCCCCIX on Letaro. But how you shall understand the globe and the description of the whole world you will hereafter find out and read.”158 Harrisse thinks it probable that a real globe accompanied and was sold with this little volume.159
In the same year, 1509, there issued from the press of Grüniger a second volume, in character somewhat like the preceding, but in the Latin language. In this the allusion to the globe is more definite, for its title seems to assure us that it was prepared to accompany a real globe. This title reads, “Globus mundi Declaratio siue descriptio mundi et totius orbis terrarum. globulo rotundo comparati 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 sphere, whereby every man even of moderate learning can see with his own eyes that there are antipodes whose feet are opposite ours. … Farewell, Strassburg on the last day of August A.D. 1509. Printed by Johann Grüniger. Corrected by Adolphus.”160 Neither the author of this tract nor the maker of the globe is known of certainty. They have been attributed to Glareanus as well as to Waldseemüller.
There is still a third volume printed by Grüniger in this year, 1509, which, however, appears to be but little more than a German translation of the ‘Globus Mundi.’ The title, slightly altered, reads, “Der welt kugel Beschrybūng der Welt und dess gātzēn Erttreichs hie angezogt ūnd vergleicht einer rotunden kugeln die dan sunderlich gemacht hie zū gehōrede darin der Kauffmā und ein ietlicher sehen ūnd mercken mag wie die menschen undē gegē uns wonē ūn wie die son umbgang, herin beschriben mit vil seltzamē dinge (wood cut of globe) Getrucht 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 taken to refer to a real globe as the title in the tract to which reference has just been made. It is probable that we can obtain some idea of the appearance of the globe from the small woodcut printed on the title-page of both the Latin and the German editions, of which a conspicuous feature is the representation of a small land area southwest of Africa, bearing the inscription “Nüw welt” (Fig. 33). As the little book was issued in both Latin and German, Harrisse thinks it probable that two editions of the globe likewise appeared.162
Fig. 33. Globus Mundi, 1509.
The Lenox globe163 is often referred to as the oldest extant post-Columbian globe. It is an engraved copper ball of excellent workmanship, 127 mm. in diameter (Figs. 34, 35), neither signed nor dated, and is without mountings. A critical study of its geographical records, particularly of the New World representations, has led to the conclusion that it was made as early as 1510. The two sections or hemispheres of which it is composed are joined at the equator. Neither parallels nor meridians are indicated, and though a striking error appears 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 “Terra de Brazil.” “Isabel” (Cuba), “Spagnolla” (Haiti), and a few unnamed islands belonging to the West Indies have been outlined. In the place of North America there are scattered islands, one of which, located near the northwest extremity of “Terra de Brazil,” bears the name “Zipangri” (Japan), and one in the far north, but unnamed, clearly resembles the Cortereal region, as it appears on the Cantino and on the Canerio map. A few of the many islands in the eastern seas are designated by name as “Taprobana,” “Madagascar,” and “Seilan.”
Fig. 34. Lenox Globe, 1510.
Fig. 35. Lenox Globe in Hemispheres.
A globe but little known, but resembling in a striking manner the Lenox, is that belonging to the Jagellonicus University Library of Cracow, Poland.164 It is a gilded copper ball, 7.3 cm. in diameter (Figs. 36, 37), and constitutes a part of a fine old clock of the sixteenth century. Meridians and parallels are engraved and numbered on its surface at intervals of ten degrees, the prime meridian passing through the island Ferro. While it is neither signed nor dated, there is scarcely a doubt that it is as old as the Lenox globe; indeed, the geographical features of the two globes are so similar that they appear to be the work of the same globe maker, or copies of a common original, yet it is noteworthy that the nomenclature of the Jagellonicus globe is somewhat 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 located in this particular region. In his chapter on climates Waldseemüller says, “Atqȝ in sexto climate Antarcticù versus & pars extrema Africae nuper reperta & Zamzibar Iauva minor & Seula insule & quarta orbis pars (quam quia Americus inveuit Amerigen quasi Americi terrā siue Americā nuncupare licet) sitae sunt.” “In the sixth climate toward the Antarctic there are situated the farthest part of Africa, recently discovered, the islands Zanzibar, the lesser Java, and Seula, and the fourth part of the earth, which, because Amerigo discovered it, we may call Amerige, the land of Amerigo, so to speak, or America.”165 Following the above, Waldseemüller notes what Pomponius Mela has to say concerning “these southern climates,” that is, concerning this antipodal region.
