Idea Transcript
A World of Innovation
A World of Innovation Cartography in the Time of Gerhard Mercator Edited by
Gerhard Holzer, Valerie Newby, Petra Svatek and Georg Zotti
A World of Innovation: Cartography in the Time of Gerhard Mercator Edited by Gerhard Holzer, Valerie Newby, Petra Svatek and Georg Zotti This book first published 2015 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2015 by Gerhard Holzer, Valerie Newby, Petra Svatek, Georg Zotti and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-7153-2 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7153-2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ................................................................................... viii Introduction ............................................................................................... xii Hans D. Kok 500 Years of Mercator ............................................................................... xv Gerhard Holzer, Valerie Newby, Petra Svatek and Georg Zotti Part 1: Cartography in the Habsburg Empire in the Time of Mercator Chapter One ................................................................................................. 2 “Geographica” from the First Half of the 16th Century Helga Hühnel Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 27 Vienna from the 15th to the Middle of the 16th Century: Topography and Townscape Ferdinand Opll Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 40 The “Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae” (1561) by Wolfgang Lazius Petra Svatek Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 63 16th Century Fortification Atlases of the Habsburg-Ottoman Border Zone Zsolt GyĘzĘ Török Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 84 The Emergence of Early Regional Maps of Hungary and their Influence on the Mercator Maps of Hungary Elmar Csaplovics
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Table of Contents
Part 2: Gerhard Mercator: His “Atlas” and the Cosmography of His Time Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 112 Gerhard Mercator and his Cosmography: How the “Atlas” became an Atlas Peter van der Krogt Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 131 “Intentio totius cosmographiae” Marica Milanesi Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 146 Unpasted: A Guide to Surviving Prints of Mercator’s Nautical Chart of 1569 Patricia Seed Part 3: Gerhard Mercator: Acquaintances and Sources Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 160 Mercator and Ortelius: Two of a Kind? Marcel van den Broecke Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 180 The Scientific Library of Gerhard Mercator Jan de Graeve Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 192 A Royal Source for Mercator: The “Atlas Bruxellensis” by Christiaan Sgrooten Wouter Bracke Part 4: Globes and celestial maps in the time of Mercator Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 214 Celestial Maps and Frontispieces in the Time of Mercator Nick Kanas
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Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 232 Mercator as Cosmographer: His Globes and their Relationship to Astrology Thomas Horst Contributors ............................................................................................. 252 Index ........................................................................................................ 256
Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594) (Library University of Vienna IV-136.236)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1-1: P. Apian / L. Fries, Tipus orbis Universalis iuxta Ptolemei Cosmographi traditionem (…). In: J. Camers: … in C. Julii Solini ennarationes. Wien 1520. Fig. 1-2: A. Vespucci, Von der neuw gefundenen Region … Augsburg 1505. Fig. 1-3: A. Vespucci, Disz Büchlein saget … Straßburg 1509. Fig. 1-4: F. Montalboddo, Itinerariu[m] Portugalle[n]siu[m] … Milan 1508. Fig. 1-5: Westafrika. Tabula II. In: F. Montalboddo, Itinerariu[m] Portugalle[n]siu[m] … Milan 1508. Fig. 1-6: Mexico City and a sketch of the Caribbean before 1522. In: H. Cortés, Praeclara Ferdina(n)di … Nuremberg 1524. Fig. 1-7: Varthema (down to the right) shown on the Münster world map. In: S. Grynäus, Novus orbis regionum … Basel 1555. Fig. 1-8: J. de Sacrobosco, Tractado de la sphera, con muchas additiones. Sevilla 1545. Fig. 1-9: S. Münster, Tabula Asiae VIII. In: Claudii Ptolemaeii … Basel 1542. Fig. 1-10: S. Münster, Novae Insulae XVII Nova Tabula. In: Claudii Ptolemaeii … Basel 1542. Fig. 2-1: Fresco in Gorizia, Palazzo Lantieri: View of Vienna from the North on a Representation of the First Turkish Siege of 1529 (Detail: St. Stephen's Cathedral). Fig. 3-1: Wolfgang Lazius. Fig. 3-2: Title page of the Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae. Fig. 3-3a: Title page of the map of Styria. Fig. 3-3b: Title page of the map of Tyrol. Fig. 3-4: “Ducatus Stirae marchiae”. Fig. 3-5: A grapevine and a bishop’s crook in today’s Italy. Fig. 3-6: Lake Neusiedl. Fig. 3-7: “Regni Francorum orientalis sive Austriae ad Danubium” (section Wiener Neustadt). Fig. 3-8: “Regni Francorum orientalis sive Austriae ad Danubium” (section Marchfeld). Fig. 3-9: North east section of “Peloponnesus ex Pausanio et Strabone descriptus”.
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Fig. 3-10: Olympia and the surrounding area. Fig. 4-1: The geographical location of the Habsburg fortifications along the Habsburg-Ottoman border zone. Only those are marked which were presented in the Angelini atlases. Fig. 4-2: Early photographic reproduction (c. 1930s) of the map of the military district between the Mura and Danube rivers in Hungary Fig. 4-3: The digital reconstruction of Nicolo Angelini's general map of Hungary (c. 1575). Fig. 5-1: Wolfgang Lazius, Regni hungariae descriptio vera 1552/1556 (detail). Fig. 5-2: View of the town of Eisenstadt as depicted in Wolfgang Lazius, Regni hungariae descriptio vera, 1552/1556 (top) and Georg and Jacob Hoefnagel, Eisenstadium, 1617, in Braun-Hogenberg, Civitatis Orbis Terrarum, 1572-1618, vol. 6 (bottom). Fig. 5-3: Gerardus Mercator, Hungaria 1585 (detail). Fig. 5-4: Lake Fertö in the Lazius-Ortelius (Edition 1573, top) and Sambucus-Ortelius (Edition 1579, bottom) maps of Hungary. Fig. 5-5a: Lake Fertö in the Lazius (1552/56) map of Hungary. Fig. 5-5b: Lake Fertö in the Zündt (1567) map of Hungary. Fig. 5-5c: Lake Fertö in the Mercator (1585) map of Hungary. Fig. 5-6a: Lake Balaton in the Lazius (1552/56) map of Hungary. Fig. 5-6b: Lake Balaton in the Zündt (1567) map of Hungary. Fig. 5-6c: Lake Balaton in the Mercator (1585) map of Hungary. Fig. 5-7: Lake Balaton in the Sambucus-Ortelius (1579, top) versus Lazarus-Tramezini (1559, bottom) maps of Hungary. Fig. 5-8: Lake Fertö (Newsidler See) and Lake Balaton (Balaton Lacus) in the map of Hungary by Martin Stier (1664). Fig. 6-1: Title page of Mercator's Atlas, showing Atlas sitting on a mountain and studying globes (from facsimile). Fig. 6-2: A depiction of the Atlante Farnese in the top section of the title page of the atlases of Lafreri (from A.E. Nordenskiöld, Facsimile-atlas, Stockholm 1889). Fig. 6-3: The Atlante Farnese, a 2nd-century Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic sculpture of Atlas kneeling with a celestial globe on his shoulders. Fig. 6-4: Title page of the Atlas Minor (1607), one of the first books to be called an 'atlas'. Above the title a bearded figure carrying the terrestrial globe. Fig. 6-5: The title page of the Atlas Contractus (Jansssonius' heirs, 1666) shows Gerard Mercator, Jodocus Hondius and Johannes Janssonius with in the background a statue of Atlas carrying a celestial globe.
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List of Illustrations
Fig. 6-6: On the title page of Frederick de Wit’s atlas (illustrated is the copy by Justus Danckerts) the figure of Atlas is standing on the Earth and carrying the heavens, depicted as a starry sky. Fig. 8-1: Sheets of a complete Mercator World Map. Fig. 8-2: Maps in the Rotterdam Atlas. Fig. 8-3: Overlay of 12 Rotterdam maps. Fig. 8-4: Cartouche Pages. Fig. 8-5: Breakdown of the sheets used in Mercator’s Atlas of the World in Rotterdam. Top: Number of times sheet appears on separate maps. Bottom: Minimum number of sheets necessary to compile the atlas. Fig. 8-6: Minimum number of surviving sheets by location. Fig. 9-1: Mercator in Catalogus Auctorum of the Theatrum (1579). Fig. 9-2: Mercator’s 9-sheet Flandria map, Leuven, 1540. Fig. 9-3: Names of Mercator and Ortelius as sources on Ortelius’ map of Flanders. Fig. 9-4: Opening text on verso of Ortelius’ world map (Ort1,2,3). Fig. 9-5: Map dedication by Mercator to Ortelius on his 4-sheet wall map of Switzerland. Fig. 9-6: Letter from Mercator to Ortelius, dated 22 November, 1570 and included in all Latin editions of the Theatrum from 1573 onwards. Fig. 9-7: Mercator in Ortelius’ Album Amicorum. Fig. 9-8: Ortelius copied by hand a title page of a book written by Ambrosius de Morales on transparent tracing paper. Fig. 9-9: Mercator’s woodcut in his Literarum Latinarum (1540). Fig. 11-1a: Christiaan Sgrooten, Rhine-Maas delta. Fig. 11-1b: Hieronymus Cock, 16 sea vessels. Fig. 11-2: Gerard Mercator, Zealand. Fig. 11-3: Christiaan Sgrooten, Zealand. Fig. 11-4: Christiaan Sgrooten, mouth of the Scheldt. Fig. 11-5a: Christiaan Sgrooten, Austria. Fig. 11-5b: Gerard Mercator, Austria. Fig. 12-1: “Orbis Coelestis…” The first published chart of two celestial hemispheres centered on the equinoxes that were taken from the Farnese Atlas. Fig. 12-2: The northern celestial hemisphere produced by Albrecht Dürer in 1515. Fig. 12-3: The constellations of Ursa Minor (left) and Ursa Major (right), from the 1579 edition of Piccolomini’s De le Stelle Fisse. Fig. 12-4: An image of the constellation Bootes, from a mid-1600 edition of Bayer’s Uranometria. Note the geocentric orientation and the use of an accurate grid system.
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Fig. 12-5: “Fig. F.” constellations from Hevelius’ Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, first published in 1687. Fig. 12-6: Title page from the 1579 edition of Piccolomini’s La Sfera del Mondo. Note the nautical theme of the printer’s mark, reflecting its publication in Venice. Fig. 12-7: Frontispiece from the 1681 edition of Munckerus’ Mythographi Latini. Fig. 12-8: Illustrated title page from the 1661 edition of Bayer’s Uranometria, first published in 1603. Fig. 12-9: Frontispiece from the first true lunar atlas, Selenographia, by Hevelius, which was published in 1647. Fig. 12-10: An illustrated title page from volume 1 of the 1659 Spanish edition of Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu’s famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Atlas Novus, first published in 1635. Fig. 13-1: The map shows the sphere of action of the cosmographer Gerhard Mercator. Fig. 13-2: In a cartouche on the artistically engraved terrestrial globe of Gemma Frisius the name of Mercator appears beside his mentor Gaspard van der Heyden (“Gaspar a Myrica”). Fig. 13-3: The horizontal ring of Mercator’s globe shows the twelve signs of the Zodiac with astrological information, the wind directions in Dutch and Latin language and a detailed calendar, which also names the Saints days. Fig. 13-4: Celestial Globe by Gerhard Mercator with the astronomical disc at the base. Fig. 13-5: Front of the astronomical disc of Gerhard Mercator. Fig. 13-6: The astrological disc on the base of Mercator’s celestial globe, together with the horizontal ring.
INTRODUCTION HANS D. KOK
IMCoS, the International Map Collectors’ Society, was founded in 1981 in London. On occasion we present ourselves as the Society ‘for people who love early maps’ without any restrictions either on the maps you love or the place where you reside on this planet. Our membership consists of a great variety of people - male and female - and as it turns out, all possessing a good sense of history. Probably quite logically so, as early maps may be viewed as condensed history, be that in terms of geographical discoveries in times past or thematic issues of past and present. Not to mention celestial maps and those maritime in nature. The latter are often related to navigation and tie in with a great number of related subjects. As a Society our constitution calls for the study of maps, publishing results where applicable, and asks us to protect and conserve these maps for the cultural benefit of posterity. Sometimes we generate interesting research in the cartographical field, sometimes we are called on to keep private persons and institutions from destroying their map archives. On other occasions, our members hold talks and presentations on subjects related to our hobby and draw numbers of interested ‘cartophiles’ to attend these. The membership is composed of map collectors, academics and curators of map collections and of dealers in the field. It is this combination of interests which makes us strong and makes achieving the goals of the Society feasible. Personally, I promote the idea that map collecting is to be compared to a three-legged stool. Were there no academics studying maps, the collectors would not know what to buy; they would lack information as to which maps are outstanding, rare or rarissima and why they would be worth (a lot?) collecting. Without the dealers, collectors would have no place to buy and without collectors the dealers could not make money. Without collectors and dealers, our academics would work in a void, with nobody to appreciate the information they unearth. Each of these three categories serves to keep the essence of historical cartography upright and over the years – more or less – in balance. No category is superior to any other, and it is the sum total of these categories which makes the system work.
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Since its inception, IMCoS has hosted over 30 International Symposia, organised on its behalf. The venues range from Sydney/Australia and Wellington/New Zealand in the south to Reykjavik/Iceland and Oslo/Norway in the north. Our 2013 Symposium was hosted by the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. In an east-west direction we have held our Symposia in Riga/Latvia, Cologne/Mainz, Amsterdam, London, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Tokyo and Singapore, whilst Seoul/Korea and Cape Town/South Africa are currently in preparation. Istanbul, Guatemala City, Madrid and Modena are more pearls on the same IMCoS string which has become too long now to report here on all our symposia. Countless members have viewed the extremely rare maps that institutions do not normally put on display or show to ordinary visitors, but which they gladly and proudly make available to real lovers of early maps when a Symposium comes their way. Many speakers of note and many young academics have presented their lectures on these occasions. A considerable number of these presentations were re-worked into articles and subsequently published in the quarterly IMCoS Journal for the benefit of the members who were unable to attend the symposia. For the first time, follow up of an International Symposium has resulted in a dedicated publication. The presentations of our excellent 2012 Symposium in Vienna/Austria are collected, edited and published by Gerhard Holzer, Valerie Newby, Petra Svatek and Georg Zotti. As current chairman of IMCoS, it is both an honour, my prerogative and pleasure, to write the introduction to the book containing these presentations. The Vienna Symposium was organised by a Viennese team headed by Dr. Stefaan Missinne, a Belgian national living in Austria. In view of the fact that 2012 was pre-destined to become the Gerard Mercator year, the famous scientist and cartographer being born 500 years ago in Rupelmonde/Belgium, the emphasis on Mercator’s achievements comes naturally in this case. Vienna is also the home to the only Globe Museum in the world and through the kind and knowledgeable assistance of Dr. Rudolf Schmidt (1924-2013), their globe collection is rivalled by none other. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of Dr. Petra Svatek and the team, who have edited the presentations- no mean feat for sure- and trust that the resulting publication now in your hands, will not only reflect the proceedings of the 2012 IMCoS Vienna Symposium, but will also in retrospect serve as reference material for those interested in historical cartography, whether they be attendees of the Symposium, academics involved in these matters, or collectors and map dealers in general, who have an interest in the various subjects discussed. On behalf of IMCoS and its members, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the
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Introduction
organising team of the Symposium, its speakers and now to the editing team that has worked so hard. Financial support by “Cambridge Scholars Publishing” is gratefully acknowledged; the publication would otherwise have been impossible to produce. As a map collector myself and chairman of our Society I would like to wish you all pleasant reading and if you have attended the Vienna Symposium in person, it will no doubt bring back memories of the happy days we spent together in Vienna in September 2012!
September 2013, Lisse/The Netherlands Hans D. Kok, IMCoS Chairman.
500 YEARS OF MERCATOR GERHARD HOLZER, VALERIE NEWBY, PETRA SVATEK AND GEORG ZOTTI
In 2012 scholars from different academic disciplines commemorated the 500th birthday of Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594), the most important cartographer and globe maker of the 16th century. Gerhard Mercator was born on the 5th of March 1512 in Rupelmonde in Flanders which was part of the Habsburg Empire. Mercator is remembered amongst others for his publication “Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura” (1595) and for his specific cylindrical map projection (1569) which is still in use on maritime maps today. On this occasion, the “International Map Collectors Society” together with the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Austrian-Belgian Society, organized an international conference which was held in the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna from 9th to 12th of September 2012. The talks were given by internationally renowned map historians, historians and geographers on the collective topic “Gerhard Mercator and cartography in the Habsburg Empire during the 16th century”. The organizing committee had put together a program with lectures in the mornings and visits to different map and globe collections in the afternoons. Included were the Woldan Collection of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Globe Museum and the “State Hall” of the Austrian National Library with the special exhibition “Cartographic rarities of the Austrian National Library from the first half of the 16th century”, the Department of Geography of Vienna University (research group “Cartography and Geoinformation”), the Austrian State Archives, the “Wien Museum”, the Schallaburg castle and the Benedictine Monastery of Melk. Over the last few decades many studies have addressed Mercator’s life and cartographic output. But nevertheless many gaps in the research into his globes, maps and interrelationship with other cartographers still need to be filled. The aim of the Viennese IMCoS Conference was to present the latest research on Mercator with a view to his sources, his relationship with other scientific disciplines and cartographers of his time, as well as
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his role in the wider world of Renaissance cartography and Humanism. Among other things, new research results were presented on his scientific library, on an astrological disk on the base of his celestial globe and on the source of the star positions of this globe. Also on the similarities and differences between the different versions of his world map (1596), his cosmographical ideology, and on his relationship with other cartographers of the Habsburg Empire including Wolfgang Lazius whose maps became an important source for him. Besides cartography and geography Mercator also had an excellent knowledge of many other scientific disciplines like mathematics, history, theology, philosophy and astronomy. Therefore he was a truly universal scholar. These interdisciplinary research topics are also the subject of the articles of this book which is structured into the following parts: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Cartography in the Habsburg Empire during the time of Mercator Gerhard Mercator: his “Atlas” and the cosmography of his time Gerhard Mercator: acquaintances and sources Globes and celestial maps in Mercator’s time
In the first part named “Cartography in the Habsburg Empire during the time of Mercator” five articles address the most important maps and cartographers of the Austrian and Hungarian part of the Habsburg Empire during the 16th century. Some maps of these cartographers became an important source for Mercator’s own maps of areas which today comprise Austria, Hungary and Slovenia. During the 16th century a major contribution came from members of the “Second Viennese School of Mathematics and Astronomy” (Georg Tannstetter, Johannes Cuspinian), Wolfgang Lazius, who produced the first Atlas of the Austrian provinces (“Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae”, 1561), and Johannes Sambucus, the author of many maps of Hungary. In addition to these rare maps, attention was increasingly paid to the production of urban maps. For example, the first apex of the urban mapping in Vienna began immediately after the first Turkish siege of the city in 1529, when new fortifications were built and surveying of the city became increasingly important. For this reason, a series of maps of Vienna was produced during the 1530s and 1540s. The articles of the second part about “Gerhard Mercator: his “Atlas” and the cosmography of his time” give us an overview of Mercator’s “Atlas” of 1595, his cosmographical ideas and the cosmography of his time. It was Mercator who conceived and justified the prominent role of cosmography as a leading science in the 16th century.
