Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Volume I Part 19

"Many imaginary islands, in the Atlantic, are retained on the globe: including 'Frisland,' 'Buss Ins,' 'Brasil,' 'Maidas,' 'Heptapolis,' 'St.

Brandan.' On the eastern side of North America are the countries of Florida, Virginia, and Norumbega; and also a large town of Norumbega up a gulf full of islands.

"The learned Dr. Dee had composed a treatise on the t.i.tle of Queen Elizabeth to Norumbega; and in modern times Professor Horsford has written a memoir to identify Norumbega with a site up the Charles River, near Boston. On the Atlantic, near the American coast, is the following legend 'Virginia primum l.u.s.trata, habitata, et cultu ab Anglis impensis D. Gualteri de Ralegh Equitis Aurati ammenti Elizabethae Angliae Reginae.' ('Virginia first surveyed, inhabited and cultivated by the English at the expense of Sir Walter Raleigh, Knight, subsidized by the gold of Elizabeth Queen of England.')

"A legend in the Pacific Ocean furnishes direct evidence that information, for compiling the globe was supplied by Sir Walter Raleigh.

It is in Spanish: 'Islas estas descubrio Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa por la Corona de Castella y Leon desde el ano 1568 llamolas Islas de Jesus aunque vulfarmente las llaman Islas de Salomon.' ('Pedro Sarmiento of Gamboa discovered these islands in the year 1568 for the crown of Castile and Leon calling them the Islands of Jesus though they are commonly called the Salomon Islands.')

"Pedro Sarmiento was the officer who was sent to fortify the Strait of Magellan after Drake had pa.s.sed through. He was taken prisoner by an English ship on his way to Spain, and was the guest of Raleigh in London for several weeks, so that it must have been on information communicated by Raleigh that the statement respecting Sarmiento on this legend was based.

"Besides 'Insulae Salmonis' there are two islands in the Pacific, 'Y Sequenda de los Tubarones,' and 'San Pedro,' as well as the north coast of New Guinea, with the names given on Mercator's map.

"Cavendish also appears to have given a.s.sistance, or possibly Molyneux himself accompanied that circ.u.mnavigator in his voyage of 1587. The words of a legend off the Patagonian coast seem to countenance this idea, reading, 'Thomas Caundish 18 Dec. 1587 haec terra sub nostris oculis primum obtulit sub lat.i.tud 47 cujus seu admodum salubris Incolae maturi ex parte proceri sunt gigantes et vasti magnitudinis.'

"The great southern continent is made to include Tierra del Fuego and the south coast of Magellan's Strait, and extends over the greater part of the south frigid zone.

"S. Matheo, an island in the Atlantic, south of the line, was visited by the Spanish ships under Loaysa and Sebastian del Cano, but has never been seen since. It appears on the globe. In the south Atlantic there are painted a sea-serpent, a whale, Orpheus riding on a dolphin, and ships under full sail-fore and main courses and topsails, a sprit sail, and the mizzen with a long lateen yard.

"The track of the voyage of Sir Francis Drake and Master Thomas Cavendish round the world are shown, the one by a red and the other by a blue line. That these tracks were put on when the globe was first made is proved by the reference to them in Blundeville's 'Exercises.'

"The name of the author of the globe is thus given: 'Emerum Mullineus Angl. sumptibus Guilelm Sanderson Londinensis descripsit.'"

Markham likewise tells us that the celestial globe, in its general features, closely resembles the terrestrial. It carries the same arms of Sanderson, and the same label of Newton, but a briefer dedication to the Queen. It appears that the map was engraved and printed by Hondius of Amsterdam, since it carries the brief legend "Judocus Hondius Fon. Sc."

In addition to the Molyneux globes in the Middle Temple, a pair may be found in the Royal Museum of Ca.s.sel. A detailed description of this pair it has not been possible to obtain.