Fig. 36. Jagellonicus Globe, 1510.
Fig. 37. Jagellonicus Globe in Hemispheres.
In the rich cartographical collection of Prince Liechtenstein there may be found, in addition to the globe gores referred to above, an interesting globe, usually referred to as the mounted Hauslab globe. 166 It is of wood, having a diameter of about 37 cm. and is covered with a preparation on which a world map has been drawn or painted. It is furnished with a wooden base, a meridian and a horizon circle of brass, and an axis of iron on which it turns, all of which furnishings, however, appear to be of later date than the sphere itself. Though neither signed nor dated, it exhibits many features which suggest a close relationship with the globes of Johann Schöner; indeed, it is not improbable that it is an early example of his workmanship. “I am of the opinion,” says Luksch, “that the globe of Schöner 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 been obliterated by age, while the southern section is called “America.” The great austral land south of the apex of the southern continent, appearing on the Schöner globe of 1515 as “Brasilie regio,” is omitted on the Hauslab globe. The continents, rivers, and mountains represented are very dark in color, and were probably originally blue, black, or red, and the seas are a dark blue. The equator, as drawn on the surface of the sphere, is divided into degrees, represented alternately in white and black, and every tenth degree is indicated by an appropriate number, beginning, as stated above, at the island of Porto Santo. By way of decoration a border of gold is given to the lines representing the equator, the tropics, and the polar circles.
In the geographical department of the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris is a globe referred to in cartographical literature as the Green globe, or the Quirini globe, the first name being given to it by Gabriel Marcel,167 by reason of the prominence of the color green employed in painting the seas (Fig. 38). It is an unsigned and undated wooden sphere, 24 cm. in diameter. Its surface appears to have been covered with a coating of paint, originally white, and on this the world map was drawn. There is much artistic skill displayed in the coast configurations, with the deeply shaded seaboards making the land appear to rise above the ocean surface, and in the representation of the islands, most of which are made conspicuous in red or gold. The inscriptions in dark brown, perhaps originally black, are neatly written, 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 Schöner of 1515, a fact which has led Marcel to refer it to the Schönerian school, though not to attribute it directly to Schöner 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 South America. It is, indeed, the oldest known cartographical monument on which the name America is given both to the north and the south continental areas. In the southern continent we read “America ab inuentore nuncupata,” and near the Antilles “Iste insule per Columbus genuensem almirantem et mandato regis castelle invente sunt.” “These islands were discovered by Columbus, a Genoese admiral, by command of the king of Castile.” Harrisse observes that it appears the cartographer thought of Columbus as the discoverer of the West India Islands only, and that he thought the honor of the discovery of the American continents, north and south, belongs to Vespucius.168 An austral land appears, though nameless, which Schöner called “Brasilie regio” on his globe of 1515, and “Brasilia inferior” on his globe of 1520.
Fig. 38. The Green Globe, 1515.
Nordenskiöld has described a set of twelve globe gores, engraved on wood, belonging to his own collection, which he assigns to the year 1518.169 Of these particular gores three sets are known; one being in the collection of Prince Liechtenstein (Fig. 39), one in the Bibliothèque Nationale, and one, as noted, in the possession of Nordenskiöld. On these gore 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 Schöner globes, is wanting. By reason of the fact that the names of but two European cities are inscribed, these being “Ingolstadt” and “St. Jacobus,” the suggestion has been made that the map is the work of Apianus, a celebrated geographer of Ingolstadt, author of the important map of 1520 and a globe maker.171 In their general features these gores are of the Schönerian type, which we may also characterize as Lusitano-Germanic.
Fig. 39. Liechtenstein Globe Gores, ca. 1518.