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The third part deals with the question of Mercator’s sources and acquaintances. Mercator’s relationship with the famous Antwerp cartographer Abraham Ortelius, the scientific books of his library and the “Atlas Bruxellensis” as an important source, are described in three articles. The content of the fourth part talks about the “Globes and celestial maps in Mercator’s time”. The main focus of the two articles is on Mercator’s terrestrial (1541) and celestial (1551) globes and on other globes and celestial maps of his time. As editors of this book we would like to thank Mag. Jan Mokre and his team from the Austrian National Library, Dr. Robert Rill, Dr. Sándor Békési, Ass.-Prof. Dr. Andreas Riedl and Dr. Gottfried Glaßner for all their professional help and guidance, Dr. Rudolf Schmidt (1924-2013) and H.E. Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Austria Frank Recker for unforgettable receptions, and the IMCoS committee for their support in publishing this book. Many thanks also to Dr. Stefaan Missinne (IMCoS Austria), Brigitte Beidinger, Rüdiger Schultz and Dr. Helmut Suppan, who helped, together with the editors, to organize this conference, and Francis Herbert Hon. FRGS for his great help in correcting some articles of nonEnglish speaking authors. We hope this book will stand as a lasting memory of this memorable symposium.
PART 1: CARTOGRAPHY IN THE HABSBURG EMPIRE IN THE TIME OF MERCATOR
CHAPTER ONE GEOGRAPHICA FROM THE FIRST HALF TH OF THE 16 CENTURY IN THE HOLDINGS OF THE AUSTRIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY1 HELGA HÜHNEL
What geographical works would Mercator have found before 1550 if he had had the possibility to use a universal library or collection of that time? Also, what works were collected and retained in a universal library during this important era of geographical discoveries and European expansion overseas?2 With regard to the Austrian National Library (ANL) I have looked into these questions, and have screened the geographical holdings from 1500 to 1550 in order to sift out an appropriate image of this science. The ANL, as successor to the former imperial court library and the Habsburg family library, contains a huge store of knowledge. Due to the familiar relationship with the Spanish sovereigns, to whom intermittently Portugal also belonged, the court in Vienna was always very well informed about the New World and received many valuable objects like portolan charts, maps and reports. Likewise the library obtained extensive collections after the death of their private owners by purchase and sometimes by donation, such as the Fugger and the Philippe Stosch collections and the library of Prince Eugene of Savoy, each of them containing many geographical treasures. To find a suitable place for the rapidly growing library, Emperor Charles VI – Maria Theresa’s father - ordered the construction of a jewel of Baroque architecture for his Court Library. In 1726 the baroque State hall, one of the most beautiful historic libraries in the world, was completed and is today home to 200.000 books from 1501 to 1850. It was open to the public right from the beginning. The ANL objects with a geographical theme of the period have been divided into five categories:
Geographica from the First Half of the 16th Century
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
3
New editions of geographical works from early times Sources of the history of discovery Early travel reports Cosmographies Regional descriptions and – cartography
New editions of geographical works of the ancient world The 16th century was characterized by humanism. Antique culture was imitated as unsurpassed and formed the basis of knowledge. The importance of geography for theology and history can be seen due to some of the following citations. Geography built the “primum iter ad deum”3 as penned by Melanchthon (1497-1560), who introduced geography in Wittenberg and in other protestant universities in 1523. On the Catholic side the famous Johannes Cochläus (1497-1552) wrote in the dedication letter of his description of the earth4 “credo equidum geographiam id esse histories quod sol est mundo”. Joachim von Watt /Vadian (1484-1551), one of the most eclectic humanists in the German speaking world, explained to his Viennese students that someone who neglects the study of geography is an inhumanus, not an erudite man.5 To evaluate classical literature and history correctly, a geographical context was needed. Geographical information was picked up and amassed from encyclopaedic and historical texts from antiquity. The rapid development of printing was encouraging the humanists to publish writings by Strabo6, Pomponius Mela7, Plinius the Elder8, Gaius Julius Solinus9 and Ptolemy, just to name some of them, over and over again. In the ANL there are approximately 100 editions of early geographical works which were published between 1500 and 1550. Many of them were annotated by famous humanists such as Johann Cochläus, Georg Tannstetter, Peter Apian, Heinrich Glarean, Joachim Watt/Vadian, Johannes Camers and Jacob Ziegler. These humanistic scholia are much more than text comments, they offer occasions for their own considerations and excursions into the history of discovery. For a long time the assumption persisted that the mid-European humanists, considering their adherence to the antique texts, had no interest in information about newly discovered overseas regions in the course of European expansion.
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Chapter One
Fig. 1-1: P. Apian / L. Fries, Tipus orbis Universalis iuxta Ptolemei Cosmographi traditionem (…). In: J. Camers: … in C. Julii Solini ennarationes. Wien 1520 (ÖNB, 393716-C.KAR)
Geographica from the First Half of the 16th Century
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Recent studies have shown this to be the contrary though. It seems paradoxical that the scientific community would not have responded to new geographical discoveries. Based on many representative sources, Dieter Wuttke shows that Renaissance humanism conceived humanities and the natural sciences as unified.10 This is also documented by Klaus Vogel, as the humanists took an active interest in the history of discovery in the German speaking areas. A letter from 1503 by the imperial secretary Johannes Kollauer to Konrad Celtis was circulated among the humanists about a newly discovered continent in the southern hemisphere.11
Fig. 1-2: A. Vespucci, Von der neuw gefundenen Region … Augsburg 1505 (ÖNB, 393597-B.KAR)
Nevertheless the new knowledge was not assimilated immediately with the traditional view of the world. It was rather a gradual transition, inducing a wide reception only in the 1630s. Examples can often be found, where in addition to the interpretation of antique sources, also new
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insights of expeditions and the reception of travel reports were used as deepening knowledge of the world – such as for instance (Fig. 1-1) the world map Tipus orbis Universalis (…) by Peter Apian and Lorenz Fries in Johannes Camers’ annotated edition of Solinus, which was published in Vienna in 1520 and with permission of the publisher, also in Vadianus Pomponius Mela's edition in Basel (1522), both in our holdings.12 There is a close geographic likeness to the Waldseemüller map of 1507, and for a long time it was considered as the first map to name America.
Sources of the history of discovery Instead of speculation about the image of the world, many reports of discoveries gradually led to verified knowledge from the late 15th century. The ANL owns several rare sources of early history of discovery, for example Amerigo Vespucci’s voyages. In some letters, which were printed soon after, Vespucci had reported on his journeys to America. His letter to Lorenzo di Medici was published in Latin under the title Mundus Novus and the ANL is in possession of two early undated and the first dated edition from 1504 (Augsburg), as well as the German translation from 150513 (Fig. 1-2) Apart from the Medici letter there is the so-called Piero Soderini letter, which was printed in Florence in 1506 and which tells of Vespucci’s four journeys to America, although only two of them are verified. The Latin translation was added to the 1507 published Cosmographiae Introductio of Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann as Quatuor Americi Vesputii Navigationes. We do not have the Editio princeps, but we do have the second and third editions from May 7th and September 4th 1507 as well as the German translation (Fig. 1-3), which was published in 1509 by Grüninger in Strasbourg.14 The distribution of Vespucci’s report and its success was enormous. No other text about a journey has had this world-wide historical impact. Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann named the newly discovered continent America after Vespucci’s christian name. Another important source for the history of discovery are the reports about the first circumnavigation by Ferdinand Magellan. In 1523, only one year after the return of the only surviving ship of Magellan's fleet, three printed texts in Latin circulated the news in Europe. They are a product of journalistic investigations by erudite humanists, and all of them are available at the ANL.
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Fig. 1-3: A. Vespucci, Disz Büchlein saget … Straßburg 1509 (ÖNB, 393600B.KAR)
The first text De Moluccis insulis comes from Maximilianus Transylvanus, a diplomat and secretary to the Emperor Charles V. In September 1522, while at the court of Valladolid, he interviewed the surviving members of the Magellan expedition (Elcano and Pigafetta) about the first voyage round the world. Eager to acquire fame as a writer,
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he produced his text in October 1522 as a letter to Matthäus Lang, Archbishop of Salzburg, who has suggested that he perform the interview in the first place. This first published report about Magellan’s circumnavigation had already been printed in Cologne in January 1523. The second report about this event is a printed letter by Johannes Schöner De nuper sub Castiliae ac Portugalliae Regibus … (Kirchehrenbach 1523), which was used as a collateral paper to a globe manufactured by him. Schöner quotes Maximilianus Transylvanus as source for this letter. This bibliographic rarity proves how fast news about the recent discoveries was circulating in Central Europe. Because of circulating doubts concerning Amerigo Vespucci’s merits, Schöner now allocated America’s discovery to Columbus in 1523, contrary to his previous Cosmography from 1515 and replacing the name America by „Terra firma“. The third report about the Magellan expedition is to be found in the major work of Petrus Martyr d’Anghiera De orbe novo decades – printed as a letter to Pope Hadrian VI. He, among others, recommended the Pope consult a globe, in order to be able to follow the route of the circumnavigation.15 In 1511 Petrus Martyr was nominated the royal chronicler of the Indian council. His “Decades of the New World” in Latin, a series of letters and reports of the early explorations of Central and South America, rank among the most remarkable texts of Iberian humanism with regard to form and content about colonial America and the early explorations.
Collections of travel reports It was a 16th century novelty that these accounts of the history of discovery and travel reports were collected in anthologies in order to make them available to a wider public. The edition Paesi novamente ritrovati, of Fracanzano Montalboddo published in 1507 in Vicenza was a very successful work of that kind. It contains amongst others travel reports of Columbus, Vespucci, da Gama, Cabral and Cadamosto. The ANL’s map department has one unique Latin edition of Montalboddo from the year 1508. (Fig. 1-4) Remarkably enough to this Itinerarium Portugalensium six unassociated woodcut maps were added, illustrating the reports about the journeys along the West African coast undertaken by Alvise Cadamosto and Pedro da Sintra in the 15th century. (Fig. 1-5) These are the earliest known examples of detailed maps of West Africa.
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Fig. 1-4: F. Montalboddo, Itinerariu[m] Portugalle[n]siu[m] … Milan 1508 (ÖNB, 394092-C.KAR, title Page)
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Fig. 1-5: Westafrika. Tabula II. In: F. Montalboddo, Itinerariu[m] Portugalle[n]siu[m] … Milan 1508 (ÖNB, 394092-C.KAR, Tab. II)
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Fig. 1-6: Mexico City and a sketch of the Caribbean before 1522. In: H. Cortés, Praeclara Ferdina(n)di … Nuremberg 1524 (ÖNB, 394471-C.KAR)
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Peter Meurer has recently proved that this series of maps was created as a test run for a projected publication in the Strasbourg environment of Martin Waldseemüller and Lorenz Fries in about 1520 to 1525, but which was never published.16 The same year a German translation by Jobst Ruchamer of this collection of travel reports was released. The title Newe unbekanthe landte und ein newe welte in kurtz verganger zeythe erfunden (new unknown lands and a new world recently discovered), published in Nuremberg 1508 is already defining very distinctly the traditional knowledge of earlier times from empirical knowledge of the early modern times. In 1532 a new, extended Latin version of the Montalboddo, adapted by Simon Grynäus and Johann Huttich was published as Novus orbis regionum. Two years later it was again transferred into German by Michael Herr under the title Die New Welt der landschaften und Insulen, so bis hie her allen Altweltbeschrybern unbekant … (Strasburg 1534) without him having known the translation by Ruchamer from 1508. In his Cosmographia from 1544 Sebastian Münster still used parts from the Grynäus. If nowadays the Grynäus is cited, only a few people know that this is about an extended edition by Montalboddo from 1507. One of our most important sources for the history of discovery is a report by Hernan Cortés. Cortés left for Mexico to conquer the Empire of the Aztecs and between 1519 and 1521 he sent three letters to Emperor Charles V where he reported his progress in conquering Mexico. Already in 152417 this news was printed in Nuremberg, though probably in small numbers as only 15 copies have survived. From these copies just six (and only two are coloured) include a city map of Tenochtitlan (Fig. 1-6), today Mexico City, with a sketch of the Caribbean. Our copy contains a superbly coloured map printed on finest parchment. In contrast to the other copies, the dedicatory inscription is handwritten. This is undoubtedly the original edition of the Cortés plan.18 In the age of discovery broadsheets and news sheets plus published letters were an important medium of distribution in Europe about new information. These news sheets from the first half of the 16th century rank among the earliest printed reports in German of the Portuguese expeditions to Brazil and India. The historical-cultural importance of this five-page Copia der Newen Zeytung auß Presillg Landt, of which only twelve copies are known, is enormous. It gives contemporary information about a Portuguese merchant shipping journey to Brazil and India.
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Fig. 1-7: Varthema (down to the right) shown on the Münster world map. In: S. Grynäus, Novus orbis regionum … Basel 1555 (ÖNB, 393291-D.KAR)
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Travel reports Travel reports provided a source of information for geographers who were then able to complete the old cosmographies with the newly described countries. Baltasar Sprenger’s report Merfart und erfarung nüwer Schiffung und Wege (Oppenheim: J. Koebel, 1509) from the 16th century is a thrilling and absolutely authentic travel report. In 1503 Sprenger was sent to Portugal by the Augsburg trading house Welser to explore new business opportunities. In 1505 he took part as a delegate in a journey of the Portuguese Viceroy Almeida to India. The fleet was using a similar route to the one taken by Vasco da Gama some years earlier. After his return in 1506, Sprenger published his diary which is one of the oldest travel reports in German. He not only described the journey as such but also his impressions about people, settlements and cultures he had come into contact with in Africa and India. The Map department of the ANL has a completely revised and essentially extended textual version of this from 1509, of which only four copies exist worldwide. Our copy comes from the property of Johannes Schöner and made its way via the Fugger library to the court library in Vienna. The second travel report comes from Lodovico di Varthema, an Italian traveller, diarist and aristocrat, known for being the first non-Muslim European to enter Mecca as a pilgrim. We have a Latin translation of his report from 1511, a German translation from 1516, and an Italian edition from 1523. Varthema’s prominence is shown by his portrait appearing along the lower right edge of the Münster world map. (Fig. 1-7) Now it is possible to see the co-existence of the traditional travel commentaries of the ancient world with the fast editing of the scientific findings and discoveries about new countries. If one wants to structure the great amount of geographical literature further, the numerous global cosmographies of different and confusing importance and the first regional descriptions with detailed maps are really striking.
Cosmographies Astronomy, the description of countries and ethnic groups, as well as the making of maps, were ascribed to the science of cosmography. The terms cosmography and geography were widely used as synonyms. Cosmography was taught at universities within the scope of astronomy, mostly on the basis of the Tractatus de sphaera in annotated reprints by Johannes de Sacrobosco, an English scholar of the 13th century.
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Sacrobosco wrote about the sphericity of the earth and most of the editions of his work include small images. 66 editions of his principal work are available at the ANL. An edition of 1545 shows South America with the meandering Amazon which had only been traversed from Orellana to its mouth in 1541 (Fig. 1-8). This scientific bestseller helped students of astronomy to learn the subject and it also served as a lecture basic for university teachers. Waldseemüller and Ringmann knew the text of the Sphaera very well and they used it as a source for the astronomical parts found in their Cosmographiae Introductio.
Fig. 1-8: J. de Sacrobosco, Tractado de la sphera, con muchas additiones. Sevilla 1545 (ÖNB, 72.T.70, fol. XXVII)
In the second century AD Claudius Ptolemy compiled his eightvolume opus Geographica which included all the known geographical knowledge of the time. The Latin translation of his Geographica was
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widely spread under the title Cosmographica. Our library owns 23 editions of Ptolemy from the first half of the 16th century. I would like to emphasize here the Strasbourg Ptolemy of 1513 which was edited by Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. For the first time Waldseemüller added to the Ptolemy map collection the so-called „pars secunda“ supplement with 20 modern maps, prefaced by a new world map and which includes the first printed regional maps of Switzerland, the Rhineland, and a very remarkable woodcut map printed in three colours of Lorraine. Sebastian Münster’s edition was another milestone amongst the editions of Ptolemy. It contains an old map of Asia surrounded by legendary creatures as they had been described by Solinus and Pomponius Mela, as well as a modern map of America (Fig. 1-9, 1-10) Also once more you can see the connection between tradition and up-to-date field reports. Right at the beginning of the 16th century, Waldseemüller and Ringmann introduced a new kind of cosmography by combining a short abstract of the mathematical geography with a rudimentary regional geography. This Cosmographiae Introductio from 1507, which had already been mentioned in connection with Vespucci, was designed as an explanation for Waldseemüller’s large world map and a small terrestrial globe, both being famous for the first naming of America. Two very early editions of the Cosmographiae from 1507 belong to the treasures of our library as well as the German edition Der Weltkugel Beschrybung (description of the terrestrial sphere), which was published in Strasbourg in 1509. Waldseemüller’s papers were soon followed by similar works. Johannes Schöner wrote similar texts as the Introductio, although they were more comprehensive and accompanied his terrestrial globes from 1515 and 1533.19 The mathematician, astronomer and mapmaker Petrus Apianus (14951552) ranks among the most famous scholars of his time. His work Cosmographicus liber was a practical introduction to the discipline of cosmography which enhanced his reputation and was released in more than 30 editions. Apian distinguishes between cosmography, geography and chorography. During his lifetime his work had already been annotated and re-edited under the title Cosmographia by the Dutch cartographer and instrument maker Gemma Frisius (1508-1555).
