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Terrestrial & Celestial Globes. Edward Luther Stevenson
Читать онлайн.Название Terrestrial & Celestial Globes
Год выпуска 0
isbn 4064066382780
Автор произведения Edward Luther Stevenson
Жанр Математика
Издательство Bookwire
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