Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Volume I Part 7

Chapter VI

Globes of the Early Sixteenth Century

Summary 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.-Waldseemuller's map and globe.-Liechtenstein globes.-Buchlin reference.-Globus Mundi.-Welt Kugel.-Lenox globe.-Jagellonicus globe.-Hauslab.-Green globe of Paris.-Nordenskiold gores.-So-called Leonardo da Vinci gores.-Boulengier gores.-Acton globes.-Globes of Magellan and of del Cano.-Globes of Schoner.

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 ma.n.u.script, 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. 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 a.s.surance of interest in such instruments in the use that was made of them for ill.u.s.trative purposes, and for decoration. Terrestrial and celestial globes, as well as armillary spheres, frequently appeared on t.i.tle-pages (Figs. 26, 27), in paintings (Fig. 28), or const.i.tuted a part of library furnishings (Fig.

29).[124]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 26. t.i.tle-page of Johann Schoner's Terrae Descriptio, 1518.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 27. Second t.i.tle-page of Mauro Fiorentino's Sphera Volgare, 1537.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 28. Holbein's Amba.s.sadors, ca. 1536.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 Germa.n.u.s 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 ma.n.u.script, 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 Denza[131] 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 princ.i.p.al winds in the Italian language. Along the outer edge of this horizon circle is the following inscription, "Daniel Cha.s.signet. 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 princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.sure 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 makers[135] is in reality due the Rosselli family of Italy, particularly Francesco Rosselli.

Fiorini likewise alludes to a letter written by Friar Zen.o.bio 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 a.s.sistance 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 Schoner, 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 ma.n.u.script 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...o...b..s 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 b.a.l.l.s 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 quant.i.tate 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, "Henric.u.m de Bunau dies vita audini defunctum, sed libros eius et glob.u.m 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 workshop 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 Waldseemuller.

Since the discovery in 1902 of the long-lost Waldseemuller 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 Waldseemuller (ca. 1470-1522 ca.), whose name, according to the practice of the time, was cla.s.sicized as Hylacomylus.[142] So significant was the influence of Waldseemuller in the mapping of the New World that a somewhat detailed word concerning him may here well be given. When Duke Rene 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. Die 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. Die coterie none was more prominent than Jean Ba.s.sin 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 Waldseemuller, 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 Stra.s.sburg.[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, Waldseemuller 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 s.p.a.cium."[150] "I think you know already that I am on the point of printing in the town of St. Die (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 Waldseemuller 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 factu est vt me libros Ptholomei ad exeplar Grecu quorunda ope p virili recognoscete & quatuor Americi Vespucii navigationu l.u.s.tratioes adiiciete: totius...o...b..s typu ta in solido q?plano (velut preuiam quanda ysagogen) p comuno studiosoru 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."

Waldseemuller says further, wherein he gives a description of his new map, "Propositum est hoc libello quandam Cosmographie introductione scribere; quam nos tam in solido q? plano depinximus. In solido quidem s.p.a.cio 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."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 31. World Map of Martin Waldseemuller, 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 Waldseemuller'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 lat.i.tude and longitude are marked. As a t.i.tle to a lithographic reproduction of this map issued some years since by the Prince, is the subscription "Erster gedruckter Globus. Martin Hylocomylus (Waltzemuller). Gehort wahrscheinlich zo seinem 1509 herausgegebenen Buche Globus Mundi." "First printed globe. Martin Hylacomylus (Waltzemuller). Probably belonging to his Globus Mundus which appeared in 1509."[156]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 32. Globe Gores Attributed to Martin Waldseemuller, 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 Schoner of Nurnberg, 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.