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Fig. 1-9: S. Münster, Tabula Asiae VIII. In: Claudii Ptolemaeii … Basel 1542 (ÖNB, 395042-C.KAR)
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Fig. 1-10: S. Münster, Novae Insulae XVII Nova Tabula. In: Claudii Ptolemaeii … Basel 1542 (ÖNB, 395042-C.KAR)
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The term cosmographia also appears in the title of the geographical textbook of the Transylvanian humanist and teacher Johannes Honter (1498-1549) Rudimenta cosmographica. The Brasov (Kronstadt) edition from 1542 was published in hexameter for easier learning by heart, and was completed by 16 plates. The first three plates were intended for the astronomical book, whereas the remaining 13 were forming an atlas minor, the first pocket size school atlas. His scarce world map of 1542 is a reduced version of the Apian / Fries map of 1520 which is content based on the Waldseemüller map of 1507. In 1534 Sebastian Franck (1499–15242/43) wrote the Weltbuch, spiegel und bildtnuss des gantzen Erdbodens in vier büchern … (Tübingen: Ulrich Morhart) a compilation of geographical knowledge at that time, which had four German editions and three Dutch translations. All the previous geographical papers by Vadian, Apian, Glarean, and Werner had never been so comprehensive and general nor had they been written in German. Due to the Ptolemaic example, they had mostly had a mathematical character. Franck is explicitly distinguishing between chorography and geography and topography and cosmography. Sebastian Münster used the term cosmography in a completely new sense for a self-arranged compendium of geography, history and archaeology. In order to acquire the relevant geographical and historical knowledge, Münster communicated with more than a hundred scholars, artists and distinguished people. For the description of unknown regions he used the work of medieval authors but also used contemporary sources, all of them included in the Novus Orbis of Simon Grynäus. His Cosmographia, of which we have 18 copies in our library, is considered as a culmination of the description of the world during the Renaissance. Numerous, always more extensive, editions were published in several languages. After Münster’s last edition of 1628, this literary genre became less important.
Regional descriptions and – cartography Regional descriptions were published at the same time as the global cosmographies, and in our library there are several examples of the gradually developing regional cartography in the 16th century, which I will be addressing here just briefly. For instance we have several local descriptions of Switzerland, such as Helvetia description (Basel 1515) by Henricus Glareanus; Die uralt warhafftig Alpisch Rhetia (Basel 1538) by Aegidus Tschudi and Gemeiner loblicher Eydgnoschaft Stetten, Landen vnd Völckeren Chronick (Zürich 1548) by Johannes Stumpf.
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There is a lot to learn about the Russian Empire from Siegmund von Herberstein’s Rervm Moscoviticarvm commentarij, a very rare edition, published in 1549 in Vienna. The Austrian diplomat and historian Siegmund Freiherr von Herberstein travelled as ambassador to the Tsar’s court to parts of the Russian empire. He was most noted for his extensive writing on the geography, history and customs of Russia and contributed greatly to early Western European knowledge of that area. The attached illustrations and maps in his books were made by Augustin Hirschvogel. Nicolaus Gerbel, a humanist who had studied in Vienna, wrote a book on Nicolaos Sophianus’ map of Greece.20 In the ANL we have a map from 1549 which was bound with the book, but there had been no references to it until now. In 1532 Jacob Ziegler published a geographical description of the Holy Land in Strasbourg, Quae intus contentur Syria, ad Ptolomaici operis rationem. Most interesting, though unexpected, a map of Scandinavia Schondia was included. For the first time Scandinavia is correctly presented in outline. Ziegler’s map was copied by Münster and Gastaldi in their editions of Ptolemy from 1540 and 1548. Our map Department owns numerous regional maps from this period and as many as 30 separate map sheets by Forlani, Vavassore, Gastaldi, Lazius and others are preserved here, and also Isolarios (for instance Benedetto Bordone) and huge hand-drawn world maps, such as the ones by Sancho Guiterrez or Pero Fernandes. The Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books has the portolan charts, hand drawn maps, and maps incunabula. All these items which document the changing view of the world in this era were the source for the large atlases and geographical descriptions produced at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century. I have tried to give an outline of the splendid collections of numerous rare and precious geographical items from the first half of the 16th century in the holdings of the ANL. In addition there are the books of this period in the former imperial court library which are of the best quality and provide a complete body of geographical literature of the period. Furthermore I would like to point out how by means of our library holdings, the importance, development and reception of the geographical sciences of a particular period are documented. In summary, the holdings of incunabula, old, and valuable maps and books mirror the development of scholarly and literary book production in modern Europe, and also the position of the former Court Library as the central library of the Habsburg Monarchy.
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Bibliography Baumeister Hermann, “Universalis Cosmographiae descriptio.” In: Füssel Stephan (Ed.), Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 86 (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz 2011), pp. 199-215. Beck Hanno, Geographie. Europäische Entwicklung in Texten und Erläuterungen (Freiberg, etc.: Alber 1973). Bitterli Urs, Eberhard Schmitt (Eds.), Die Kenntnis beider „Indien“ im frühneuzeitlichen Europa (München: Oldenbourg, 1991). Bonorand Konradin, Aus Vadians Freundes- und Schülerkreis in Wien (St. Gallen: Fehr, 1965). —. Die Dedikationsepistel von und an Vadian. [=Vadian - Studien. Untersuchungen und Texte, 11] (St. Gallen: Fehr, 1983). —. Vadians Weg vom Humanismus zur Reformation und seine Vorträge über die Apostelgeschichte .[=Vadian - Studien. Untersuchungen und Texte 7] (St Gallen: Fehr, 1962). Borowska-Clausberg Beate, “Bericht als Berichtigung. Balthasar Sprengers Indienfahrt.” In: Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums (Nürnberg: German. Nationalmuseum 1991), pp. 95-101. Borst Arno, Das Buch der Naturgeschichte. Plinius und seine Leser im Zeitalter des Pergaments (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1994). Brendecke Arndt, Imperium und Empirie. Funktionen des Wissens in der spanischen Kolonialherrschaft (Köln: Böhlau, 2009). Büttner Manfred (Ed.), Wandlungen im geographischen Denken von Aristoteles bis Kant (Paderborn, etc.: Schöningh 1979). Büttner Nils, Die Erfindung der Landschaft: Kosmographie und Landschaftskunst im Zeitalter Bruegels (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000). Burmeister Karl Heinz, Sebastian Münster. Versuch eines biographischen Gesamtbildes (Basel, etc.: Helbig und Lichtenhahn, 1963). Burmeister Karl Heinz (Ed.), Briefe Sebastian Münsters (Ingelheim: Insel Verlag, 1964). Chiapelli Fredi, First images of America (Berkeley, etc.: Univ. of Cal. Press 1976). Erhard Andreas, Ramminger Eva, Die Meerfahrt. Balthasars Springers Reise zur Pfefferküste. Mit einem Faksimile des Buches von 1509 (Innsbruck: Haymon – Verlag, 1998). Glauser Jürg (Ed.), Text – Bild – Karte. Kartographie der Vormoderne (Freiburg im Breisgau: Rombach, 2007). Graf-Stuhlhofer Franz, Humanismus zwischen Hof und Universität. Georg Tannstetter (Collimitius) und sein wissenschaftliches Umfeld im Wien
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des frühen 16. Jahrhunderts. [=Schriftenreihe des Universitätsarchiv Wien, 8] (Wien: WUV-Univ. – Verlag, 1996). Grafton Anthony, New worlds, ancient texts. The power of tradition and the shock of discovery (Cambridge, Mass. etc.: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press, 1995). Grössing Helmuth (Ed.), Wissenschaft und Kultur an der Zeitenwende: Renaissance-Humanismus, Naturwissenschaften und universitärer Alltag im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert (Göttingen: V& R Unipress, 2012). Hamann Günther, “Kartographisches und wirkliches Weltbild in der Renaissancezeit zum wechselseitigen Verhältnis von Theorie und Praxis im Zeitalter der großen Entdeckungsfahrten.” In: Schmitz Rudolf, Krafft Fritz (Eds.), Humanismus und Naturwissenschaften (Boppard: Boldt, 1980), pp. 155-179. Hamel Jürgen, “Johannes de Sacroboscos Handbuch der Astronomie. Kommentierte Bibliographie der Drucke der „Sphaera“ 1472 bis 1656.” In: Fürst Dietmar, Rothenberg Eckehard (Eds.), Wege der Erkenntnis. Festschrift für Dieter B. Herrmann zum 65. Geburtstag. [= Acta Historica Astronomiae, Vol.21] (Frankfurt a. Main: Harri Deutsch, 2004), pp. 115-170. Hegedüs András István, Die Copia der Newen Zeytung auß Presillg Lande. In: Germanistik ohne Grenzen. 2 (2007), pp. 393-403. Hejkant Marie José, “Die Darstellung des Reiseberichtes in den Briefen von Amerigo Vespucci an Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’Medici.” In: Ertzdorff Xenja von, Giesemann Gerhard (Eds.), Erkundung und Beschreibung der Welt. Zur Poetik der Reise- und Länderberichte (Amsterdam, etc.: Rodopi 2003), pp. 289-310. Holst Norbert, Mundus – Mirabilia – Mentalität. Weltbild und Quellen des Kartographen Johannes Schöner (Frankfurt/Oder: Scrîpvaz – Verlag, 1999). Iwanczak Wojciech, Die Kartenmacher (Darmstadt: Primus-Verlag, 2009). Kämpfer Frank, Das Russlandbuch Sigismunds von Herberstein. Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii 1549 – 1999 (Hamburg: Kämpfer, 1999). Kämpfer Frank (Ed.), 450 Jahre Sigismund von Herbersteins “Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii” (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2002). Karrow Robert W., Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and their maps (Chicago: Speculum Orbis Pr., 1993). Kiening Christian, “Erfahrung” und “Vermessung” der Welt in der frühen Neuzeit.” In: Glauser Jürg, Kiening Christian (Eds.), Text – Bild – Karte. Kartographien der Vormoderne (Freiburg im Breisgau: Rombach, 2007), pp. 221-252.
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Klemm Hans G., Der fränkische Mathematicus Johann Schöner (14771547) und seine Kirchehrenbacher Briefe an den Nürnberger Patrizier Willibald Pirckheimer (Forchheim, 1992). Kraus Michael, Ottomeyer Hans (Eds.), Novos Mundos – Neue Welten. Portugal und das Zeitalter der Entdeckungen (Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum, 2007). Krause Kurt, Die Anfänge des geographischen Unterrichts im 16. Jahrhundert. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Methodik des erdkundlichen Unterrichts. [= Geographische Bausteine. Heft 16] (Gotha: Justus Perthes, 1929). Lehmann Martin, Die Cosmographiae Introductio und die Weltkarte Martin Waldseemüllers aus dem Jahr 1507. Ein Meilenstein frühneuzeitlicher Kartographie (München 2010). Ludwig Corinna, “Die Karriere eines Bestsellers Untersuchungen zur Entstehung und Rezeption der Sphaera des Johannes de Sacrobosco.” In: Concilium medii aevi 13 (2010), p. 153–185. http://cma.gbv.de,cma,007,2010,a,07.pdf Maruska Monika, “Johannes Schöner – ein fränkischer Gelehrter am Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts und seine Verbindung zur „Ersten Wiener Mathematischen Schule“”. In: Grössing Helmuth (Ed.), Wissenschaft und Kultur an der Zeitenwende: Renaissance-Humanismus, Naturwissenschaften und universitärer Alltag im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert (Göttingen: V& R Unipress, 2012), pp. 157-182. Mesenhöller Peter (Ed.), Mundus novus (Essen: Klartext-Verl., 1992). Meurer Peter H., “Sechs Karten der westafrikanischen Küste aus der Waldseemüller-Schule.” In: Cartographica Helvetica 45 (2012), pp. 15-26. Michalsky Tanja, “Geographie – das Auge der Geschichte. Historische Reflexionen über die Macht der Karten im 16. Jahrhundert.” In: Freundeskreis der Prof. Dr. Frithjof Voss Stiftung und Georg-EckertInstitut (Ed.), Die Macht der Karten oder: was man mit Karten machen kann. Eckert.Dossiers 2 (2009). http://www.edumeres.net/urn/urn:nbn:de:0220-2009-0002-091. Mignolo Walter D., The Darker Side of the Renaissance. Literacy, Territoriality,and Colonization. 2nd Ed. (Ann Arbour, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2003). Näf Werner, Vadianische Analekten [=Vadian-Studien. Untersuchungen und Texte 1] (St. Gallen, 1945), p. 21. —. Vadian und sein Stadt St. Gallen (St. Gallen: Fehr, 1944- 1957) 2 vol.
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Neuber Wolfgang, Fremde Welt im europäischen Horizont. Zur Topik der deutschen Amerika-Reiseberichte der Frühen Neuzeit (Berlin: E. Schmidt, 1991). Nussbächer Gernot, Johannes Honterus (1498-1549) (Kronstadt: Aldus Verlag, 1997). Pieper Renate, Die Vermittlung einer Neuen Welt. Amerika im Nachrichtennetz des Habsburgischen Imperiums 1493-1598 (Mainz: von Zabern, 2000). Petrzilka Meret, Die Karten des Laurent Fries von 1530 und 1531 und ihre Vorlage, die „Carta Marina“ aus dem Jahre 1516 von Martin Waldseemüller (Zürich: Buchdruckerei d. Neuen Züricher Zeitung, 1970). Reicke Emil, Scheible Helga (Eds.), Willibald Pirckheimers Briefwechsel. Vol. 1 - 4. (München: Beck, 1940-1997). Reich Karin, Knobloch, Eberhard, Melanchthons Vorreden zu Sacroboscos „Sphaera“ und zum „Computus ecclesiasticus“. In: Dick Wolfgang R., Hamel Jürgen (Eds.), Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte,7 (2004), pp. 14-44. Röttel Karl (Ed.), Peter Apian : Astronomie, Kosmographie und Mathematik am Beginn der Neuzeit (Buxheim, etc. : Polygon-Verl., 1995). Sallaberger Johann, Kardinal Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg (14681540). Staatsmann und Kirchenfürst im Zeitalter von Renaissance, Reformation und Bauernkriegen (Salzburg, etc.: Anton Pustet 1997). Scheiding Oliver, “Kartographie. Wissenspraxis und Raumvorstellung in der Neuzeit.” In: Bahlmann Katharina (Ed.), Gewusst wo! Wissen schafft Räume (Berlin: Akad.-Verl., 2008), pp. 37-50. Schweizer Natalie, “Die Verortung der Neuen Welt. Amerika in Sebastian Münsters Cosmographia.” - In: Jürg Glauser, Kiening Christian (Eds.), Text – Bild – Karte. Kartographien der Vormoderne (Freiburg im Breisgau: Rombach 2007), pp. 253 - 274. Tolias George, “Nikolaos Sophianos’s Totois Graeciae Descriptio: The Resources Diffusion and Function of a Sixteenth-Century antiquarian Map of Greece.” In: Imago Mundi 58/2 (2006), p. 150 – 176. —. Challenged territories (Istanbul: Isis Press, 2010). Tyrakowski Konrad, “México -Tenochtitlan um 1520. Kartographischstadtgeographische Analyse des sogenannten Cortés-Plans, der ersten europäischen Darstellung der alt-aztekischen Metropole.” In: Die alte Stadt. Vierteljahreszeitschrift für Stadtgeschichte, Stadtsoziologie und Denkmalpflege, 24,2 (Stuttgart, etc.: Kohlhammer, 1997).
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Vogel Klaus A., “Amerigo Vespucci und die Humanisten in Wien.” In: Füssel Stephan (Ed.), Die Folgen der Entdeckungsreisen für Europa [Pirckheimer-Jahrbuch, 7], (Nürnberg: Carl, 1992), pp. 53-104. —. “Neue Horizonte der Kosmographie.” In: Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums (Nürnberg: German. Nationalmuseum 1991), pp. 77-85. Wallisch Robert, Magellans Boten: die frühesten Berichte über die erste Weltumsegelung; Maximilianus Transylvanus, Johannes Schöner, Pietro Martire d'Anghiera (Wien: Verl. der Österr. Akad. der Wiss., 2009). Wessel Günther, Von einem, der daheim blieb, die Welt zu entdecken. Die Cosmographia des Sebastian Münster oder wie man sich vor 500 Jahren die Welt vorstellte (Frankfurt/M.: Campus-Verl., 2004). Wuttke Dieter, “Humanismus in den deutschsprachigen Ländern und Entdeckungsgeschichte 1493-1534.” In: Füssel Stephan (Ed.), Die Folgen der Entdeckungsreisen für Europa [Pirckheimer-Jahrbuch 7], (Nürnberg: Carl, 1992), p. 9-52.