Jost Burgi, a native of Lichtensteig in the Toggenburg, Switzerland, was born in the year 1552 and died in Ca.s.sel in the year 1632.[365] Early in life he became a clock maker's apprentice, and for some time was engaged with Dasypodius in the construction of the famous Stra.s.sburg Cathedral clock. In the year 1579 he was called to the court of Landgrave William IV in Ca.s.sel, under whose patronage he won great distinction as a maker of astronomical and mathematical instruments. In the year 1603 he was called into the service of the Emperor at Prague, but in the year 1631 he returned to Ca.s.sel, where he died in the following year. Burgi, skilful workman that he was, seems not to have found time to tell in words of his various activities. "He found pleasure in work," says one of his biographers, and left it for others to write of his attainments, which, it may here be said, they seem not to have done in a very detailed manner.

Landgrave William's interest in the promotion of scientific studies led him to the founding of a museum to which he made numerous contributions of apparatus, mathematical and astronomical. This museum, in the course of years, became one of the most famous of its kind in all Europe, and indeed remains such to this day. In its collections the work of Burgi is well represented, which in the quality of the workmanship exhibited, as in the interest it awakens by reason of its place as a nucleus around which so much of value has been gathered, is unsurpa.s.sed.

Among the first of his instruments may be mentioned an astronomical clock, elaborately wrought, with movable discs and circles for ill.u.s.trating the movements of the heavenly bodies, and surmounted with an engraved celestial globe, which, driven by clockwork, is made to turn on its axis once in twenty-four hours. It seems evident that Burgi constructed other clocks of like character, supplied, as is this example, with a celestial globe.

In this same Museum of Ca.s.sel there is a second celestial globe, the work of Burgi, which was begun in the year 1585, and not entirely completed until the year 1693 by Heinrich van Lannep. This copper sphere, 72 cm. in diameter, is remarkably well preserved. It has a heavy bra.s.s meridian circle to which is attached an engraved hour circle 46 cm. in diameter. A large bra.s.s semicircle intersects this meridian circle at right angles through the north pole, and is attached to the horizon circle at its extremities. The instrument rests upon an artistic and substantial bra.s.s support. On the surface of the sphere are engraved the princ.i.p.al celestial circles, including the colures, the equator, the tropics, the polar circles, the ecliptic, and twelve parallels. The stars, of which the largest are distinguished by a bit of inlaid silver, and the several figures of the constellations which are very artistically engraved, are clearly the work of a master.

A third globe of gilded bra.s.s, containing clockwork within by means of which it is made to revolve and apparently the work of Burgi, may also be found in this Ca.s.sel collection. A small silver sun, movable along the equator, is mechanically attached in such manner as to serve admirably for demonstrative purposes. The engraved surface of the globe is equal in its artistic merits to that of the copper globe referred to above.

There is yet a fourth metal globe in this collection, apparently the work of Burgi, which is not gilded. In other respects it is said to resemble the one designated above as the third globe. Kepler is said to have held in the highest esteem the scientific work of Burgi, and to have placed him, within his field, as high as he did Albrecht Durer among artists. There appears to be good reason for attributing the invention of the pendulum clock to Jost Burgi, and that before 1600 he had proved this method of clock regulation practical.

Among the numerous and interesting treasures to be found in the Landesmuseum of Zurich is a terrestrial globe (Fig. 80) having neither name of maker nor date of construction, but belonging, undoubtedly, to the late sixteenth century.[366] The sphere has a diameter of about 121 cm., is mounted on a substantial wooden base, and appears to have been made for the monastery of St. Gall, from which place it was taken to Zurich in the year 1712. On the semicircular arms which support the equatorial circle are represented the armorial bearings of the abbey and monks of St. Gall, and the date in gold, 1595, which may refer to the date of construction or to the date when it was placed in the monastery.

On the equatorial circle one finds represented the signs of the zodiac, the calendar, the names of the saints and of the winds. On the heavy meridian circle are indicated the climatic zones and the degrees of lat.i.tude. The prime meridian is made to pa.s.s through the Azores Islands.

The sphere is of papier-mache and plaster, on which the engraved gores are mounted. The seas have been colored green, the lands a dull yellow, the mountain ranges brown. Numerous barbaric kings are represented in picture, likewise numerous animals of land and sea, and ships artistically drawn sail hither and thither over the oceans. The austral continent is wanting. Marcel especially notes the striking resemblance of the globe map to the Mercator map of 1569, suggesting the possibility of its Mercatorian origin, in support of which suggestion he quotes a number of geographical names as well as certain legends. The globe, it appears, has never been critically studied, but is clearly an interesting geographical monument of the period.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 80. Anonymous Terrestrial Globe, ca. 1595.]