In the Royal Collections of Windsor Castle may be found a set of eight globe gores (Fig. 135, attributed by Major to Leonardo da Vinci, but with very little more reason for the assignment than the fact that they were found in a collection of papers in the handwriting of that famous artist. They are drawn as equilateral triangles, each representing one eighth of the earth’s surface, not as biangles, which is the usual form for early globe 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 Waldseemüller of 1507.174 The outlines of the New World bear a resemblance to those found in the Lenox and the Jagellonicus globes. The North American region is represented by two islands, one of which bears the name “Bacalar,” the other “Terra Florida.” South America, a large island, has conspicuously inscribed the name “America,” together with a few prominent coast names. These gores are chiefly of interest by reason of their peculiar form.
An interesting set of globe gores of the first quarter of the sixteenth century is that attributed to Boulengier, of which but one copy, now belonging to the New York Public Library, is known.175 These gores, twelve in number (Fig. 40), were printed from a copper engraved plate 18 by 36 cm. in size, but bear neither date nor name of author. The title appearing across the bottom of the map reads, “Vniversalis cosmographie descriptio tam in solido quem plano.” They were found in a copy of Waldseemüller’s ‘Cosmographiae Introductio,’ printed at Lyons by Jean de la Place, but undated. Harrisse gives as the probable date of the publication 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 not agreeing in all respects with one to be found in the edition of 1507, is of similar import. Boulengier states in his dedicatory letter that he had noted other globes which had been previously published. As a bit of copper engraving it is very artistically done; its inscriptions, coast outlines, and rivers are drawn in soft ornamental lines. That region representing North America bears simply the name “Nova,” while South America is referred to as “America noviter reperta,” a wording for this information which elsewhere appears only on the Jagellonicus globe. These gores are of sufficient dimensions to cover a ball 11 cm. in diameter.
Fig. 40. Terrestrial Globe Gores of Boulengier, ca. 1518.
In the year 1877 or 1878, reports Professor Ferdinando Jacoli, Admiral William Acton acquired two interesting and scientifically valuable terrestrial globes of the early sixteenth century once belonging to Count Piloni of Belluno, Italy.179 That one appearing to be the older of the two resembles so closely the Paris green globe in size, having a diameter of 24 cm., and in its details, that there is good reason for thinking it to be the work of the same author. Like the Paris globe it is neither signed nor dated. The surface of the ball is covered with a preparation of plaster on which the geographical details have been written. Seas and lands are colored, the equator, the tropics, and the polar circles are indicated by gilded lines. Meridians are drawn at intervals of ten degrees, the prime meridian passing through the Canary Islands, and parallels are likewise represented at intervals of ten degrees. The metal meridian circle and the stand upon which the sphere rests retain in places some of the old gilding. Professor Jacoli expresses 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 dñat prespiter Johannes rex totius Indiae.” In eastern Asia is the name “Catay” and near this the legend “Zumsay est quedã civitas mag. in medio lacus magnus,” the Paris globe having “Quinsay” instead of “Zumsay.” The New World in its outlines bears striking resemblance to the early globes of Schöner. Along the west coast of South America is the legend “Tota ista provincia inventa est per mandatum regis Castelle,” near the same “Terra ultra incognita,” and extending along the west coast of North America “Terra ulterius incognita,” all of which legends, in identical wording, appear on the Paris globe. The Antilles are referred to in the legend “iste insule per Columbum Genuensem Almirantem ex mandato regis Castelle perite sunt,” and in South America “America ab inventore nuncupata.” Near the west coast of Africa we find “Insule portugalensium invente—domini 1477,” one of which is called “visionis insula.” The author has also represented an Antarctic continent but has made no reference to it by specific name or legend. If the Paris globe was constructed before 1520, as Marcel concluded, there is likewise good reason why the Acton globe should also be assigned to the second decade of the sixteenth century.
Las Casas, in his ‘Historia de las Indias,’ tells us that when Magellan (Fig. 41) offered his services to the King of Spain for an expedition to the Moluccas he had a globe to serve him in the demonstration of his plan. “Traìa el Magallanes vn Globo bien pintado, en que toda la tierra estaba, y alli señalò el camino que habia de llevar, salvo que el estracho dejò, de industria, en blanco, porque alguno no se lo saltease.”180 “Magellan had a well painted globe, which exhibited the entire earth, and he showed thereby the route which he thought of taking, but with intention he had left the strait blank so that no one might learn his secret.”