Notes 1
A slightly extended version was also published in German “Geographica aus der ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts an der österreichischen Nationalbibliothek. Ein Querschnitt anhand ausgesuchter Beispiele dieser Epoche.” In: Biblos 62 (Wien 2013), pp. 5-31. 2 Here I would like to thank my friend Dr. Judith Birkmayer for the English translation. 3 Cit. after Beck Hanno, Geographie. Europäische Entwicklung in Texten und Erläuterungen (Freiburg, etc.: Alber, 1973), p. 90. 4 Cosmographia, parvo quodam compendio Joannis Coclei adaucta, quo geographiae principia generaliter comprehenduntur, brevis quoque Germanie descriptio.- Nuremberg 1512. 5 Cp. Bonorand Konradin, Vadians Weg vom Humanismus zur Reformation und seine Vorträge über die Apostelgeschichte [Vadian-Studien. Untersuchungen und Texte 7] (St. Gallen: Fehr, 1962), p. 92. 6 Strabon (lat. Strabo; 63BC – 23 AD) was a Greek geographer, historian and philosopher. He is most famous for his 17 volume work Geographia, which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era. The Editio princeps of the Greek text was published in Venice 1516 and is in the stock of the ANL. 7 Pomponius Mela, was the earliest Roman geographer, he wrote around AD 43 De chorographia libri tres or Cosmographia or known under the title De situ orbis. 8 Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23 – AD 79), better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army
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commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work, Naturalis Historia, which became a model for all other encyclopedias. 9 Gaius Julius Solinus, Latin compiler, probably flourished in the middle of the 3rd century. He was the author of De mirabilibus mundi, which circulated both under the title Collectanea rerum memorabilium, and Polyhistor. The work is indeed a description of curiosities in a chorographical framework. 10 Cp. Wuttke Dieter, “Humanismus in den deutschsprachigen Ländern und Entdeckungsgeschichte 1493-1534.” In: Füssel Stephan (Ed.), Die Folgen der Entdeckungsreisen für Europa (Nürnberg 1992), pp. 9-52. 11 Cp. Vogel Klaus A., “Amerigo Vespucci und die Humanisten in Wien.” In: Füssel Stephan (Ed.), Die Folgen der Entdeckungsreisen für Europa (Nürnberg 1992), pp. 63f. 12 It’s curious, but the two savants Vadian and Camers don’t refer to the world map in their comments. The map isn’t included in all of the above mentioned editions, so maybe it depended on the publisher whether the map was included or not. Cp. Röttel Karl (Ed.), Peter Apian: Astronomie, Kosmographie und Mathematik am Beginn der Neuzeit (Buxhum, etc.: Polygon-Verlag, 1995), p. 169. 13 Title: Von der neuw gefunden Region die wol ain welt genent mag werden, durch den Christenlichen künig von portugal wunderbarlich erfunden (Augsburg: Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 1505). 14 Title: Disz Büchlin saget, wie … Fernandus, K(önig) zu Castilien und … Emanuel K(önig) zu Portugal, haben das weyte mör ersuchet unnd funden vil Insulen, unnd ein nuwe welt (Straßburg: Johannes Grüniger, 1505). 15 Cp. Wallisch Robert, Magellans Boten: die frühesten Berichte über die erste Weltumsegelung (Wien: Verlag der österr. Akademie d. Wissenschaften, 2009), p. 147. 16 Cp. Meurer Peter H., “Sechs Karten der westafrikanischen Küste aus der Waldseemüller-Schule.” In: Cartographica Helvetica 45 (2012), pp. 15-26. 17 Cortés Hernán, Praeclara Ferdina(n)di. Cortesii de Nova maris Oceani Hyspania Narratio … (Nuremberg: F. Peypus 1524). 18 Cit. after Tyrakowski Konrad, “México-Tenochtitlan um 1520. Kartographischstadtgeographische Analyse des sogenannten Cortés-Plans, der ersten europäischen Darstellung der altaztekischen Metropole.” In: Die alte Stadt. Vierteljahreszeitschrift für Stadtgeschichte, Stadtsoziologie und Denkmalpflege 24, 2 (1997), p. 109. 19 Schöner Johannes, Luculentissima quaedam terrae totius descriptio cum multis cosmographiae iniciis (Nuremberg: Jo. Stuchs, 1515) und Opusculum geographicum ex diversorum libris ac cartis … (Nuremberg 1533). 20 Gerbel Nicolaus, Pro declaratione picturae sive descriptionis Graeciae Sophianini libri VII (Basel: Joannes Oporinus, 1550).
CHAPTER TWO VIENNA FROM THE 15TH TO THE MIDDLE TH OF THE 16 CENTURY: TOPOGRAPHY AND TOWNSCAPE FERDINAND OPLL
The earliest views and maps of Vienna date from the 15th and 16th centuries.1 The same is true of other towns north of the Alps in general as can be documented by many examples. For the period before the 15th / 16th centuries no pictorial sources are available, although Vienna‘s topographical development had already begun in the 12th century.2 Any information about the topography of medieval Vienna up to the early 15th century is mainly based on our knowledge of the town’s churches and monasteries. With regard to secular buildings the focus is centered on specific buildings like the Habsburg castle, the town hall and the university. Due to the increased availability of pictorial sources starting in the 1420s and 1430s this was bound to change and the face of Vienna began to lighten up and become clearer. The oldest pictorial documents3 of artistic and/or cartographic character relating to Vienna’s visual nature have come down to us in the first half of the 15th century. The so-called “Albertinian town-map” and the oldest view of Vienna on the “Albrechts-Altar” in the monastery of Klosterneuburg are the first pictorial documents showing visual details hitherto unknown. The map gives a schematic sketch of the fortifications with the names of the main gates. The encircled urban space is marked by pictorial abbreviations – with the exception of St Stephen’s without any correspondence to reality – of the most important churches, abbreviations which nevertheless are given in the correct places. With red ink the title of the map (“Das ist die stat Wienn” – “That is the city of Vienna”) and two profane buildings (castle and high-school, i.e. university) are marked. The
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words “Am Graben” (“At the moat”) name the only square on the whole map. This oldest cartographic document in a certain sense is similar to the oldest view of Vienna on the tableau “The encounter of Joachim and Anna at the golden gate” of the Albertinian altar, again in Klosterneuburg. The anonymous master was more interested in giving us a general view of Vienna than providing us with a proper illustration of how the town looked. By showing important spires of churches behind an imaginative ridge the city is more or less identified. A recent chance find resulting from the co-operation of an art historian and a historian has narrowed the gap of approximately half a century between the city-view on the ”Albrechtsaltar” and the much more famous one on the Altar of the Irish monastery of Vienna (Schottenkloster). In the 15th century manuscript of a copy of the Concordantiae caritatis of Ulrich of Lilienfeld, deposited in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, a view of Vienna, this time a total one seen from the south, is enclosed. The story is that Christ together with two disciples is approaching Emmaus, and this “Emmaus” in fact can be easily identified as Vienna. It is not only the massive spire of St Stephen’s but also the fortification of the city, the fortification of its suburbs, and outside of the built-up area a memorial column, the so called “Spinnerin am Kreuz” erected in 1452 which give recognizable reference points. Again no real attention to detail or accuracy in perspective can be found on this view, nevertheless quite a number of details make it possible to have a closer idea of what Vienna looked like at that time.4 The most prominent and best known pictorial representation of the Habsburg capital in the late Middle Ages on the “Schottenmeister”-altar can be dated approximately a quarter of a century later. On the tableau showing the “Flight to Egypt” just behind the holy family an impressive view of Vienna from the south opens up. The fortified city together with the surrounding landscape is depicted as a unity of great harmony. For the first time it is possible to speak about a representation of Vienna’s townscape. Quite different from the “Albrechtsaltar” of the 1430s this view is astonishingly accurate. Compared to the Concordantiaemanuscript of 1460 the standpoint of the observer was much closer to the city. Not only is the topographical situation precise, but a large number of buildings are also presented in great detail. The suburb “Wieden” just to the south of the main-gate, the Carinthian Gate (Kärntner Tor), together with its two hospitals lies in front of you. The gate itself is characterised by its two towers. The sovereign’s square-shaped castle with four towers protrudes impressively and at the church of the Dominican monastery
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even a crane can be seen corresponding with building activities around 1480. The dating of this tableau has been under discussion for a long time. In fact it might be necessary to give different dates to different tableaux of the whole altar. A detail of another tableau of the altar showing the “Visitation” depicts a wooden arch across the lane in the background of the scene which can be identified as a part of Frederick III’s project to build a wooden way along the facades of houses from Vienna castle to St Stephen’s. Here, a dating to the years 1483/85 due to the construction activities mentioned before must be the starting-point for any further discussions.5 All these very early pictorial documents of Vienna have in common that the intention was not to give a view of the city. The reason for including more or less proper town-views into biblical scenes was to make these narratives of the scriptures more familiar to the viewers. And there are also some other examples for this type of pictorial representation of Vienna approximately from the same period, like the crucifixion-tryptych of St Florian‘s monastery in Upper Austria or the crucifixion on the altar of St. Margaret’s church in the Transsylvanian town of Media܈. Interestingly the tryptych gives the oldest precise view of Vienna’s castle but it is shown in the wrong perspective in relation to St Stephen’s. The Vienna view on the “Babenberg genealogical tree” in Klosterneuburg monastery represents quite a different context. Only some years after the canonization of margrave Leopold III, the founder of Klosterneuburg in the early 12th century, this genealogical tree was created around 1490 due to the genealogical-historical concept of Ladislaus Sunthaym by commission of this monastery around 1490. The embedding of pictorial references to Vienna in this case did not serve any religious purpose. The genealogical tree is an example of pictorial historiography where the image of the dynasty was better defined by using local and topographical references. Especially impressive is the view of Vienna seen from the north on the tableau dedicated to the last sovereign of the Babenberg family, Frederick the Battlesome. North of the Danube (nowadays the Danube Channel) in front of the fortifications tents are depicted which refer to the siege of Vienna by the Duke in 1239. Close to the time when this genealogy was created the first view of Vienna was printed. The Habsburg capital was included into the first exemplum of an absolutely new genre of publications, the Städtebücher.6 The intention of its spiritus rector, Hartmann Schedel from Nuremberg, was to publish a collection of views of the best known and most prominent towns of his times in an international context. These views were made as wood-cuts for publication in order to reach a much wider audience than
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before. With Schedel’s opus a new type was created. It became very successful in the future and it is sufficient to quote the Civitates orbis terrarum by Georg Braun und Frans Hogenberg (1572) or the work of Matthew Merian the Older (1649). The Schedel view of Vienna also uses a stand-point to the north of the city without providing us with a representation of topographical value. The real importance lay in the context of its origin: The view or – better – the views in Schedel’s Liber chronicarum of 1493 were published with the intention to reach a wider audience in order to communicate an idea of urbanity and its worldwide importance. While the tradition of producing maps of Vienna ended immediately after the singular document of the “Albertinian”-map and was continued only after 1529, views of Vienna can be found throughout the whole of the 15th century in quite a number of examples. Nevertheless, after Schedel’s opus there was a gap with regard to the production of town views of and for Vienna. Interestingly the era of Emperor Maximilian I, which brougth about a distinctive rise in the production of pictorial documents, did nothing for Vienna. It is not impossible that this phenomenon is related to the political developments in these decades marginalizing the former prominent role which Vienna had played. The Emperor’s interests were characterised by a much wider horizon focussing far beyond the traditional capital. A most dramatic event in the city’s history which has remained part of the collective memory7 to the present – the first Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1529 – became the starting-point for a new rise in the production of maps and views.8 Even though the city was saved much more by favourable circumstances than by an effective defence – the rescue of Vienna became the main topic of news throughout the whole of Europe. Written documents in printed form, fliers and leaflets full of the news were distributed and pictorial illustrations were the most attractive media. This was the initiative of Niclas Meldeman, an editor, printer and Briefmaler from Nuremberg, and representative of a craft which owed its success to the rising demand of the audience for printed pictures. In order to create an actual and impressive representation of Vienna threatened by the siege, it provided one of the most important pictorial documents of Vienna in the early 16th century. One month after the Ottoman troops had withdrawn from the city Meldeman came to Vienna in order to prepare such a representation. He was able to buy an existing picture, which a “berumpter maler”, a famous painter, alas anonymous, had drawn from the spire of St Stephen’s. By May 1530 Meldeman had finished his wood-cut and given
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it to the printer (or had it printed himself). Today only one hand-coloured copy printed on paper in the Vienna (Wien) Museum survives. Closely attached to Meldeman’s opus is the rise of an absolutely new genre of views and maps, the pictorial Kriegstheater-Karte (map of war’s theatre). Now, the new technique of printing which spread all over Europe in the 15th century together with the wood-cut for pictures made it possible to provide a wider audience, not only single people, with texts and pictures. This was a totally new medium of communication which could be used to steer opinions, to make propaganda and to distribute news of a sensational character. With regard to the town view the big step from making biblical or historical scenes more familiar to the viewer to the representation of actual events befalling a specific city was undertaken. The main focus was the context of these events, and it was not the intention to give a detailed representation – not at all a real picture – of the town and its topographical and architectural structures. This can also be seen by the fact that the urban space inside the fortifications on the Meldeman view is devoid of buildings and structures, but only marked with some (ecclesiastical) buildings or scenes of events. In contrast to the “Albertinian” map of one hundred years earlier, Meldeman gives some individual features of the buildings, and a crane on the north spire of St. Stephen’s provides us with an actual reference. Again it is Nuremberg, where the creator of this round-view of 1529/30 came from, and the town at the river Pegnitz which were really among the most outstanding focal points of this new era. And there is also another characteristic of Meldeman’s opus which is noticeable. Whereas the older views were diagonal views seen from a stand-point outside of the city, here for the first time we encounter a panorama from an elevated stand-point inside the city itself. The reason why Meldeman chose this type of representation certainly lay in the use of the sketch of an anonymous famous painter who had been able to get the permission to enter the warden's room in the spire of St Stephen’s. It is regrettable that many questions with regard to Meldeman’s work will remain unanswered, especially those about the distribution of his view. It was only recently that a wall map of the Ottoman campaign of 1529 via Hungary to Vienna was discovered by the prominent historian of cartography, Günter Schilder. Found in 2007 this sensational discovery was made accessible to a Viennese audience in 2010.9 The wood-cut named Descriptio expedicionis Tvrcicae, printed by the author Johannes Haselberg in co-operation with the editor Christoph Zell in Nuremberg in 1530, is another example of the pictorial documents of the genre Kriegstheater-maps. The cartographic cimelium shows large areas of
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Europe, the northern coast of Africa and parts of the Near East. The main accent is not the topographical accuracy although the geographical knowledge of Haselberg was up-to-date. The core topic is the campaign of the Ottoman troops, shown here as a continuous belt of warriors and weapons from Constantinople across the Balkans and Hungary as far as Vienna. The view of Vienna is far from being precise in a topographical sense. Nevertheless next to Meldeman this wall-map has to be named among the outstanding pictorial documents of Vienna in the early modern period. Apart from the well known St Stephen’s spire the suburb in front of the Carinthian Gate with the massive Laßla-tower is also represented in a recognizable manner. It is of great interest to see what models Haselberg used. Although his map stands in the tradition of the Etzlaub type it refers to the Lazarus-map printed in Ingolstadt in 1528 for the representation of the Hungarian area. For the Russian area it refers to the wall-map of the Polish cartographer Bernard Wapowski published shortly after 1526 in Cracow and for Italy to the map of the Venetian editor Giovanni Andrea di Vavassore named Guadagnino – actual products of contemporary cartography. For the period following 1529/30 two phenomena were of decisive importance for the production of new views and maps of Vienna, phenomena which in fact cannot be separated from each other. On the one hand it was the continuous public interest for the city that had overcome the threat of the Ottomans, an interest which was pushed greatly by the Habsburgs trying to build up an image of Vienna as a bulwark of Christendom.10 On the other hand it was the reconstruction of the fortifications11 starting in the early 1530s which gave rise to new technical and cartographic as well as artistic activities with regard to Vienna. The fact that the specialists came from Nuremberg and that the city was a centre for publishing, meant it kept the importance it had already held since Schedel’s times. Another feature typical of this period are the abundant abilities, the universal talents of the creators of such views and maps, who also produced other types of prints like pamphlets etc. Quite often the cooperation between different specialists was the basis for a single product, and it can be rather difficult to differentiate between cartographers, artists and/or editors. Another phenomenon has to be mentioned here: the almost incredible speed of the re-use of published maps and views. This could happen either by the authors themselves who made use of their printing plates in other publishing centres or by real imitators and later generations. With Augustin Hirschvogel (1503-1555)12, descendant of a renowned Nuremberg family of glass painters, we come across another personality of
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great importance for the ongoing evolution of maps and views of Vienna. Already being familiar with cartography from 1539 onwards he stepped forward with a number of cartographic works commissioned by both his home town as well as by King Ferdinand I. In 1544 he moved to Vienna where he dedicated his life to art and science, not only cartographic activities. It was of decisive importance that the Lord Mayor of Vienna, Sebastian Schranz, charged him with the production of a representation of Vienna in plano. For the realization of this project Hirschvogel was provided with assistants; one of them, Bonifaz Wolmuet from the Lake Constance region made a map of his own and became a competitor. In August 1547 Hirschvogel was able to present his map to King Ferdinand in Prague. We know of three existing copies, none of which have survived. Among the holdings of the Viennese Stadt- und Landesarchiv there is a hand-drawn sketch of a part of the city’s fortifications given in frontelevation which could be either by Hirschvogel or Wolmuet. What has survived is a copy made by Hirschvogel himself on a round table as well as printed copper engravings. Hirschvogel’s map is a most important document for the rebuilding of Vienna’s fortifications and it also the oldest map containing the blocks of houses shaped by streets, lanes and squares in the city. The map by Wolmuet, Hirschvogel’s assistant for the survey of land, was never printed. Nevertheless the existence of a hand-drawn copy in the holdings of the Wien-Museum together with the remark by Hirschvogel: Feci ergo laborem, tulit alter honorem. are underlining the contemporary estimation for this cartographic cimelium. While the elements of the new fortification represented in front-elevation definitely were the focus of Hirschvogel, Wolmuet preferred the horizontal plan, included floor-plans and even plans of the vaults of single buildings. He drew attention also to the suburbs just outside the city-walls where he changed the representation to the manner of front-elevation. It is difficult to say whether Wolmuet was really given the praise while Hirschvogel went away empty-handed. Both maps represent the starting point of a proper cartographic survey of Vienna. Hirschvogel was also the author of two views of Vienna, one from the south, one from the north, published in 1547 which were the model for Sebastian Münster’s view of Vienna, a wood-cut made in 1548 and published in 1550. Münster had got to know about this master copy from Wolfgang Lazius, and he included it also into the context of the symbolic importance of Vienna as a bulwark of christendom (“des gewaltigen widerstandt halb, so sie zu vnsern zeiten hat wider den grimmigen Feind der Christenheit gethan”). Even in the well known Vienna view in the
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Städtebuch of Braun-Hogenberg published in 1572 – almost half a century after the events – the “Turkish motif” appeared once again. And this motif was of fundamental importance especially for the sovereign of these decades, King, then Emperor Ferdinand I. Some years ago I drew attention to the exciting connections between the defence of Vienna against the Ottoman Islamic forces and the Reconquista on the Iberian Peninsula, home-country of Ferdinand. Although during his reign other residences besides Vienna, for example Prague, became more and more important, the well-known 1556-portrait of the Emperor by Hanns Lautensack (again active in Nuremberg) shows him in front of the city of Vienna. It was the same artist who, in a representation of the downfall of the Assyrian King Sennacherib in front of Jerusalem made some years later, did not only give an allegory for Vienna under siege but also a very much individualized view from the south containing references to the architecture of the fortifications as they stood just before 1560. The idea of Vienna as a symbol for the triumph over the Ottomans – an idea which is also represented in the design of triumphal arches and gates, but which at the same time is in direct conflict with the political reality marked by the payment of tributes to the Sublime Porte – did not only appear in the surroundings of the Habsburg Court. It was also accepted and used by the city of Vienna itself and by the contemporary nobility. A good example of how this Viennese image spread into noble circles shows on an almost unknown fresco in the Palazzo Lantieri in Gorizia/Friuli.13 This building, located close to the third defensive ring of Gorizia, had come into the possession of Antonio Lantieri from Ljubljana by a contract of sale on October 21, 1505, and up to present times it belongs to the descendants of this man. The beautiful palazzo – the name “Schönhaus/ Casa bella” is documented as around 1500 – was enlarged and decorated by the new proprietors. In 1910 in a sala at ground-level of the palazzo, frescos were discovered showing amongst many other motifs a representation of the siege of Vienna in 1529 (Fig. 2-1). Art historians have attributed this fresco to Marco Fogolino (c. 1478 after 1549/50), a painter from Vicenza, and have dated it to the middle of the 16th century. This pictorial document, previously disregarded by research, shows very clearly and impressively how the contemporary nobles, whose members did not only play a crucial role in the confrontation with the Ottoman Empire but also spilt a lot of their blood in these conflicts, identified themselves with Vienna as a symbol for the military success. The Lantieri-fresco shows Vienna from the north – identifiable once again by St. Stephen’s cathedral protruding enormously from the surrounding buildings within the fortified city. In this sense it is a continuation of a
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Fig. 2-1: Frresco in Goriziia, Palazzo La antieri (see: O Opll, Stürzlingeer, Wiener Ansichten undd Pläne, see noote 1, pp. 30–45 5): View of Vieenna from the North N on a Representatioon of the First Turkish T Siege off 1529 (Detail: St. Stephen's Cathedral). C Foto: F. Oplll (20 May 20012); by courteesy of Contesssa Carolina di Levetzow Lantieri.