The making of globe-goblets in the latter half of the sixteenth century and early seventeenth appears to have been in response to a fashion especially p.r.o.nounced in South Germany, although their construction was not limited to that region. Not a few of such globes are extant, which are fine examples of the metal worker's art, having, however, a decorative rather than a scientific value.

Professor Fischer gives us an interesting description of such a goblet of gilded silver (Fig. 81), dating from the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century, and it is from his account that the following reference is taken.[367] This piece he p.r.o.nounces the most valuable treasure in the plate room of the princely castle of Wolfegg, to which castle it was the author's privilege to pay a most interesting visit more than a decade ago. The globe was long considered a christening gift from the Emperor Francis to his G.o.dson Francis of the Waldburg zu Wolfegg princely family and was supposed to date from the end of the eighteenth century. Professor Fischer, however, found this "globis terrestris" referred to in a testament dated January 17, 1779, with instructions that it, with certain other treasures, should not be recast or otherwise altered from its ancient form. It was at that time recognized as a masterpiece, but from the hands of an unknown master, and not until recently was it definitely determined to be the work of the Zurich goldsmith, Abraham Gessner (1552-1613). "Gessner appears to have manufactured his globe-goblets," says Fischer, "not in response to orders previously given, but in the regular pursuit of his trade. At a time when rich merchants and scholars took such a lively interest in geography, and the opening up of new countries, he could count upon a market all the more readily because his goblets were made with the utmost care in every detail and were perfect examples of the various branches of the goldsmith's art; casting, embossing, chasing, engraving, and solid gilding."[368]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 81. Globe-Goblet of Abraham Gessner, ca. 1600.]

The goblet is 58 cm. in height. Its larger globe, a terrestrial, is composed of two hemispheres joined on the line of the equator, and has a diameter of 17 cm. The support is a standing figure of Atlas, which also serves as a stem of the lower half or the lower goblet, just as the celestial sphere with its support which tops the piece serves as the stem of the upper half or upper goblet.

The oceans, lakes, and rivers have a silver surface, while the continents, islands, sea monsters, sailing vessels, princ.i.p.al parallels, and meridians are gilded. The continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and the "terra australis sive Magallanica" have their outlines drawn in the main as they appear on Mercator's map of 1569. While certain recent discoveries as "Nowaja Semlja" (Nova Zembla) are represented, it does not appear that Gessner was inclined to insist on his map records being laid down with the strictest accuracy as to geographical detail.

The celestial globe topping the goblet is given an artistic setting. It is furnished with horizon, meridian, and hour circles. The several constellations represented on the surface of the sphere are, through gilding, given special prominence, their execution, like other parts of the piece, being of the finest workmanship.

The figure of Atlas supporting the globes exhibits skill in its construction. It stands with one foot slightly advanced, with the right hand extended upward as if to catch the ball should it fall from the head of the figure. The hair and the beard are gilded, as is also the drapery, one end of which hangs loosely over the right shoulder, while the other covers the front of the body and is held in the left hand at the back, being made to serve in part as a support.

Fischer calls attention to two globe-goblets belonging to the University of Basel and to one privately owned; to one in the town hall of Rappoltsweiler; one in what was formerly the Rothschild Collection of Frankfurt, and to one in the Museum of Stockholm, once the property of Gustavus Adolphus, which probably is the one elsewhere referred to; and he also calls attention to an undated globe-goblet, purchased in Paris in the year 1901 by the Swiss National Museum of Zurich for the sum of forty-two thousand francs. It had previously been referred to by Marcel as the work of Gessner, in proof of which he noted that it bears the mark of this goldsmith, the same being the letter "Z." The terrestrial globe, like that of Wolfegg, has a diameter of 17 cm., the whole being very artistically designed and engraved. It, too, is surmounted by a celestial globe and rests on a figure of Atlas, which figure in turn stands upon an ornamental base. Each of the two globes can be opened on the line of the equator, thus practically making four drinking cups. On the terrestrial globe, Marcel notes, California is represented as an island. Near "Nova Guinea" one finds the inscription "Nova Guinea semper inventa qual ... insula an pars continentas australis." A large austral land is represented with the inscription "Hanc continentem australem nonvulli Magelanicam regionem ab ejus inventore nuncupant." The absence of the Strait of Lemaire and of New Zealand, with the representation of the austral land with more or less indefinite outline, Marcel thinks warrants a belief that it was constructed near the close of the sixteenth century. Attention is likewise called by Marcel in his article to three other small globes which he found in the Museum des Cordeliers of Basel, and also to one "tres beau et tres riche" in the Musee Ariana of Geneva.