Fig. 41. Portrait of Magellan.
Other allusions to this globe we do not have, unless there is such in a letter written by Sebastian Alvares to King Don Manuel, dated Seville, July 18, 1519. In giving information concerning the plan of Magellan Alvares states: “A rrota que se diz que han de levar he dirto ao cabo fryo ficando lhe o brasy a mão dirta ate pasar a linha da particâo e daly navegar ao eloeste e loes noroeste dirtos a maluco a quall tr̃ra de maluco en vy asentada na poma e carta que ea fez o fo de Reynell a quall nò era acabada quando caa seu pay veo por ele, e seu pay acabou tudo e pos estas tr̃ras 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 q̃r mais q̃ 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 west-northwest straight to Moluco, which land of Moluco I have seen laid down on the sphere and map which the son of Reynell made here which was not complete when his father came here for him; and his father finished it all, and placed these islands of Moluco; and after this pattern all the maps are made which Diego Ribeiro makes, and he makes the compasses, quadrants and globes, but he does not go in the fleet, nor does he wish to do more than gain his living by his skill.”181
We find reference to a globe of this early period as belonging to Juan Sebastian del Cano, the reference thereto being contained in his will made on board the Victoria, June 26, 1526, and reading “Una esfera poma del mondo.”182 It probably was made of wood and 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, doubtless, the hypothesis of Magellan relative to the configuration of the southwest coast of South America north of 50 degrees south latitude.”183 Although the will of Del Cano is dated 1526 there is reason for thinking the globe was constructed prior to 1520.
Among the globe makers of the early sixteenth century none merits greater distinction than Johann Schöner of Nürnberg (1477–1547) (Fig. 42), mathematician, astronomer, and geographer.184 He was born in Carlstadt, Franconia, held a church office for some years in Bamberg, and in the year 1526, upon the advice of Melanchthon, became a professor of 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 year 1547, editing, in addition to his other activities, the literary and scientific works of Regiomontanus and of Werner, and each year until 1543 issued his so-called Calendars. His numerous publications, mathematical, astronomical, and cosmographical, alone entitle him to a place of first importance among German scientific leaders of his day.
Fig. 42. Portrait of Johann Schöner.
It was as early as 1515, at the cost of a wealthy patron, Johann Seylor, that he made in Bamberg what has usually been accepted as his first globe, two copies of which are now known, and for which it has been thought he wrote his tract bearing title ‘Luculentissima quaedā terrae totius descriptio … cum privilegio Invictis Romanorû 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 … with the privilege of the Invincible Emperor of the Romans, Maximilian, for eight years to the effect that nobody shall print or have any of these books printed, with the cosmographic globe.’185 On the leaf preceding “fol. 1” is the representation of a mounted globe.
One of Schöner’s globes of 1515 is to be found in the Grand Ducal Library of Weimar, and one in the City Museum of Frankfurt (Fig. 43). Wieser,186 after a careful comparison, finds these globes to be practically alike in all details. Each is 27 cm. in diameter, having the usual mountings of brass, the whole resting on a wooden base. While neither signed nor dated, they answer the description contained in Schöner’s little tract referred to above. That region on the globe which we may 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 Schöner is the representation of a strait between “America” and “Brasilie regio.” To the significance of this particular representation Wieser has given very careful consideration. He cites numerous passages from the tract of Schöner, and from the ‘Copia der newen Zeitung aus Presillig Landt,’187 a publication which he finds good reason for believing appeared before 1515, and in which he finds an acceptable explanation of the origin of this geographical notion represented by Schöner, which antedates the Magellan expedition by a period of five years.
Fig. 43. Globe of Johann Schöner in Hemispheres, 1515.