tradition whhich had beggun with thee Vienna-view w on the Babenberg B genealogy oof the 1490s.. Again far from f being prrecise and ex xact with regard to thee topography, quite a numb ber of details ppoint out that the artist
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had been able to make use of existing views and also had information about the actual situation of the renovation of the city walls. Particularly exact is the presentation of the Rotenturmtor (the Red Tower Gate), whereas the name-giving tower with the chess-board-like decoration in red and white is missing. Two almost completed bastions at the north-east and north-west corner of the fortifications are proof that the artist of the fresco was informed about the manifold building-activities of the 1540s. Of particular significance is the half-rounded earth-bank equipped with cannons on the right (north-western) corner of the fortification close to the banks of the Danube. The situation is reminiscent in an absolutely striking manner of the representation of the 1547-map by Bonifaz Wolmuet, where close to the Judenturm (Jew’s Tower) an earth bank in rectangular shape is recognizable and where later on, 1558-61, the Elendbastion (Misery bastion) emerged. At the opposite corner a walled bastion can be seen which could be identified with the Dominikanerbastion (Dominican’s bastion) rather than with the Biberbastion. This bastion took its origins from an earth bulwark made in 1531 which in 1544/45 – financed by the citizens – was to become the first walled bastion of the whole Viennese fortification. In summary, the topography and townscape of Vienna are documented by an astonishingly rich pictorial heritage starting in the first half of the 15th century. For a long time the intention was not to give an exact and detailed picture of the town but to provide viewers of religious-liturgical artworks with a sense of familiarity by using surroundings with which they were more or less familiar. The same explanation can also be used for the inclusion of views of Vienna in representations of the glorious past of ruling families. In close connection with the development of printed pictorial views produced in Nuremberg a new type of city view appeared that started a new tradition lasting into the 17th and 18th centuries. Even for this new type of view published in the context of Städtebücher the main goal was not faithfulness to reality but the desire to present Vienna as one of the really well-known and famous cities. The same intention was followed by the different views and maps in the context of Kriegstheater, starting with the siege of Vienna by Ottoman forces in 1529. In the beginning the Europe-wide response to the news about the happy prevention of such a deadly threat brought about the so-called “Turk’s motif“. It was to become a real topos with regard not only to the Viennese themselves but also to the image of the city from outside. This motif was picked up by propaganda as well as by initiatives directed towards forming a particular kind of city image and it became a “leitmotif“ for quite a number of views of Vienna of this period. In direct interplay with these developments, but also typical of the growing technical and cartographical
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skills of this era, the renovation of Vienna’s fortifications after 1529 produced maps to scale from the 1540s onwards. To these pictorial documents we owe our knowledge of what the city looked like and for the first time the city could step out of the darkness.
Bibliography Behringer Wolfgang, “Die großen Städtebücher und ihre Voraussetzungen.” In: Behringer Wolfgang, Roeck Bernd (Eds.), Das Bild der Stadt in der Neuzeit 14001800 (München: C.H.Beck, 1999), pp. 8193. Csendes Peter, Opll Ferdinand (Eds.), Wien. Geschichte einer Stadt. 2 vol. (Wien etc.: Böhlau, 2001-2003). Fischer Karl, “Die kartographische Darstellung Wiens bis zur Zweiten Wiener Türkenbelagerung.” In: Fischer Karl (Ed.), Das ist die stat Wienn. Vom Albertinischen Plan bis zur Computerkarte. Ein halbes Jahrtausend Wiener Stadtkartographie (= Wiener Geschichtsblätter, Beiheft 1995/4). (Wien: Verein für Geschichte der Stadt Wien, 1995), pp. 8-28. —. “Blickpunkt Wien – Das kartographische Interesse an der von den Türken bedrohten Stadt im 16. Jahrhundert.” In: Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Wien 52/53 (1996/97), pp. 101-116. —. “Mit schüessen oder feuerwerckhen vom sturm abtreiben…“. Augustin Hirschvogels Vermessungsmethode und die Funktion seiner “Quadranten“ (1547/49).” In: Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt 54 (1998), pp. 79-104. Meurer Peter H., Schilder Günter, “Die Wandkarte des Türkenzuges 1529 von Johann Haselberg und Christoph Zell.” In: Cartographia Helvetica 39 (2009), pp. 27-42. Opll Ferdinand, “Ferdinand I. und seine Stadt Wien. Versuch einer Neubewertung des Verhältnisses zwischen Herrscher und Stadt.” In: Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt 61 (2005), pp. 73-98. Opll Ferdinand, Martin Roland, Wien und Wiener Neustadt im 15. Jahrhundert. Unbekannte Stadtansichten um 1460 in der New Yorker Handschrift der Concordantiae caritatis des Ulrich von Lilienfeld (= Forschungen und Beiträge zur Wiener Stadtgeschichte, B 45). (Innsbruck etc.: Studien-Verlag, 2006). Opll Ferdinand, Martin Roland, Wien und Wiener Neustadt im 15. Jahrhundert. Unbekannte Stadtansichten um 1460 in der New Yorker Handschrift der Concordantiae caritatis des Ulrich von Lilienfeld (=
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Forschungen und Beiträge zur Wiener Stadtgeschichte, B 45). (Innsbruck etc.: Studien-Verlag, 2006). Opll Ferdinand, “Gli assedi dei Turchi a Vienna e la memoria collettiva della città.” In: Hubert Houben (Ed.), La conquista turca di Otranto (1480) tra storia e mito. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studio, Otranto – Muro Leccese, 28–31 marzo 2007, vol. 2 (= Università del Salento. Dipartimento dei beni delle arti e della storia. Saggi e testi, 42). (Galatina: Congedo Editore, 2008), pp. 79-114. —.“Schutz und Symbol. Zur Stadtbefestigung von Wien vom hohen Mittelalter bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts.” In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege 64, 1/2 (2010), pp. 12-21. Opll Ferdinand, Stürzlinger Martin, Wiener Ansichten und Pläne von den Anfängen bis 1609. Mit einem Neufund aus Gorizia/Görz aus der Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts (= Wiener Geschichtsblätter, Beiheft 2013/4). (Wien: Verein für Geschichte der Stadt Wien, 2013).
Notes 1 For an overview see Fischer Karl, “Die kartographische Darstellung Wiens bis zur Zweiten Wiener Türkenbelagerung.” In: Fischer Karl (Ed.), Das ist die stat Wienn. Vom Albertinischen Plan bis zur Computerkarte. Ein halbes Jahrtausend Wiener Stadtkartographie (= Wiener Geschichtsblätter, Beiheft 1995/4). (Wien: Verein für Geschichte der Stadt Wien, 1995), pp. 828, and Opll Ferdinand, Stürzlinger Martin, Wiener Ansichten und Pläne von den Anfängen bis 1609. Mit einem Neufund aus Gorizia/Görz aus der Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts (= Wiener Geschichtsblätter, Beiheft 2013/4). (Wien: Verein für Geschichte der Stadt Wien, 2013). 2 For the topographical and historical evolution up to the 16th century see Csendes Peter, Opll Ferdinand (Eds.), Wien. Geschichte einer Stadt. 2 vol. (Wien etc.: Böhlau, 2001-2003). 3 A list of all views and maps of Vienna from around 1400 to 1609 can be found in Opll, Stürzlinger, Wiener Ansichten und Pläne (see note 1), Anhang (appendix). 4 Opll Ferdinand, Martin Roland, Wien und Wiener Neustadt im 15. Jahrhundert. Unbekannte Stadtansichten um 1460 in der New Yorker Handschrift der Concordantiae caritatis des Ulrich von Lilienfeld (= Forschungen und Beiträge zur Wiener Stadtgeschichte, B 45). (Innsbruck etc.: Studien-Verlag, 2006). 5 Opll Ferdinand, “Das Antlitz der Stadt Wien am Ende des Mittelalters. Bekanntes und Neues zu den „Wien-Ansichten“ auf Tafelbildern des 15. Jahrhunderts.” In: Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Wien 55 (1999), pp. 101-145. 6 Behringer Wolfgang, “Die großen Städtebücher und ihre Voraussetzungen.” In: Behringer Wolfgang, Roeck Bernd (Eds.), Das Bild der Stadt in der Neuzeit 1400 1800 (München: C.H.Beck, 1999), pp. 81-93.
Vienna from the 15th to the Middle of the 16th Century
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Cf. Opll Ferdinand, “Gli assedi dei Turchi a Vienna e la memoria collettiva della città.” In: Hubert Houben (Ed.), La conquista turca di Otranto (1480) tra storia e mito. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studio, Otranto – Muro Leccese, 28–31 marzo 2007, vol. 2 (= Università del Salento. Dipartimento dei beni delle arti e della storia. Saggi e testi, 42). (Galatina: Congedo Editore, 2008), pp. 79-114. 8 See Fischer Karl, “Blickpunkt Wien – Das kartographische Interesse an der von den Türken bedrohten Stadt im 16. Jahrhundert.” In: Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Wien 52/53 (1996/97), pp. 101-116. 9 Meurer Peter H., Schilder Günter, “Die Wandkarte des Türkenzuges 1529 von Johann Haselberg und Christoph Zell.” In: Cartographia Helvetica 39 (2009), pp. 27–42; also in: Wiener Geschichtsblätter 65/1 (2010), pp. 21-46. 10 Opll Ferdinand, “Ferdinand I. und seine Stadt Wien. Versuch einer Neubewertung des Verhältnisses zwischen Herrscher und Stadt.” In: Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt 61 (2005), pp. 73-98. 11 For an overview see Opll Ferdinand, “Schutz und Symbol. Zur Stadtbefestigung von Wien vom hohen Mittelalter bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts.” In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege 64, 1/2 (2010), pp. 12-21. 12 Fischer Karl, “Mit schüessen oder feuerwerckhen vom sturm abtreiben…“. Augustin Hirschvogels Vermessungsmethode und die Funktion seiner “Quadranten“ (1547/49).” In: Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt 54 (1998), pp. 79-104. 13 See Opll, Stürzlinger, Wiener Ansichten und Pläne (see note 1), pp. 30-45.
CHAPTER THREE THE “TYPI CHOROGRAPHICI PROVINCIARUM AUSTRIAE” (1561) BY WOLFGANG LAZIUS PETRA SVATEK
Introduction After the first modest beginnings of cartography in Vienna and its surrounding area in the 15th century (Georg Müstinger, Georg von Peuerbach etc.), the mapping activities received an enormous upturn during the early 16th century. For example a major contribution came from members of the “Second Viennese School of Mathematics and Astronomy” (Georg Tannstetter, Johannes Cuspinian), who produced maps of Austria and Hungary. However, only the map of Hungary is still preserved today. In addition to these rare maps, attention was increasingly paid to the production of urban maps. The first apex of the urban mapping in Vienna began immediately after the first Turkish siege of the city in 1529, when new fortifications were built and surveying of the city became increasingly important. For this reason, a series of maps of Vienna was produced during the 1530s and 1540s, including for example the city layout plan by Bonifaz Wolmuet (1547) and the circular map of the city of Vienna by Augustin Hirschvogel (1547/1549).1 Finally the highlight of Viennese and also Austrian cartography was achieved with Wolfgang Lazius (Fig. 3-1), one of the most important Viennese scholars of the 16th century. He produced 24 maps of today’s Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Greece, northern Italy and western Rumania. This article focuses on his 1561 produced book Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae, the first “atlas” of the Austrian provinces. It addresses the decorations, the entries and the function of the maps and is based on the thesis that Lazius actually did not aim for mutual positional accuracy of individual entries in his “Typi”-maps. Rather, these maps were to impart a symbolic meaning.
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Fig. 3-1: Wolf lfgang Lazius (A Archive Univerrsity of Vienna 1106.I.607)
In Germ man-speaking regions, the origins o of res earch into thee “Typi”maps go bacck to the earlyy 20th century y. In 1906 thee Austrian geo ographers Eugen Oberrhummer and Franz von Wiieser publisheed their book Wolfgang LaziusҲ Karrten von Östeerreich und Ungarn U aus de den Jahren 15 545-1563. Almost all m maps have beeen shown in n their originaal size. Accom mpanying texts providde a first inttroduction to the entries of the mapss. In the following deecades many books and arrticles about tthe history off Austrian cartography were publisshed. The autthors did nott forget Laziius as an important A Austrian cartographer of th he Renaissancce era. Howev ver, these books do noot contain any new informattion in compaarison with thee book by Oberhummeer and Wieser. New research resultss to the “Typ ypi”-maps contained foor example thee books and articles by Florrio Banfi (196 60), Ernst Bernleithnerr (1972) and Franz F Wawrik k (2003).2 In th the last few yeears Petra
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Svatek has published several articles about Lazius and his Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae.3
The life of Wolfgang Lazius Wolfgang Lazius was born on October 31st 1514 in Vienna. His father Simon worked at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Vienna as a professor and dean and died during a pest-epidemic in 1532. His mother Ottilie descended from a Viennese merchant family. Her step-brother Hermes Schallauczer (1503-1561) was mayor of Vienna, judge and master builder of fortifications.4 Lazius had three siblings: two sisters (Margareth and Katharina) and one brother (Gabriel), who registered at the University of Vienna in 1531 but died like his father in 1532.5 We know almost nothing about Wolfgang Lazius ތchildhood. He grew up in the atmosphere of a dedicated humanist family. Simon was a member of the scientific humanist circle “Sodalitas Collimitiana”, established by the physician, astronomer, mathematician and cartographer Georg Tannstetter (1482-1535). Other members were the humanists Johannes Cuspinian (1473-1529), Andreas Stiborius (1464-1515) and Joachim Vadianus (1484-1551). Sometimes these scientists were guests in the house of the Lazius family, which was located in the “Judengasse” in the centre of Vienna.6 Wolfgang Lazius registered at the Viennese Faculty of Arts in 1528. After the death of his father he decided to study medicine, first in Vienna and from 1536 on in Ingolstadt. During this time Lazius travelled through Western Europe and visited Leuven, Antwerp and Cologne. After receiving his doctor’s diploma in 1538 he came back to Vienna, gave lectures in the Faculty of Arts and worked as a physician in Wiener Neustadt in the south of Lower Austria. In 1541 Lazius was appointed as a doctor of the imperial army in Hungary. Near Buda (Budapest today) he was captured by the Turks but he was soon freed. Lazius left Hungary in the same year.7 From 1542 until his death in 1565 he was a professor of medicine at the University of Vienna, a dean of the Viennese faculty of medicine and rector of the University (1546 and 1560). In 1546 Lazius was ennobled by Ferdinand I in recognition of his services to the state and to science. A few years later Ferdinand appointed him to his personal doctor and his historiographer.8 Lazius married Anna Stronsdorfer after he returned to Vienna in 1538. They had a son named Ferdinand but both died a few years later. The last mention of Ferdinand is printed in the preface of the book Septem partium
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logisticae arithmeticus quaestiones (1546) by Johannes Schröter because of his talent for mathematics. In 1564 Lazius finally married his second wife Elisabeth Amassöder.9 Lazius died on June 19th, 1565. He suffered a stroke and had paralysis in his legs and hands. The actual cause of his death was asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen.10 His gravestone can still be seen at St. Peter’s Church in the centre of Vienna, where he served as a deacon.