A very artistic gold beaker globe (Fig. 82) may be found in the collection presented by Mr. J. P. Morgan to the Metropolitan Museum of New York City. The sphere of this, which opens on the line of the ecliptic, has a diameter of 8 cm. and rests upon the figure of a satyr with uplifted hands forming a part of the support, this figure in turn resting upon an ornamental circular base. Topping the sphere is a small figure of Neptune carrying a trident and standing in a sh.e.l.l or conventionalized small boat. The engraved figures of the many constellations decorate the surface of the sphere.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 82. Gold Globe-Goblet, ca. 1575.]

In the private library of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan may be found a fine example of an ivory terrestrial globe of this period (Fig. 83). It is hollow, being composed of two hemispheres joined on the line of the equator, and has a diameter of about 8 cm. Near the south pole is the author and date legend (Figs. 84, 84a) "Antonius Spano tropiensis fecit 1593." "Made by Antonio Spano of Tropea, 1593." In the unnamed southern continent, and over a representation of the Spanish arms, is the dedication to the Infante Philip, afterward Philip III, reading "Principi Philip. Philip II Hisp. Indiar. Neap. e Siciliae Cathol. Regis Filio," and within the Antarctic circle a salutation reading "Princeps felicissime totus...o...b..s ad se gubernandum te vocat et expectat." "O most fortunate ruler, the whole world calls and awaits you to govern it."

Antonio, a native of Tropea, near Naples, was granted in the year 1595 a pension of one hundred ducats, by his master and patron, Philip II. This he seems to have enjoyed until his death, which occurred in Madrid in the year 1615. We learn that this was continued to his son, Francisco Spano, by King Philip III. The mounting of the globe, which is simple, seems to be of a later date than that given as the year of construction in the date legend, but it is well suited to the artistic piece. The world map is well executed, and may be said to be in a perfect state of preservation. Its geographical details, in so far as given, are quite as good as the best to be found at this time, though it is very evident that the piece was primarily intended to possess decorative rather than scientific value. The Mediterranean region gives us in its general features a representation of the Ptolemaic ideas, particularly to be observed in the representation of Italy and the Caspian Sea. In Chinese Asia appears a legend reading, "Hic artem impremendi ante mille anos habuerunt." "Here they had the art of printing a thousand years ago."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 83. Ivory Terrestrial Globe of Antonio Spano, 1593.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 84. South Polar Region on Globe of Antonio Spano, 1593.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 84a. South Polar Region on Globe of Jodocus Hondius, 1600.]

In "Ratai" (Katai) a flag is represented reminding of Marco Polo, and near this the legend "His magnus Cham Tartarorum et Chataiae imperator longe dominatur."

In this Asiatic region we find such names as "Tabin," "Ania," "Quinsai,"

"Catigara," "Zaiton," "India Orientalis." "Stretto Anian" appears as a long channel. In Africa we read, "His Imperator magnus Presbyter Africae Rex potentis mus." In the New World we find "America sive India nova," which is not connected with Asia. The coast in the northern regions is better drawn than in the southern. The St. Lawrence River is represented, but the Great Lakes are omitted. "Estland," "Frisland," and "St. Brandan" are laid down. The austral land, as represented, is very large, being designated "Terra Australis: Vastissimas his esse regiones ex M. Pauli Ven. et Lud. Vartomani scriptis perigrinationibus constat."

"Austral land: here is known to be a very extensive region referred to in the travel records of Marco Polo and of Ludovico Vartema." Mr.

Beazley says of the globe that it once belonged to the Kempenaer family of Leenwarden, and was later acquired by Mr. H. J. Pfungst through the firm of Miller & Company of Amsterdam.[369] It later pa.s.sed into the library of Mr. Morgan.