It is a point to be especially noted that the dominant cosmographical idea of the map makers of the first quarter of the century represented the New World regions as independent of Asia. It is the idea set forth in the Portuguese maps, such as the Cantino and the Canerio; it is the idea which we find represented in the Waldseemüller maps and practically in all the Lusitano-Germanic maps of the period.188 Schöner 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 is an island because we see it surrounded on all sides by the sea.”189 With regard to the relation of “Parias” to Asia, he states, “Parias insula quae non est pars vel portio prioris, sed specialis magna portio terrae huius quartae partis mundi.” “Parias is not a part or portion of the aforesaid country, but a large independent portion of the earth, in that fourth part of the world.”190
Of the globes constructed by Schöner, none is more important than that bearing date 1520 (Fig. 44).191 The wooden ball on which the map has been drawn and colored by hand has a diameter of about 87 cm. and rests upon a wooden base. Near the south pole is the date 1520 in large gilt letters and an inscription stating that it was made at the expense of Johannes Seyler by Jo. Schöner.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 Cuba,” the third “Insulae Canibalorum siue Antiglia,” the fourth “Terra nova, America vel Brasilia sive Papagelli Terra,” and the fifth “Brasilia inferior.” The globe is richly decorated in colors, and its numerous descriptive legends, most of them in Latin, give such geographical information as may be found in most of the important maps of this early period.193
Fig. 44. Western Hemisphere of Johann Schöner’s Globe, 1520.
In 1523 Schöner issued a little tract of four pages which he called ‘De nuper sub Castiliae ac Portugaliae Regibus Serenissimis repertis Insulis ac Regionibus, Joannis Schöner Charolipolitani epistola et Globus Geographicus, seriem navigationum annotantibus. Clarissimo atque disertissimo viro Dño Rymero de Streytpergk, ecclesiae Babenbergensis Canonico dictae. Timiripae, Anno Incarnat. Dni. 1523.’ ‘An epistle of John Schöner of Carlstadt concerning the islands and regions recently discovered by the Most Serene Kings of Castile and of Portugal, and a geographical globe for the use of marking the course of those navigations. Dedicated to the most distinguished and eloquent Reymer von Streytperg, canon of the Church of Bamberg. Timiripae (Kirch-ehrenbach). In the year of the Lord’s incarnation 1523.’194 Though Schöner alone gives us such information as we possess concerning this globe, it has been the subject of much controversy, and if recovered it doubtless would prove to be an object of much interest. There is, in the opinion of the author, scarcely the slightest ground for accepting the conclusions of Henry Stevens and Professor v. Wieser, 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 Schöner of 1523, are of Schönerian origin. The critical studies of Harrisse are sufficiently convincing to set this question at rest.195 Schöner 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 extraordinary to the reader may appear more likely, when thus illustrated, I have been at the pains to construct this globe, having copied a very accurate one which an ingenious Spaniard has sent to a person of distinction. I do not however wish to set aside the globe I constructed some time since, as it fully showed all that had, at that time, been discovered: so that the former, as far as it goes, agrees with the latter. Please then to accept this globe in the same friendly spirit in which I undertook to construct it for your gratification. But I am sure you will not despise my humble attempt. Farewell.”196 This statement assures us that he had constructed a globe at the time of issuing his tract, and it gives us a fairly definite idea of its New World configurations, and further, that in the main it agreed with his earlier globes. It seems probable, however, that in some manner he indicated an Asiatic connection of the new lands, an idea which is so frequently expressed in the maps of the next quarter of a century, especially in the globe maps, an idea not to be finally set at rest until the discovery of Bering put an end to the controversy.
Fig. 44a. Anonymous Globe Gores, ca. 1540.
How Schöner, and others, came to the conclusion that “Parias” (North America) is not “a large independent portion of the earth in that fourth part of the world,” but has an Asiatic connection, and how they set down that conclusion in their maps will receive consideration in the following chapter.
Though not a maker of globes, in so far as we have definite knowledge, Albrecht Dürer turned his attention to the drafting of maps, two of which have for us here 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, which Dürer is said to have engraved. While the map itself is of little importance it is of interest as an attempt to represent in perspective a spherical earth.197
Fig. 45. Stabius World Globe Map, 1515.
Dürer likewise undertook the drafting and engraving of a celestial map (Fig. 46), than which of this character there appears to be none earlier 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 not have been for him a difficult proposition. He, with others of this time, was giving thought to the problem of globe-gore construction.
Fig. 46. Northern Celestial Hemisphere of Albrecht Dürer.