Lazius as a physician, historian and cartographer Important medical publications by Wolfgang Lazius have not come down to us, but he made up for it by publishing more than 15 books about the history of the ancient Greeks and Romans (Commentarii reipublicae Romanae, 1551; Commentarii rerum Graecarum, 1558), the Middle Ages and the 16th century. His researches focused on the migration of the people (De gentium aliquot migrationibus, 1557), the history of Vienna (Vienna Austriae, 1546), Greek and Roman inscriptions and coins (Commentariorum vetustorum numismatum, 1558; Exempla aliquot S. vetustatis Rom. in saxis quibusdam, 1560) and the history of the Habsburgs (Commentarii in genealogiam Austriacam, 1564). Lazius also published a geographical and historical description of Lower and Upper Austria (Interpretatio chorographia utriusque Austriae, 1545). Despite his traditional, classical-humanistic understanding of history Lazius can be characterized by some methodological innovations. He questioned old research results (such as the Trojan descent of the Habsburgs), and he systematically evaluated ancient and medieval manuscripts in different Austrian libraries. But today a lot of scientists criticize Lazius because there are a lot of errors in his books (false interpretations of Latin inscriptions, mix-up of names and years, etc.) With his 24 maps11 Lazius was the most important Austrian cartographer of the 16th century. He was one of the pioneers in the history of cartography and one of the first to produce political and historical maps. The first historical maps done by Lazius were two manuscript maps focusing on the Schmalkaldian War of 1546 and 1547, which was triggered by the permanent conflicts between Catholics and Protestants.12 The woodcut map Rei contra Turcas gestae anno MDLVI brevis descriptio (1557) was produced by Lazius in the context of the recurring conflicts between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire and illustrates the successful Habsburg campaign of 1556.13 But Lazius produced also three maps of the ancient Greece (Chorographia Helladis, Peloponnesus peninsula, Peloponnesus ex Pausanio et Strabone descriptus), in which he
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integrated small medallions with references to famous mythological and historical personalities, references to early and legendary rulers of important kingdoms, temples built by ancient Greeks, ancient coins and little scenes of famous ancient Greek legends.14 The question as to how Lazius learned how to make maps cannot be answered exactly. Maybe Peter Apian (1495-1552), a German cartographer from Ingolstadt, had taught him. But also Viennese humanist and physician Georg Tannstetter had the knowledge to introduce him to the art of cartography.15 Lazius used the following sources to create his maps: 1. Lists of Austrian place names, rivers and mountains: For example at the time of Lazius there existed a list with the names of Austrian settlements from the early 16th century16 2. Other maps: for example by Augustin Hirschvogel, Sebastian Münster, Johannes Aventin and Nicolaus Sophianus17 3. Different books (for example by Strabon, Tannstetter etc.) 4. His own sketches, which he drew during his journeys like a sketch of the Danube between the “Wachau” and the Enns river and Lake Neusiedl.18
Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae Lazius’ book Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae was published in 1561. With its eleven maps it is the first atlas of the Austrian provinces and his cartographic magnum opus.
Title page of the book, dedication The book begins with a decorative title page (Fig. 3-2). On the top Lazius integrated two angels holding a book titled Com. rerum Austriacarum because the Typi was intended as an accompaniment to his planned historical cartographic masterpiece. On the right and left sides and in the lower part, books written by Lazius and his coat-of-arms, which was awarded to him by Ferdinand I in 1546, were shown. In the middle Lazius wrote the title (“Typi chorographici Provin: Austriae”), the dedication to Ferdinand I and his son Maximilian (“concinnati ad Heros suos Ferdin: Imp: Rom: P. F. & Maximilianum Regem”), the name of the author (“Autore Wolfg. Lazio Viennen: Medico et Historico”) and the publisher (“excudebat Michael Zimerman”)19, the year 1561 and the place of publication.
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Fig. 3-2: Tittle page of thee Typi chorogrraphici provincciarum Austriaee (Library University off Vienna, UBW III-259182) I
This titlle page folloows a comp prehensive deedication to Emperor Ferdinand I and King Maximilian II in the foorm of a hom mage by representativves of differeent sciences and a arts (“Auttoris dedicatio o, in qua suas singulii scientias Dn: Dn: Ferdina an: Imp: Rom m: P. F. et Maxximiliano Regi commeendant”). Thiss list of scholaars includes a lot of scientiists of the
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University of Vienna like the mathematician Hieronymus Lauterbach (1531-1577) and the physician, astronomer and botanist Paul Fabricius (1529-1589). This dedication is followed by a sort of table of contents (“Elenchus operis invictiss: et gloriosiss. DN: DN: Ferdinando Rom: Imp: P. F. & Maximiliano Hung: & Bohemorum Regi consecrati”) that conveys basic information about the maps contained in the book and above all lists the names of the patrons to which each map is dedicated. For example on the map of Gorizia, these patrons were the imperial councillors Johann Jordanus and Franz Igelshofer, who assisted Lazius in the capacity of secretaries.20
Title pages of the maps, corresponding texts Each map has an own title page offering some information about the area represented. The upper half always features the Austrian doubleheaded eagle, whose wings hold a table with geographic and historical entries. The eagle’s wings show coats-of-arms of regions of the Habsburg Empire: Gorizia, Carinthia, Upper Austria, Austria, Styria, Carniola, Celje and Wendian March. The texts mainly communicate information about the location of the area shown on each map. Notable bits of historical information include year dates with short texts in the right lower corner of each table. For example, the title page of the map of Styria (Fig. 3-3a) gives the date 1180 to record the elevation of today’s federal province of Austria to a dukedom. Furthermore you can read about the important extraction of iron. In the lower half various figurative images portraying rulers, warriors and typical representatives of the ethnic groups inhabiting the respective regions, adorn the sheets. The title page of the map of Styria shows us a typical Styrian farmer and an earl. The title page of the map of Tyrol (Fig. 3-3b) gives information about regions across the border. For example Lazius mentions Italy in the South, Bavaria in the North, the Carnic region in the East and the Engadine (a long valley in the Swiss Alps) in the West. Furthermore Lazius wrote about Margarete Maultasch, the last Countess of Tyrol, and the unification with the lands of the House of Habsburg in the 1360s. In the lower section a warrior and an alpine farmer are depicted. Moreover, texts about the historical development of the areas shown are attached to each map. However, most of these texts provide only a
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Fig. 3-3a: Tittle page of the map m of Styria (U UBW III-2591882)
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Fig. 3-3b: Tittle page of the map m of Tyrol (U UBW III-2591822)
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very superficial idea of regional history; some data are highly inaccurate. For example in the text of the map of Lower and Upper Austria the reader can only find six dates, although a period of time of more than 1,000 years is treated. These dates relate to the Migration of the Peoples, Charles the Great, Pepin, 1193, the battles on the Marchfeld 1278 and of Sempach 1386. As an example of inaccurate information I want to mention the establishment of the University of Vienna (founded by Duke Rudolf IV in 1365). Lazius specified neither the year in which this event had taken place, nor which Rudolf founded the university (“Rudolphus fundator qui Gymnasium“). The majority of the texts end with long lists of aristocrats, but also of powerful untitled families (Auersberg, Herberstein, Harrach, etc.).
“Typi”-Maps R. Austrasia ad Rhenum cum Edelsassia et ducat. Alemaniae (Alsace) Regni Francorum orientalis sive Austriae ad Danubium (Lower and Upper Austria) Marcha orientalis (eastern Lower Austria) Austria supra Anisum (Upper Austria) Boiorum Regni una cum comitatibus suis descriptio (Bavaria) Regni veteris Suevorum una cum pagis description (Swabia) Rhetiae alpestris in qua Tirolis com. description (Tyrol) Carinthiae ducatus cum palatinatu Goricia (Carinthia and Gorizia) Ducatus Stirae marchiae (Styria) Carniolae et Histriae una cum Marcha Windorum (Carniola) Principat. Goricens. cum Karstio et Chaczeola description (Gorizia) The eleven maps and corresponding texts cover an area extending between Luxembourg to the North and the Istrian Peninsula to the South as well as Eastern Switzerland to the West and Western Hungary to the East. It is impossible to state precisely when these maps were designed by Lazius. In a letter written to Bishop Friedrich Nausea (1496-1552) in 1545, Lazius already mentions maps of Bavaria and the Rhine. In the same year, he wrote to the Alsatian humanist Beatus Rhenanus (1485-1547) describing a map of Styria.21 This shows clearly that Lazius had prepared his “Typi” as early as the 1540s. The eleven maps are all of an oval shape and feature particularly ornate decorations. Each is held by an Austrian double-headed eagle, on whose
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wings Laziuus inscribed thhe coats-of-arm ms of the neigghbouring reg gions. For example on the eagle's wiings of the Ty yrol-map Laziuus integrated the t coatsof-arms off the neighbbouring regio ons Milan, G Graubünden, Bavaria, Salzburg, C Carinthia and Veneto. In th he lower secttion of the map m sheet, Lazius posittioned the coaats-of-arms off the respectivee patron to wh hom each map was ddedicated. Onn the map of o Tyrol theese patrons were w the aristocratic ffamilies Trauttson and Puch hler.
Fig. 3-4: “Duucatus Stirae marchiae” (UBW W III-259182)
Fig. 3-4 shows the map m of Styria with w the coatss-of-arms of Carinthia, C Upper Austrria, Salzburg, Austria, Hun ngary and Celjje. In the loweer section of the map sheet, Lazius positioned th he coats-of-arm ms of Georg Sigmund
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Seld, Vice C Chancellor of Emperor Ferd dinand I., andd Erasmus Heeidenreich from a Tyroolean aristocraatic family. With thee combined representation r n of map imaage and doub ble eagle, which for thhousands of years y has been n regarded ass emblematic of divine and secular rule, Lazius also created a symbol off the affiliatio on of the provinces shhown in the “Typi” “ maps with the Habbsburg Empire. In this sense, the m maps may alsso be attributted a politicall function. Th he whole concept is fuurther emphassised by the co olouring of th e maps in som me “Typi” editions; in these copies, the areas classsified as beloonging to the Habsburg H Empire are as a rule show wn in yellow.22 We do not know why Lazius L has integrated a map of Bavaaria, as the Haabsburgs couldd not acquire any areas in this southhern part of todday’s German ny. mber of entries. In the The charracteristics off the maps aree the large num map of Low wer and Upperr Austria, the biggest “Typii”-map, there are more than 1200 nnames: 107 naames of riverrs, 30 names of lakes, 62 names of mountains, 936 names off settlements, 37 names off valleys and 16 1 names of forests. Moreover, Lazius L took account a of m mining districtts (partly identified byy the symbol of a miner wiielding a raiseed pick), winee growing regions (byy adding a small grapeevine, Fig. 33-5), thermall springs (representedd by a tub), strreets, bridges and forests (F Fig. 3-6). Especially in the lakes annd the Adriatic and Aegean n Sea the readder can also find f some decorations in the form of o boats and monster m (Fig. 33-6, 3-9). Bish hop cities are characterized by a croook (Fig. 3-5). Historical evvents, too, werre entered into Lazius’ maps: old naames of region ns and towns aas well as refeerences to battles are frrequently giveen.
Fig. 3-5: A grrapevine and a bishop’s crookk in today’s Italyy (UBW III-259 9182)
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Howeverr, as a result of o these numeerous entries aand the oval shape, s the maps createed by Wolfganng Lazius are characterisedd by distortion ns. These distortions aare particularlly marked at the map edgees because theese zones contain num merous topograaphical detailss, some of whhich would norrmally be even outsidee the area deppicted in the map. m But evenn within the map m sheet there are maany inaccuracies. Some settlements and lakes are in th he wrong place; even in those regioons which Laazius knew weell. For exam mple, even near Viennaa some rivers and settlemeents are not ccorrectly depiccted. The map of Styrria gives a maarkedly schem matic and not aalways realistiic idea of the rivers inn the northern and western border zones of the maps, since the watercoursees’ upper reachhes are much too t short due to the oval map frame. In the north--eastern sectioon, one river in i particular eextends much too far in the northernn direction.23
Fig. 3-6: Lakke Neusiedl (UB BW III-259182)
H Historical “Ty Typi”-Maps Two mapps of the “Typpi” are historical maps and show territorries of the Middle Agees. The map about Lowerr and Upper Austria called “Regni Francorum orientalis sivee Austriae ad Danubium” sshows the marrch which was foundedd by Charles the Great (74 42-814) about ut the year 800. In this map Lazius also recordedd 17 medieval battles. For eexample, the entry e near the city of Wiener Neusstadt, 50 kilom metres south of Vienna, features f a legend to reecall the battlee that spelled the death of Duke Frederiick II and the end of thhe Babenberg reign in Austtria (Fig. 3-7).. In the March hfeld near
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the river M March the enttry “Victoria Rudolph Haabsp: Ro: Ca aesar: de Ottocharo rregi et Bohem mis anno MC CCLXXVII” allludes to the Battle of Dürnkrut off 1278, whichh heralded thee ascent of thhe Habsburgs and their rule in Austrria (Fig. 3-8). The second map, m the “Marrcha orientaliss”, shows which Otto I of Germany the march w y had foundeed after the battle of Lechfeld (9555).24
Fig. 3-7: “R Regni Francoruum orientalis sive Austriae ad Danubium” (section Wiener Neusttadt; UBW III-2259182)
Fig. 3-8: “R Regni Francoruum orientalis sive Austriae ad Danubium” (section Marchfeld; U UBW III-2591822)
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Fig. 3-9: N North east secction of “Pelo oponnesus ex Pausanio et Strabone descriptus” ((UBW III-2591882)25
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“Peloponnesus ex Pausanio et Strabone descriptus”26 In some editions of the “Typi” Lazius integrated a map of the ancient Peloponnese with the title “Peloponnesus ex Pausanio et Strabone descriptus” (Fig. 3-9, 3-10). He mentioned the reason behind his publication in the text of the title cartouche, which was given in the “Typi” a page before the map itself: Ferdinand I and Maximilian II should liberate Greece from Ottoman rule and incorporate it into the Habsburg Empire. This request is also to be seen in the design of the map. The map image, which takes an oval shape as in the “Typi”, is likewise carried by the Austrian double eagle. We can also notice various coats-of-arms of the Habsburg Empire and coins of the ancient Greece.27 Between the two heads are the Austrian coat-of-arms and two coins with motifs drawn from Greek mythology. The left one refers to Achaia, since it bears the inscription “Aegialea”, the old name of that region. The right-hand coin is to indicate Troas, the area dominated by Troy. The coins on the eagle’s wings symbolise a number of Greek regions and cities. The lower section of the map is decorated by the Habsburg double eagle to the left and various coats-of-arms of provinces of the Habsburg Empire to the right.28 The map itself shows ancient Greek settlements, temples, references to famous mythological and historical personalities (e. g. the mythical kings Kekrops, Proitos und Danaos) and many other mythological entries. North of Olympia Lazius integrated Zeus, next to Corinth the horse Pegasus. On the whole map several entries about the abduction of Helen by Paris and the Trojan War can be read. For example near the island Helena, today the Greek island Makronisos near Attica, Lazius mentioned her visit after the war.
Fig. 3-10: Olympia and the surrounding area (UBW III-259182)
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Wolfgang Lazius and Gerhard Mercator In 1570 Gerhard Mercator suggested in a letter to Abraham Ortelius: “I could wish that you add the most recent works of Lazius, who described the area subject to the King of Hungary, which Johannes Maior of Vienna sells, and certain other works.”29
Mercator recommended the work of Lazius, and years later finally the maps of Lazius became an important source of his own maps. In any case Mercator used four “Typi”-maps:
“Ducatus Stirae marchiae” “Carinthiae ducatus cum palatinatu Goricia” “Carniolae et Histriae una cum Marcha Windorum” “Principat. Goricens. cum Karstio et Chaczeola description”
With these sources Mercator produced his maps “Saltzburg Archiepiscopatus cum ducatu Carinthiae”, “Stiria” and “Forum Ivlivm, Karstia, Carniola, Histria Et Windorvm Marchia”. But perhaps he also used his map of Tyrol (“Rhetiae alpestris in qua Tirolis com. Description”) and some maps of Lower and Upper Austria (“Marcha orientalis”, “Austria supra Anisum”, “Regni Francorum orientalis sive Austriae ad Danubium”). But which differences can we find in the depiction of rivers, lakes, mountains and villages? The hypothesis is that Mercator did not copy everything from the Lazius maps and that Mercator improved most of the distortions Lazius had made. But with regard to quantity of information, Lazius clearly outstripped Mercator who did not integrate as many rivers, settlements, lakes and names into his maps. Mercator’s maps also entirely lack historical information. Lazius’s maps are more decorative than those drawn by Mercator. Only a few maps produced by 16th-century cartographers are as artistically detailed as those created by Lazius. However, as a result of these numerous entries, the maps created by Lazius tend to be somewhat cluttered. Furthermore, the “Typi”-maps above all are characterised by distortions due to their oval shape. In his depiction of landscapes, Mercator – in contrast to Lazius – limited himself to the depiction of high mountain ranges rendered as small hills. As a result, the visual impact of the map is less cluttered. However, the individual landscape zones are more clearly distinguished from each other in the Lazius maps. A good example of this is provided by the hills of Eastern Styria, which Lazius
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distinguishes clearly from true mountain ranges. The Mercator map erroneously shows this area as a flat plain. Lazius knew this region from his own field trips30, which enabled him to get a good idea of the landscapes of both the Alps and their eastern fringe. Mercator incorporated only two of 43 mountain designations used by Lazius into his own maps. In the Lazius map, all rivers are entered quite schematically. By contrast, Mercator’s work presents, at least in part, more realistic entries for rivers.
Final considerations By way of conclusion, it may be contended that Mercator doubtless actually viewed Lazius’s maps critically and thus was able to eliminate many inaccuracies in his own cartography. However, it may well be that Lazius actually did not aim for mutual positional accuracy of individual entries in his “Typi”-maps. Rather, these maps were to impart a symbolic meaning. The combined depiction of map images and the double-headed eagle was probably meant by Lazius to convey that the represented regions and lands were part of the Habsburg Empire. Thus the maps may be attributed a political function. This is further enhanced by map colouring: thus the regions forming part of the Habsburg Empire are as a rule delineated in yellow. After Lazius, the standard of cartography declined in what then was Austria; a renaissance did not occur before the early 17th century.
Bibliography Aschbach Joseph Ritter von, Die Wiener Universität und ihre Gelehrten 1520 bis 1565 (Wien: Hölder, 1888). Banfi Florio, “Maps of Wolfgang Lazius in the Tall Tree Library in Jenkintown.” In: Imago Mundi, 15 (1960), pp. 52-65. Bernleithner Ernst, Wolfgang Lazius. Austria (Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1972). Braun Hans Jörg, Personalbibliographie der Mitglieder der Medizinischen Fakultät Wien in der Zeit von 1500 bis 1670 (Univ.-Diss. Erlangen / Nürnberg, 1971). Camesina Albert, “Über Lautensackތs Ansicht Wienތs vom Jahre 1558 mit dem von Wolfgang Laz hinzu gelieferten Texte und Beiträge zur Lebensgeschichte des Letzteren.” In: Berichte und Mitteilungen des Altertumsvereines zu Wien, 1 (1856), pp. 7-23. Czeike Felix, Wien und seine Bürgermeister. Sieben Jahrhunderte Wiener Stadtgeschichte (Wien / München: Jugend und Volk, 1974).