As noted at the beginning of this chapter, leadership in globe and map making, in the closing years of the century, was pa.s.sing into the Netherlands, which in the second quarter of the century had contributed in this field of scientific endeavor the great Mercator. His influence, as was also noted, found its way into Italy and into favor with certain globe makers, although the individualistic spirit of the Italians seemed to show a marked preference for ma.n.u.script and engraved metal globes. In the front rank of those who were to lead the Low Countries into their place of preeminence stood the Van Langren family, the father, Jacobus Florentius, as he was accustomed to call himself, and the sons, Arnoldus Florentius, Henricus Florentius, and Michael Florentius.[370] The father was a native of Denmark, but sometime prior to 1580 he transferred his residence to Arnhem in Gelderland, and later to Amsterdam. Legends on his oldest extant globe give us to understand that at the time of its construction he labored jointly with his son Arnold in this work, these legends reading "Jacobus Florentius Ultrajectensis autor," and "Arnoldus Florentius filius sculptor Amstelodami 1585," that is, the father was the author and the son was the engraver.

In the early seventeenth century the family left Amsterdam, going to Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. Here in the year 1609, according to an Antwerp record, Arnold constructed a "Sphaera Mundi," which he dedicated to the chief magistrate of that city, receiving therefor 120 Artois livres. It probably was not long after this date that he was appointed Globe Maker of the Archdukes, a t.i.tle he retained until the death of the Archduke Albert in the year 1621, and a somewhat later record tells us that he was honored shortly after that event by an appointment to the office of Royal Cosmographer and Pensioner of His Majesty the Catholic King. Michael became a resident of Brussels, where he carried on his work as an engraver, particularly of maps, but it was as an astronomer that he won special distinction, having given much attention to the investigations of methods for the determination of longitude and he is further credited with having given the so-called seas of the moon the names by which they are still known.

As globe maker perhaps the greater honor is due Jacobus Florentius, since it appears that Arnold, though perhaps the more active, reproduced in the main only the works of his father, adding improvement here and there and endeavoring, perhaps in part for business reasons, to keep his globe maps up to date. Reference has been made above to the oldest extant Van Langren globe, which bears the date 1585. Van der Aa refers to a request of Arnold Floris van Langelaer and of his father, Jacob Floris van Langelaer, presented to the States of Gelderland and accompanying a copy of his globe, which seems to have been dated 1580.

Of this globe it is stated that it was "een seer correcte ende schoone Glob.u.m terrestrem, van de grootste forme," and that it was inscribed as is that of the year 1585. A doubt, however, arises as to the accuracy of the date 1580, since Van der Aa states in the same article that Arnoldus was born in the year 1571. This particular globe was formerly kept in the "Geldersch Gerichtshof," as Van Ha.s.selt tells us, but since the destruction of that court nothing has been known of the inventory of the objects which had been placed therein. In support, however, of an early date, perhaps 1580, for the first Van Langren globe, we find in the dedication of a work by Nicolas Petri, published in the year 1588, and issued as a manual for the use of globes, that it was especially made for the use of a Van Langren globe. In this work the author is represented in picture in the act of examining a globe, a picture practically the same as that appearing in a work by Petri issued in the year 1583. It seems, therefore, not to be an erroneous inference that the author gives us here a representation of the Van Langren globe of 1580, which is wanting much in the accuracy with which its details are given.