Waldseemuller 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 Stra.s.sburg in the year 1509, there appears to be a reference to a globe which may be that constructed by Waldseemuller. 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 t.i.tle of this tract reads, "Diss buchlin saget wie die zwe durchluchtigste herre her Fernandus, K. zu Castilien und herr Emanuel, K. zu. Portugal haben das weyte mor ersuchet unnd funden vil Insulen unnd ein Nuwe welt von wilden nackenden Leuten vormals vnbekant." "Gedruct zu Stra.s.sburg durch Johane Gruniger Im Iar M.CCCCC.IX vff Letare. Wie du aber dye Kugel du beschreibung der gantzenn welt verston soltt wurst die hernach finden vnnd lesen." "This little book relates how the two most ill.u.s.trious 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. .h.i.therto unknown." "Printed at Stra.s.sburg by Johann Gruniger. 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 Gruniger 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 t.i.tle seems to a.s.sure us that it was prepared to accompany a real globe.

This t.i.tle reads, "Globus mundi Declaratio siue descriptio mundi et totius...o...b..s terrarum. globulo rotundo comparati vt spera solida. Qua cuiuis etia mediocriter docto ad oculu videre licet antipodes esse, quos pedes nostris oppositi sunt." "Valete feliciter ex Argentina ultima Augusti. Anno post natu salutatore. M.D.ix. Johannes gruniger 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, Stra.s.sburg on the last day of August A.D. 1509. Printed by Johann Gruniger. 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 Glarea.n.u.s as well as to Waldseemuller.

There is still a third volume printed by Gruniger in this year, 1509, which, however, appears to be but little more than a German translation of the 'Globus Mundi.' The t.i.tle, slightly altered, reads, "Der welt kugel Beschrybung der Welt und dess gatzen Erttreichs hie angezogt und vergleicht einer rotunden kugeln die dan sunderlich gemacht hie zu geh.o.r.ede darin der Kauffma und ein ietlicher sehen und mercken mag wie die menschen unde gege uns wone un wie die son umbgang, herin beschriben mit vil seltzame dinge (wood cut of globe) Getrucht zu Stra.s.sburg. 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 Stra.s.sburg. By Johann Gruniger in the year 1509 at easter. Johann Adelpho corrector."[161] This can as confidently be taken to refer to a real globe as the t.i.tle 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 t.i.tle-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 "Nuw 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 33. Globus Mundi, 1509.]

The Lenox globe[163] 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 princ.i.p.al lat.i.tudes 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 const.i.tutes 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"

(j.a.pan), 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."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 34. Lenox Globe, 1510.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 const.i.tutes 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 pa.s.sing 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 Waldseemuller 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 Waldseemuller's suggestion as to the name America, but a belief that America was actually located in this particular region. In his chapter on climates Waldseemuller says, "Atq? in s.e.xto climate Antarcticu versus & pars extrema Africae nuper reperta & Zamzibar Iauva minor & Seula insule & quarta orbis pars (quam quia Americus inveuit Amerigen quasi Americi terra siue America 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, Waldseemuller notes what Pomponius Mela has to say concerning "these southern climates," that is, concerning this antipodal region.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 36. Jagellonicus Globe, 1510.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 bra.s.s, 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 Schoner; 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 Schoner 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 Schoner 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 Bibliotheque 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 lat.i.tude and longitude are marked in red, and at intervals of ten degrees. The prime meridian is made to pa.s.s through the Cape Verde Islands, islands referred to as "Insule Portugalensium invente anno Domini 1472." This globe shows a striking resemblance to those of Schoner of 1515, a fact which has led Marcel to refer it to the Schonerian school, though not to attribute it directly to Schoner 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 Schoner called "Brasilie regio" on his globe of 1515, and "Brasilia inferior" on his globe of 1520.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 38. The Green Globe, 1515.]

Nordenskiold has described a set of twelve globe gores, engraved on wood, belonging to his own collection, which he a.s.signs 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 Bibliotheque Nationale, and one, as noted, in the possession of Nordenskiold. 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 Schoner 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 Apia.n.u.s, 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 Schonerian type, which we may also characterize as Lusitano-Germanic.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 39. Liechtenstein Globe Gores, ca. 1518.]