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Cornarius Diomedes, Oratio in funere magnifici et clarissimi viri D. Doctoris Wolfgangi Lazii (Viennae, 1565). Durstmüller Anton, 500 Jahre Druck in Österreich. Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der graphischen Gewerbe von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (Wien: Hauptverband der graphischen Unternehmungen, 1981). Eheim Fritz, Die älteste Topographie von Österreich. In: Jahrbuch für Landeskunde von Niederösterreich, 33 (1957), pp. 7-25. Gall Franz, Szaivert Willy, Die Matrikel der Universität Wien, 3 (Wien/ Köln / Graz: Böhlau, 1971). Grössing Helmuth, Humanistische Naturwissenschaft. Zur Geschichte der Wiener mathematischen Schule des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts (BadenBaden: Koerner, 1983). Kratochwill Max, “Wolfgang Lazius.” In: Wiener Geschichtsblätter, 20/3 (1965), pp. 449-452. Lazius Wolfgang, Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae (Viennae, 1561). Leirer Josef, Der Humanist und Geschichtsschreiber Wolfgang Lazius (Univ.-Diss. Wien, 1922). Mayer Anton, Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte 1482-1882, 1 (Wien: Frick, 1885). Menhardt Hermann, Die Kärntner Bibliotheksreise des Wolfgang Lazius 1549. In: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kulturgeschichte Kärntens, 24/25 (1936), pp. 100-112. Svatek Petra, “Wolfgang Lazius – A Viennese Scholar of the 16th Century and his Political and Historical Maps.” In: Journal of the International Map Collectors’ Society, 104 (2006), pp. 36-46. —. “Wolfgang Lazius und seine kartographischen Werke. Kartenanfertigung – künstlerische Kartenelemente – wissenschaftlicher Stellenwert der Karten im internationalen Vergleich.” In: MenschWissenschaft-Magie. Mitteilungen Österreichische Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, 25 (2008), pp. 1-39. —. Die Geschichtskarten des Wolfgang Lazius. Die Anfänge der thematischen Kartographie in Österreich. In: Cartographica Helvetica, 37 (2008), pp. 35-43. —. “Die “Austriae Chorographia” des Wolfgang Lazius.” In: Holzer Gerhard, Horst Thomas, Svatek Petra (Eds.), Die Leidenschaft des Sammelns. Streifzüge durch die Sammlung Woldan (Wien: Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010), pp. 485-504. —. “’Rei contra Turcas anno MDLVI brevis descriptio’: Eine Geschichtskarte des Wolfgang Lazius aus dem Jahre 1557.” In:
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Beineke Dieter, Heunecke Otto, Horst Thomas, Kleim Uwe (Eds.), Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Geodäsie Universität der Bundeswehr München, 87 (Neubiberg: Institut für Geodäsie der Universität der Bundeswehr München, 2012), pp. 237-248. —. “Wolfgang Lazius und sein Buch Commentariorum rerum Graecarum unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der beiden Griechenlandkarten.” In: Gastgeber Christian, Klecker Elisabeth (Eds.), Johannes Cuspinian (1473-1529). Ein Wiener Humanist und sein Werk im Kontext. Singularia Vindobonensia, 2 (Wien: Praesens-Verlag, 2012), pp. 287306. —. “Austria. Thematic cartography from the 16th to 18th century.” In: Journal of the International Map Collectors ތSociety, 130 (2012), pp. 7-11. Taylor Andrew, The world of Gerard Mercator. The mapmaker who revolutionised geography (London: HarperCollins, 2004). Trenkler Ernst, Wolfgang Lazius, Humanist und Büchersammler. In: Biblos. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Buch- und Bibliothekswesen, 27 (1978), pp. 186-203. Vancsa Max, “Quellen und Geschichtsschreibung.” In: Geschichte der Stadt Wien, IV (Wien: Holzhausen, 1911), pp. 1-108. Wawrik Franz, “Historische und kulturhistorische Informationen in den Werken österreichischer Kartographen des 16. Jahrhunderts, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Wolfgang Lazius.” In: Unverhau Dagmar (Ed.), Geschichtsdeutung auf alten Karten. Wolfenbütteler Forschungen, 101 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003), pp. 193-212. —. “Von den Anfängen der österreichischen Kartographie bis zur Zweiten Türkenbelagerung (1683).” In: Kretschmer Ingrid, Dörflinger Johannes, Wawrik Franz (Eds.), Österreichische Kartographie. Von den Anfängen im 15. Jahrhundert bis zum 21. Jahrhundert. Wiener Schriften zur Geographie und Kartographie, 15 (Wien: Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung der Universität Wien, 2004), pp. 11-73.
Notes 1
For the early history of Austrian cartography see: Wawrik Franz, “Von den Anfängen der österreichischen Kartographie bis zur Zweiten Türkenbelagerung (1683).” In: Kretschmer Ingrid, Dörflinger Johannes, Wawrik Franz (Eds.), Österreichische Kartographie. Von den Anfängen im 15. Jahrhundert bis zum 21. Jahrhundert. Wiener Schriften zur Geographie und Kartographie, 15 (Wien: Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung der Universität Wien, 2004), pp.
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11-15, 33, 63. See also the article “Vienna from the 15th to the middle of the 16th century: Topography and Townscape” by Ferdinand Opll in this book. 2 Banfi Florio, “Maps of Wolfgang Lazius in the Tall Tree Library in Jenkintown.” In: Imago Mundi, 15 (1960), pp. 52-65; Bernleithner Ernst, Wolfgang Lazius. Austria (Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1972); Wawrik Franz, “Historische und kulturhistorische Informationen in den Werken österreichischer Kartographen des 16. Jahrhunderts, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Wolfgang Lazius.” In: Unverhau Dagmar (Ed.), Geschichtsdeutung auf alten Karten. Wolfenbütteler Forschungen, 101 (Wiesbaden: Harrasssowitz, 2003), pp. 195-198. 3 Svatek Petra, “Wolfgang Lazius. A Viennese Scholar of the 16th Century and his Political and Historical Maps.” In: Journal of the International Map Collectors’ Society, 104 (2006), pp. 36-46; Svatek Petra, “Wolfgang Lazius und seine kartographischen Werke. Kartenanfertigung-künstlerische Kartenelemente-wissenschaftlicher Stellenwert der Karten im internationalen Vergleich.” In: MenschWissenschaft-Magie. Mitteilungen Österreichische Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, 25 (2008), pp. 1-39; Svatek Petra, “Die Geschichtskarten des Wolfgang Lazius. Die Anfänge der thematischen Kartographie in Österreich.” In: Cartographica Helvetica, 37 (2008), pp. 35-43; etc. 4 Braun Hans Jörg, Personalbibliographie der Mitglieder der Medizinischen Fakultät Wien in der Zeit von 1500 bis 1670 (Univ.-Diss. Erlangen / Nürnberg, 1971), p. 46; Czeike Felix, Wien und seine Bürgermeister. Sieben Jahrhunderte Wiener Stadtgeschichte (Wien / München: Jugend und Volk, 1974), pp. 153-155; Vancsa Max, “Quellen und Geschichtsschreibung.” In: Geschichte der Stadt Wien, IV (Wien: Holzhausen, 1911), pp. 5-6; Kratochwill Max, “Wolfgang Lazius.” In: Wiener Geschichtsblätter, 20/3 (1965), p. 449. 5 Camesina Albert, “Über Lautensackތs Ansicht Wienތs vom Jahre 1558 mit dem von Wolfgang Laz hinzu gelieferten Texte und Beiträge zur Lebensgeschichte des Letzteren.” In: Berichte und Mitteilungen des Altertumsvereines zu Wien, 1 (1856), p. 8; Gall Franz, Szaivert Willy, Die Matrikel der Universität Wien, 3 (Wien / Köln / Graz: Böhlau, 1971), p. 49. 6 Vancsa, Geschichtsschreibung (see note 4), pp. 5-6; Grössing Helmuth, Humanistische Naturwissenschaft. Zur Geschichte der Wiener mathematischen Schule des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts (Baden-Baden: Koerner, 1983), p. 291. 7 Leirer Josef, Der Humanist und Geschichtsschreiber Wolfgang Lazius (Univ.Diss. Wien, 1922), p. 22. 8 Aschbach Joseph Ritter von, Die Wiener Universität und ihre Gelehrten 1520 bis 1565 (Wien: Hölder, 1888), p. 208; Kratochwill Max, Lazius (see note 4), p. 449; Vancsa Max, Geschichtsschreibung (see note 4), p. 6; Svatek Petra, “Rei contra Turcas anno MDLVI brevis descriptio: Eine Geschichtskarte des Wolfgang Lazius aus dem Jahre 1557.” In: Beineke Dieter, Heunecke Otto, Horst Thomas, Kleim Uwe (Eds.), Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Geodäsie Universität der Bundeswehr München, 87 (Neubiberg: Institut für Geodäsie der Universität der Bundeswehr München, 2012), p. 238. 9 Svatek, Turcas (see note 8), pp. 237-238.
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10
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Cornarius Diomedes, Oratio in funere magnifici et clarissimi viri D. Doctoris Wolfgangi Lazii (Viennae, 1565), pp. 9-10. 11 A list with all the maps by Lazius can be found in: Svatek Petra, “Die “Austriae Chorographia” des Wolfgang Lazius.” In: Holzer Gerhard, Horst Thomas, Svatek Petra (Eds.), Die Leidenschaft des Sammelns. Streifzüge durch die Sammlung Woldan (Wien: Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010), pp. 487-488; Svatek, Viennese Scholar (see note 3), pp. 39-40. 12 Svatek, Geschichtskarten (see note 3), pp. 38-39. 13 Svatek, Turcas (see note 8), pp. 239-245. 14 Svatek Petra, “Wolfgang Lazius und sein Buch „Commentariorum rerum Graecarum“ unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der beiden Griechenlandkarten.” In: Gastgeber Christian, Klecker Elisabeth (Eds.), Johannes Cuspinian (14731529). Ein Wiener Humanist und sein Werk im Kontext. Singularia Vindobonensia, 2 (Wien: Praesens-Verlag 2012), pp. 287-306; Svatek Petra, “Austria. Thematic cartography from the 16th to 18th century.” In: Journal of the International Map Collectors ތSociety, 130 (2012), pp. 8-9; Svatek, Viennese Scholar (see note 3), pp. 43-46. 15 Bernleithner, Austria (see note 2), p. VI; Svatek, Viennese Scholar (see note 3), p. 37; Svatek, Turcas (see note 8), p. 238. 16 Eheim Fritz, “Die älteste Topographie von Österreich.” In: Jahrbuch für Landeskunde von Niederösterreich, 33 (1957). 17 Bernleithner, Austria (see note 2), p. X. 18 You can find the sketches at the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books / Austrian National Library (e. g. Codex 7960, Codex 8664). 19 Michael Zimerman was one of the most important Viennese publishers and booksellers of his time. He was the first German speaking publisher who published books in Arabic characters (beside Hebrew and Greek characters). Furthermore Zimerman was one of the official publishers of the Viennese University and the Habsburgs. Durstmüller Anton, 500 Jahre Druck in Österreich. Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der graphischen Gewerbe von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (Wien: Hauptverband der graphischen Unternehmungen, 1981), pp. 4952; Mayer Anton, Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte 1482-1882, 1 (Wien: Frick, 1885), p. 70. 20 “Undecimus tutelae Austriadum subijcit Nobiles & Magnificos viros, D. D. Ioannem Jordanum S. Caes: M. Consiliarium Secre: & Halobarchen Viennen & Franciscum Igelshoverum eiusdem M. Consil. Secre: & Scriniorum Urbis Viennen: praefectum. In quo Goricensis cum explicatione rerum necessariarum.” 21 Bernleithner, Austria (see note 2), p. X. 22 Svatek, Viennese Scholar (see note 3), p. 42. 23 The printing quality of the Lazius maps is not uniformly good. The etchings were created by him. However, Lazius was not a trained printer, either, and unable to attain the high standards of professional copperplate engravers. 24 Svatek, Austria (see note 14), pp. 7-8. 25 The whole map is printed in: Wawrik, Historische und kulturhistorische Informationen (see note 2), p. 211.
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For the two other Greek maps made by Lazius see: Svatek, Commentariorum rerum Graecarum (see note 14), pp. 287-306; Svatek, Viennese Scholar (see note 3), pp. 43-46. 27 Svatek, Austria (see note 14), pp. 8-9. See also Wawrik Franz, Historische und kulturhistorische Informationen (see note 2), pp. 209-210. 28 Svatek, Viennese Scholar (see note 3), p. 46. 29 Taylor Andrew, The world of Gerard Mercator. The mapmaker who revolutionised geography (London: HarperCollins, 2004), p. 216. 30 During his life Lazius made some journeys to different European public and private libraries: e.g. 1548 to Lower and Upper Austria, 1549 to Styria and Carinthia, 1551 to Bavaria, Swabia, Switzerland and Alsace, etc. Menhardt Hermann, Die Kärntner Bibliotheksreise des Wolfgang Lazius 1549. In: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kulturgeschichte Kärntens, 24/25 (1936), pp. 101-108; Trenkler Ernst, Wolfgang Lazius, Humanist und Büchersammler. In: Biblos. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Buch- und Bibliothekswesen, 27 (1978), pp. 196201.
CHAPTER FOUR 16TH CENTURY FORTIFICATION ATLASES OF THE HABSBURG-OTTOMAN BORDER ZONE ZSOLT GYėZė TÖRÖK
Introduction This chapter is an attempt to introduce a group of little-known, and hitherto rather neglected, manuscript fortification atlases and demonstrate their significance in the development of early modern European cartography. These collections of fortification plans, perspective views and maps were made in connection with the organization, construction and maintenance of the Habsburg defence zone in Hungary and Croatia by Italian Renaissance military architects in the 1570s in Vienna, capital of the Austrian Habsburg Empire. The corporate cartographic enterprise of members of the Angelini family1, as well as several contributors, resulted in significant and pioneer works of a developing systematic military cartography in the East-Central European region. At the same time, by their multiple modes of representation, they demonstrate the interrelated cultural contexts and the complex structure of Renaissance map making.2
Early Atlases as conceptual plans Gerardus Mercator, according to Ortelius ‘the Ptolemy of our times’, is generally considered as the inventor of the concept of the modern atlas. However, Mercator’s younger contemporary, Abraham Ortelius published the first comprehensive collection of geographical maps in book format, and his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570) became a highly respected, widely known and commercially successful cartographic product in late 16th century Europe. As is well known, although the invention of the modern atlas can be attributed to these important map makers and
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publishers, Mercator, Ortelius, as well as all the cartographic entrepreneurs following in their footsteps, were preceded by earlier map makers.3 Apart from medieval portolan atlases or manuscript isolarios maps were already being collected and printed in book form in the early 16th century. After the first editions of Ptolemy’s Geography, the printed isolarios (Bartolomeo Sonetti, 1485), the set of maps included in Johannes Honter’s popular cosmography4 (1542), and the remarkably early map books published by the contemporary Venetian artisans and printers Domenico Zenoi and Paolo Forlani (1565), the best known early atlases are the collections of printed maps from Antonio Lafreri’s workshop in Rome. While these printed works are generally known and thoroughly studied, the sets of manuscript maps from the period are rarely considered in connection with the history of atlases in the Renaissance. It is hardly surprising that researchers are more interested in the emerging new print culture than in the continuous manuscript tradition, a classic legacy. The practice of collecting different maps in book format is well known from the Renaissance period, the few manuscript sets deserve greater attention because they represent alternative developments to that of the printed maps. Compared to the printed medium the manuscript map was always more flexible: faster and cheaper to produce, and more easily tailored to individual needs. In a period when types of maps already became commodities for the public we should also consider those mapping modes which resulted in single works, sometimes with strictly limited access and use. Although these remarkable cartographic products could be either secret or ephemeral, they were made and survived in unique examples, usually in different collections. Their extreme rarity today involves limited access to the original material, and these circumstances make any research work on them a demanding task. On the other hand, the systematic study of these special sets, perhaps in the frame of international projects, would greatly contribute to our better understanding of the early modern map reader’s needs and map use. Curiously enough, Renaissance military maps and plans could belong to both types of cartographic works: they could be made as secret manuscripts or printed as pictorial news for the public. In this paper we focus on the former aspect and introduce a group of fortification atlases produced by an Italian family of military architects. Their systematic and organized cartographic activity represents the introduction of 16th century Habsburg military cartography in East-Central Europe. In this chapter we focus on the highly original concept behind these coherent sets of graphic images aiming at the total vision on the HabsburgOttoman frontier in the form of a special atlas. So far, these historians of
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cartography who have dealt with the content of these map-books have studied them as single atlases, maps or plans or groups of them, usually to illustrate monographs or papers on the history of the Turkish Wars. The common format, organization, purpose, and the relations of these atlases have received very little attention. Neither has the problem of their conceptual origin been raised. Expanding the scope of our earlier research, we would like to demonstrate that the fortification atlases were related products of the same family workshop. Although their form and content show minor differences, we propose they were all based on a unique concept which we call here ‘the Angelini Atlas’. These books were created as systematic collections of maps and plans and all followed that single intellectual plan. In other words, the ‘Angelini Atlas’ was the conceptual model, and the copies were made according to that cartographic model.