The globe of 1585, referred to above as the oldest extant of Van Langren, may be found in the collection of the Museo dell' Osservatorio del Collegio Romano (Fig. 84). The dedication under an elaborately colored coat of arms of Denmark reads, "Serenissimo atque potentissimo Principi Domino D. Christiano nn. Daniae Norvegiae Vandalorum et Gothorum Regi Duci Slesvivi Holsatiae Stormariae et Dithmortiae Comiti Oldenburgi et Del menorsti Jacobus Florentius dedicabat." "To the Most Serene and mighty Prince Lord D. Christian King of Denmark, Norway, the Wends and the Goths, Duke of Schleswick Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsh, Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst (this globe) is dedicated by Jacobus Florent." The usual letter to the reader or to the one who might have occasion to make use of the globe gives the information: "In descriptione hujus globi ubiq: sequuti sumus castigatissimas Tabulas geographicas quibus Hispani et Lusitani in suis americis et indicis navigationibus utantur; aliorumque probatissimas Septentrionalium regionum descriptiones. De nostro suis locis addidimus quadrata ut vocant nautica et ventorum regiones quae omnia ad usum navigantium ad amussim accomodavimus quaemadmodum Geographiae candidati propius inspiciendo reperient. Vale fruere." "In the construction of this globe I have everywhere made use of the most accurate geographical tables, such as were used by the Spaniards and the Portuguese in their voyages to America and the East Indies; as also for the northern regions the very best drawings of others. My own contribution has been to insert in the proper places the nautical squares, as they are called, and the directions of the winds, all of which I have carefully adapted to the need of the navigator, as experts in geography will, on examination, recognize. Farewell and may you be happy." In a cartouch on the left we read "Jacobus Florentius Ultrajectensis autor," and on the right "Arnoldus Florentius filius sculptor Amstelodami 1585." The sphere, which is hollow, is constructed of wooden strips covered with a preparation of plaster. It has a diameter of about 32 cm. and is therefore slightly smaller than is the Mercator globe of 1541. It is furnished with a graduated bra.s.s meridian circle and with a horizon circle of the same material, which is supported by four arms or quadrants upheld by a simple base. The engraved gores pasted on the ball are twelve in number and extend to within twenty degrees of the poles, the remaining s.p.a.ce being covered with an engraved circular disc, in accord with a method first employed by Mercator. The surface of the globe is not well preserved, yet notwithstanding the injuries which time has brought to it, it remains a masterpiece of engraving and a valuable geographical record of that early day. Its numerous inscriptions are of much interest. We read, for example, in lat.i.tude 35 degrees south and longitude 185 degrees, "Vastissimas hic esse regiones ex M. Pauli Veneti et Ludovico Vartomanni scriptis peregrinationibus liquido constat." "The voyage of Marco Polo and of Ludovico Varthema make it certain that an enormous territory exists here." In lat.i.tude 16 degrees south and longitude 175 degrees is the legend, "Moluccae vocantur 5 insulae ordine postiae juxta Gilolo quarum suprema Tarenare deinceps Tidore Motir Machiam et infima Bachiam." "The Moluccas is the name given to the five islands in a row close to Gilolo, the uppermost of which is Tarenare, then Tidore, Motir, Machiam, and the lowest Bachiam." In lat.i.tude 10 degrees south and longitude 348 degrees we read, "Maranon fluvius investus fuit a Vincentio Yanes Pinzon an: 1499 et an: 1542 totus a fontibus fere ad ostia usq: divulgatus a Francesco Oregliana leucis 1560 mensibus 8 dulces in mari servat aquas usque 40 leucis."

"The Amazon River was discovered by Vicente Yanez Pinzon in 1499, while in 1542 Francisco Orellana explored it a distance of 1560 leagues or almost its entire length from source to mouth in eight months. In the sea its waters are still fresh forty leagues from land." The following is placed in lat.i.tude 28 degrees north and longitude 320 degrees, "A. D.

1492. 12 octobris Christophorus Columbus novam Indiam nomine regis Castellae delexit, prima terra quam conquisit fuit Haiti nunc Hispaniola." "October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus took possession of New India in the name of the King of Castile. The first land he conquered was called Haiti now called Hispaniola." In lat.i.tude 65 degrees north and longitude 230 degrees is the legend, "Regio deserta in qua equi oves et boves silvestres sunt plurimi quales esse in una Hebridum insularum narratur." "A desert country in which there are a great many wild horses, sheep and cattle, as is said to be the case in one of the Hebrides."

That this Van Langren globe was well received by his contemporaries seems to be witnessed by the special privilege granted September 9, 1592, to Jacobus Florentius a Langren by the Estates of Amsterdam to issue the same.[371] On presenting his request for the privilege the author states that he was the inventor of globes of this character, that his globes were unsurpa.s.sed in the matter of correctness by any which had been previously issued, and that with the aid of his globes certain Dutch navigators had sailed to Pernambuco in Brazil, to the island of St. Thomas under the equator, to the Isle de Principe and to other places. This privilege was renewed to him and to his sons Arnoldus and Henricus in the year 1596. In the following year the Estates General granted a privilege to Jodocus Hondius, who had constructed a globe in England in the year 1593, of which, however, no example appears now to be known. The Van Langrens contested this claim at law, the results of which contest seem not to be recorded, but we know that Jodocus Hondius enumerated at this time what he considered to be the particular points in which his own globes excelled.[372] In his report he enumerated no less than fourteen important geographical discoveries which were not represented on the globes of his opponents, the Van Langrens, the majority of which, as corrections, seem to have been accepted, since they appear on the later Van Langren globes and not on the earlier, that is, on the one of 1585.

The Kon. Nederl. Aardrijkskundig Genootschap has recently come into possession of the finest known example of the Van Langren globes (Fig.

85), as indeed it is one of the finest extant globes of that period.[373] The engraved gores, twelve in number, are pasted on a hollow sphere of papier-mache and plaster, having a diameter of 52.8 cm.

It is furnished with a graduated copper meridian circle within which it is adjusted to revolve, a horizon circle of wood on which appear the names of the winds in Greek, Latin, and Dutch, the names of the months, the names of the princ.i.p.al feast days, and the signs of the zodiac, the whole resting on a base of oak having six supporting columns. As an example of the engraver's art the map which covers the sphere is one of superior excellence. A ma.n.u.script dedication, pasted on its surface near the "Mar di India" and surmounted by a representation of the Spanish coat of arms, reads, "Collegio Ratiociniorum Brabanti regnantibus; Alberto et Isabellae Opt. Max. Belgii Principibus. Singulari observantia Dedicabat Arnoldus Florentinus a Langren. Ano Dni 1612." "To the College of Computations of Brabant, to Albert and Isabella, the very great Princes of Belgium, Arnold Florentius van Langren dedicates with great respect (this globe) in the year 1612." Beneath "Nova Guinea" is given the privilege "Cautum est privilegio ordinum Confoederatorum Inferioris Germaniae, ne quis alius ad decennium glob.u.m hunc terrestrem absq. consensu Jacobi Florentii civis Amsteldamen. typis mandare vel simili, vel alia forma excudere, vel alibi impressum adducere, aut vendere ausit, sub poena in diplomate statuta, 1608." "Warning is given by the privilege (copyright) of the Confederated States of the Netherlands that no other individual for a period of ten years, shall venture to print in similar or in other form, to stamp (engrave) or make an impression, or to sell, under penalty set down in the diploma, 1608."

In this legend the date 1608 has been written over the engraved date 1597.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 85. Terrestrial Globe of Van Langren, 1612.]

Among the legends appearing in the southern hemisphere is one which is but a repet.i.tion of that appearing in the edition of 1585 referring to the source of information beginning, "In descriptio hujus ..." Beneath the artistic cartouch wherein is placed the last-named legend is one in which are recorded the names of the author and the engraver, "Jacobus Florentius Ultrajectensis Author: Arnoldus Florentius filius sculptor Amstelredami Ao. Dni," the date, partially erased from the copper plate employed in the printing, seems to read 1585. Certain regions are adorned with pictures in which are represented the aborigines, and the local fauna and flora. Sea monsters const.i.tute a part of the decorative features of the globe map, and ships sail hither and thither over the oceans, carrying the flags of their respective countries. The author has laid down the "Streto de Anian" which separated America from Asia, and California is a peninsula. The "Quivira regnum" is made to include a part of western North America, and the great stretch of country to the west of the Mississippi appears to be the home of wild horses and cattle. The eastern coast line of America included within the present limits of the United States is represented with a remarkable approach to accuracy, a portion of his information for that region being derived from the report of Thomas Heriot. Following Mercator there have been placed four large islands around the north pole, and in the north Atlantic "Frisland," "S. Brandain," and "Brasil." India, Australia, and other regions of the Far East have been represented with remarkable faithfulness to the latest and best records of Dutch navigators, and the author profited by Dutch records of exploration in his representation of the Nova Zembla region. There is yet a far from accurate delineation of the great eastern archipelago. Java, Celebes, Borneo, and "Nova Guinea"