Cross and Crescent: Maps of the Turkish Wars The rapid expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century transformed the political map of Central Europe. After the fall of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1526, the war against the Turks became an allEuropean conflict: for almost two centuries the Ottomans and the Habsburgs fought a battle in the territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary. The first printed map of Hungary by Lazarus was printed in Petrus Apianus’ workshop in Ingolstadt, Bavaria in 1528. A miniature battle scene in the large woodcut represents the terrible defeat in the battle of Mohács (1526). Here a small cross marks the place where the Christian army of the King of Hungary was defeated, and where 26.000 Christian soldiers, including the young King Louis II, died. Lazarus’ map already projected the country’s future in the following decades: the dotted line on the map along the right bank of the Danube indicates the territory occupied by the ‘infidel’ Turks in 1526. According to the map’s legend the conquered lands should be coloured red, while Christian territories are shown in yellow. The dotted line represents the extension of the Ottoman conquest and foreshadows a future military frontier in the heart of Europe, separating the confronting political and religious powers. In the decades which followed Central Hungary gradually became part of the expanding Ottoman Empire.5 After the fall of the former capital city, Buda (1541) it became the centre of a new Turkish vilayet (district) and the region remained under Ottoman rule during the following two centuries. Right after the fall in 1526 the remaining territories of the former medieval Kingdom of Hungary (including Croatia) were claimed by two rival Christian kings. According to the treaty of Vienna Archduke
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Ferdinand of Habsburg became heir to the Hungarian throne, but the new king had to face the Turkish threat. The other part of Hungary wanted a national king and elected John Szapolyai as counter king. In the following year King Ferdinand’s Habsburg army occupied western Hungary, while King John Szapolyai retreated to Eastern Hungary and Transylvania. By the mid-16th century the remaining territory of the former kingdom was divided among two Christian kings. In September 1529 Suleyman the Magnificent’s troops reached the walls of the Habsburg imperial city. The siege of Vienna was the first attempt to capture the city, at the same time it marked the westernmost expansion of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. The repeatedly failed campaign of 1532 already revealed the limits of Ottoman military power, in particular the logistical problems caused by the sheer distance from Istanbul. Although Vienna was saved in 1529, the Turkish threat remained during the following centuries. The young widow of King Louis II, who had died in the lost battle at Mohács in 1526, ruled Royal Hungary as regent until 1531. Queen Mary of Hungary was the sister of the new king of the country, Ferdinand of Habsburg. Emperor Charles V sent the talented Mary to Habsburg Netherlands where she became the governor. In the year she moved to Brussels the young Gerhard Mercator received his degree from the university in Louvain. In 1543 when Mercator was accused of heresy the devout Catholic Regent, Mary of Hungary was apparently convinced that he was guilty and had to be executed. In the following year Mercator was released from the prison and returned to his ambitious cosmographic project he would later call ‘Atlas’. In 1570 his humanist friend and younger contemporary, Ortelius published his atlas in Antwerp, but Mercator himself was also engaged with the cartographic description of the geography of the modern world, perhaps his most important legacy. Around the same time, at the Eastern frontiers of Europe, another mode of cartography resulted in a different type of atlas. These map collections represent another contemporary interpretation of the principles behind the atlas concept: comprehensiveness and uniformity. While the well-known printed atlases published in the Netherlands were circulated to serve a growing interest in antique and modern geography, these lesser known sets of manuscript fortification plans and maps, produced by military architects in the Habsburg service, remained secret documents. They were only used and owned by a small group of political and military leaders in planning attack and defence or demonstrating military expertise and social status.
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Habsburg military border zone By the 1560s King Ferdinand of Habsburg and his military advisors clearly recognised the superiority of the Ottoman military and economy. In an extremely difficult situation they found the only solution: instead of open battles where the Ottoman army could not be defeated, they constructed a huge line of border fortresses. Although not without problems, in the following one hundred and fifty years these defences protected Royal Hungary as well as the Austrian Hereditary Lands and the Holy Roman Empire. The transformation of the military border in the Kingdom of Hungary had already begun in the 1530-40s. In the following decades a two-thousand-kilometre long line of defence was created from the Adriatic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains in the North East.6 Along the border old castles were modernised and new fortresses were built. After the fall of Buda (1541) Italian architects, master builders and craftsmen were commissioned by the imperial court. As a consequence of the so-called military revolution, especially new firearms and heavy cannons, the new Italian method of building bastioned fortification (trace Italienne) was introduced in East Central Europe. For a few decades Italian military architects had a dominant role in Europe, but their role was gradually taken by local military engineers from the early 17th century. Italian master builders worked on the modernisation of the most important border fortress GyĘr in Hungary, the major fortification on the Danube that actually defended the imperial capital, Vienna. Here Francesco de Pozzo started working in 1545 and, based on the visits of inspecting committees, a modernisation plan was constructed which transformed the entire medieval city into one modern fortification system, a fortified city. From 1560 the Italian architects Franceso Benigno, Bernardo Gaballo, Pietro Ferabosco directed the construction work on the fortification. The advancement was impressive by 1566 when the large army of Emperor Maximilian II camped at the city. By the end of the 16th century European readers, interested in city views, would open the volumes of Braun and Hogenberg’s city atlas, ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’. In volume five, published in 1598 in Cologne, they could find a fine engraving of the city ‘Iaverinum vulgo Rab’, in Hungary. The spectacular image was Georgius Hoefnagel’s drawing of 1597 but, according to a note on the map, Joris Hufnagel’s view was based on an earlier manuscript made by a certain Italian, ‘Nicolas Aginelli’ in 1566.7 From this inscription on a printed view only the name of Nicolo Angielini was known by earlier historians of cartography and military architecture. For the note on the
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view it was supposed that he had been in the imperial camp in 1566, visited the fortified city and made some drawings about ‘Iavarin’ (GyĘr, Hungary).8 A year earlier the talented and influential military leader, Lazarus von Schwendi led the military campaign of Maximilian II, the new Habsburg emperor, in North Eastern Hungary. The strategically important castle of Tokaj was recaptured from the Voyvod (Princeps) of Transylvania. After the successful siege Schwendi’s victorious troops marched towards the castle of Szatmár (Satu Mare, Romania) in Eastern Hungary. News of this successful Habsburg campaign was announced shortly on a printed broadsheet map. The large size leaflet showing the events of the campaign was printed from copper plates probably in Vienna, and today is known in a unique copy in the collection of the National Széchenyi Library in Budapest.9 In a rectangular frame we find a slip of paper pasted on the map. This is a letterpress printed description of the campaign in German, including a key to the letters on the map showing the location of important events. The name of the author of the work is given below: ‘Natal de Angelin’…
The Angelini family of map makers As far as we know, the name Angelini is mentioned only on these two printed cartographic works as well as in the cartouche of a 1572 map by Johannes Sambucus. Until recently, although historians of cartography knew these works, the contribution of almost unknown military architects was not considered important for the history of map making in the region. Despite the fact that their works have been preserved, catalogued and used by some researchers for a century or so, practically no one considered their atlases as evidence of the Angelinis’ important and prolific manuscript map making activity. The situation changed in 1992 when the first report on a large manuscript map of Hungary, found in a fortification atlas in Dresden, Germany, was published.10 The study of this map generated interest not only in this important work but in other manuscript cartographic works made during the 16-17th century Turkish Wars. These maps and plans are typically found attached to other documents, military reports or accounts. For their appearance they were usually described and studied by historians and archivists and, partly because of the sporadic information, rarely considered by map historians. However, from the historical cartographic material recent research has produced it is clear that a systematic study of these maps is an important task for map history.
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The re-discovery of the manuscript 16th century map of Hungary in a Dresden fortification atlas also became important for the Angelini atlases, because, according to the descriptive title, the work was made by the Italian ‘Nicolaus Angielus’. The names of Niccolo and Natale appeared in the 1932 dictionary of Italian Renaissance architects,11 but their identity remained unclear until further archival research. In a 2004 paper the author, using the representations of important fortifications and their architectural history, corrected the suggested date for the making of the map, but the identification of the maker could not be solved.12 Adopting the task of our research proposal submitted to the Habsburg Foundation in Budapest, the documentary sources in the archives in Vienna were checked. The meticulous work revealed many documents containing some information about the unknown map makers, and today it is possible to reconstruct the outlines of their biographies.13 Although documentary sources provide us with important, sometimes crucial, pieces of information regarding their actual cartographic activities, they cannot substitute the analysis and interpretation of the cartographic images. To better understand this special, historical cartographic mode in its regional context further research should also consider the wider socio-cultural and technical context of military architecture and its relation to other modes of cartography.14 Based on the documentary evidence in the past two decades revealed today we can see the map makers, Natale and Nicolo Angelini as two different people, actually brothers, who were in Habsburg service on the Hungarian and Croatian frontier as master builders (Paumaister) or military architects in the 1560-70s.15 In all probability they came from Northern Italy. From the documents the career of Natale can be easily followed. He started working for Prince Charles in Graz, Styria, where he is first mentioned in a 1557 document as a person who received payment for a ‘picture’ (pittura). From 1564 he was already in imperial service as imperial master builder. In 1573 he became the chief architect of the Mining District in Northern Hungary and remained in office until his death in 1574. We have much less information about the younger brother, Niccolo. He was given the imperial master builder title and a salary in 1567, although, he was certainly in the imperial camp at GyĘr the previous year. His 1566 view of GyĘr, published in Braun-Hogenberg’s 1595 city atlas and mentioned above, may be evidence of the early stage of the Angelini's cartographic project. As a military architect Niccolo was perhaps not as talented as his brother, but his duties also included planning and visiting fortifications and supervising construction work. In 1571 he asked for
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permission to leave for Italy, and after a possible stay in his home country, he appeared again in Vienna as a military architect in 1577. Natale’s son, Paolo could continue the family business: in 1575 he was also a military architect in imperial service in Hungary and in the previous year he made a map of the Croatian military frontier for the Aulic War Council in Vienna. We can assume that at this time Paolo worked with his uncle, Niccolo, who was still active and could have returned to the city before 1577. Natale, Niccolo and Paolo were all involved in their family business of map making. This was closely related to their profession, but was an activity that became different from military architecture. At this stage of the research several questions cannot be answered regarding the origin of the idea, the division of the work among the members of the family, the involvement of fellow master builders and the sources they used, or their commissioners. However, the information we have clearly suggests a cartographic enterprise: systematic map making and reproduction activity. This little known ‘Angelini’ workshop deserves special attention in the history of Renaissance cartography in Europe. The Angelini’s family workshop is probably the only organized and systematic cartographic enterprise from the period which produced and reproduced secret military maps and fortification plans in the form of manuscript atlases. Documents of the cartographic output of this family workshop are preserved mainly in the form of so-called ‘fortification atlases’. These were not uncommon in the late 16th century, and known from several European collections. However, we can identify a unique group of atlases and propose that these were all produced by a family enterprise in Vienna in the 1570s.
The Angelini atlases The ‘Angelini Atlas’ is interpreted here as the original intellectual concept behind their systematic collections of fortification plans. We consider it as an important cartographic invention in the period, an advancement which represents a new phase of military cartography in the region. The concept, as we will see, was realized in products which were made for the military experts and architects involved in the construction and maintenance of the Habsburg border fortresses. The most decorative example of the Angelini atlases once belonged to the Imperial Library, and today is preserved in the Austrian National Library, Vienna. For the very fine execution of the drawing and colouring and the luxury decorations, including fine cartouches, this could well be a presentation copy for the Emperor. Another, similar fortification atlas is in
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Fig. 4-1: The geographical location of the Habsburg fortifications along the Habsburg-Ottoman border zone. Only those are marked which were presented in the Angelini atlases.
Vienna, while the other three known copies we identify are slightly different versions of the same atlas preserved in German collections: one copy is in Karlsuhe, and two copies in Dresden.16 The comparison of these five manuscript atlases suggests that their content is indeed similar: they all include manuscript maps and fortification plans and views, representing the Habsburg military border zone in Croatia, Sclavonia, Western and Northern Hungary in the 1570s. With the exception of one of the Vienna atlases, these cartographic collections have no title page, no author or date is given on any of the atlas sheets. On the other hand, the name of Nicolo Angielini appears on two different maps: on the regional map ‘Superior Hungaria’ and on the general map of Hungary, although these signed works are bound into different atlases.17 Natale Angelini’s name was preserved on a separate regional map of the Croatian section of the frontier.18 Based on this documentary evidence, and considering the indirect evidence the numerous documentary sources from archives in Vienna suggest, we find it an acceptable conclusion to attribute these fortification atlases to the Angelini’s family workshop. The title page included in the Vienna atlas19 is an important document, although it may not have been added to the volume by the authors. This long title in German is the description of the regions, actually the Habsburg border zone, covered in the book. The text also explains that the
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atlas was made “for more convenient daily use to enable one to know the border between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Eternal Enemy better”. This is a clear statement about the purpose of the collection; moreover, it is the evidence that the conceptual plan of the Angelini atlas was based on practical considerations. For practical reasons, continues the description, the map of Hungary is described in five parts in the atlas. These five parts, however, correspond to the military organization of the Habsburg defence system, the five military districts of the border zone. Using carto-bibliographic information collected during our research the content of the five known copies was described and a synoptic table of contents was generated. This table (4-1) is demonstrative evidence for the systematic geographical arrangement of the maps and fortification plans in each atlas. As it is obvious, starting from Fiume (Rijeka, Croatia) on the Adriatic coast at south-west, continuing in Transdanubia and Upper Hungary and extending to the castle of Munkács (Mukacevo, Ukraina) in North-East and at the border of Transylvania the fortification plans in the atlas follow the order of the geographical locations of the actual fortifications. In other words, the atlases systematically describe the line of the fortifications in the border zone. When one takes a closer look at the table some irregularities appear. However, one should consider that the actual copies are all slightly different compilations, most probably made by different people over a short period of time. In other words, the Angelini atlases are indeed parallel products, made by Niccolo and/or other members of the family or co-operating people. We should also consider the loss of pages or some later rearrangement of the sheets and these could also result in slight differences in the order of fortifications. Despite all minor variations it is obvious that the five copies are arranged in the same way. It can be assumed that their content remained almost the same while the compilers followed the same atlas concept. This hypothesis allows us to reconstruct the intellectual plan behind the Angelini Atlas. The revision of the maps suggests the period of the production of the known versions extended to a few years in the early 1570s.
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Table 4-1: The comparison of the examples of the Angelini Atlas demonstrates the conceptual plan behind the products
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Multiple Cartographic Representations The problem of the representation of the third dimension in Renaissance map making resulted in combinations of ground plan, profile and perspective view. In Renaissance architecture, following the classical tradition Vitruvius work transferred, these three types were known as orthographia, ichnographia and scaenographia. The architects mainly used the ground plan and the profile or section, while the painters and cosmographers preferred the perspective drawing. Renaissance military architects were familiar with surveying, drawing and constructing plans, and knew these types of graphic representation, but they apparently used them for different audiences according to the task. While plans played an important role in different stages of planning or modernising fortifications, these were made and used mainly for the experts. Fellow architects or military specialists were able to evaluate or discuss the projects from their inception through to realization. On the other hand, for a more general public, some perspective drawings about the fortifications, existing or planned, and its situation or a threedimensional model was more comprehensible. In the existing versions of the Angelini Atlas there are some remarkable technical drawings, combining different methods of representation into one image. For example, in the sheet representing Vesprinium (Veszprém, Hungary)20 the outer walls of the castle are represented on a ground plan. The actual situation of the castle on top of a local hill is shown in perspective, and the ground plan is placed into that image. From a southern point of view the hillside is painted rather than drawn, and shading is applied to create the illusion of relief and surface in the manner of Renaissance art. The illusion of the oblique view is enhanced by smaller pictorial details added to the abstract plan (trees, houses). Below the castle there is a firing cannon, and the trajectory of the ball serves as the best symbol of the symbiosis of attack and defence. Some fortifications are represented on two different plans in the atlases. The important Hungarian castle of Eger for example, appears on two sheets in the Vienna and Karlsruhe atlases.21 A closer look at these plans and their comparison with our knowledge about the history of the architecture in the castle reveals a curious fact: none of the plans represents any actual fortification. Rather, they illustrate different concepts and demonstrate stages of the planning work on the modernisation of the medieval castle. The notes on the plans in the other Vienna atlas make it clear that one shows general Franz Poppendorf‘s concept, while the other illustrates the solution suggested by the Italian military architect, Ottavio
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Baldigara.22 However, while these plans are close to the constructions realized in that period, their inclusion in the atlas is telling evidence that its function was not to serve as a visual aid for expert discussions on fortification plans, planning defence or attack or consider other, actual military matters. Both the form and content of these atlases suggest other, not immediately practical, functions. The plans included were suitable for general orientation as they showed the size, form and situation of the strongholds, but these were not sufficient for the military experts or the architects. So the collection of these plans served as demonstrations: they included samples of the major fortifications of the Habsburg defence line. The views and plans showed some details and, in some sense they were reliable and accurate, but their primary function was to give the reader a general and holistic picture about the border fortresses in Hungary and Croatia. At the same time, the generally fine execution and binding of the volumes supports the opinion that these atlases represented knowledge and power at the same time.
The Chorographic Maps and the Military Districts Apart from the fortification plans and city views, the atlases include five chorographic maps. These regions were mentioned on the descriptive title page of the Vienna atlas. Each chorographic map represents one military district: Croatia and Slavonia, Western Hungary, the Danube island, the Mining District and Upper Hungary. This reflects the contemporary military organization of the defence system and its division to “captainships”, military districts. The first part of the Angelini Atlas is actually a chorographic mapping project, similar to Italian mural map cycles by Egnazio Danti in Florence and Rome, or by Giacomo Gastaldi and Cristoforo Sorte in Venice. However, the Italian Angelini master builders now worked in Vienna, and their military cartography were made in the general context of Habsburg imperial cosmography. Cosmography goes back to the late-fifteenth-century mathematicalastronomical school in Vienna, but was revived in the first half of the 16th century in the form of a second Vienna school. The editor of the Lazarus map of Hungary, Georgius Tannstetter, a professor of astronomy and mathematics, the publisher of the map, Johannes Cuspinianus, or its printer, Petrus Apianus were all illustrious members of this cosmographic circle.
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Fig. 4-2: Early photographic reproduction (c. 1930s) of the map of the military district between the Mura and Danube rivers in Hungary. (From the manuscripts of Prof. László Irmédi-Molnár. Courtesy the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Eötvös Loránd University)
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Fig. 4-3: The digital reconstruction of Nicolo Angelini's general map of Hungary (c. 1575). Beyond the rich hydrography the dots showing the more than 1700 settlements represented on the map illustrate the significance of this manuscript military map. Original size is c. 580 x 830 mm.
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Neither scholars nor artists, the master builders (Paumeister) Angelini in Vienna adapted the conventions of architectural surveying and drawing and used the techniques of painting or pictorial art to create their own imagery. However, we should consider that, although they certainly could survey larger regions and construct maps, their other commitments would rarely give them enough time for extensive mapping projects. As an alternative, they could use their own sketches and geographical knowledge to copy, revise and annotate already existing maps of the region. The problem of these unknown or ‘lost’ map sources for Hungary has not been solved and remains a most challenging task for our future research.23 Most of the chorographic maps are preserved in the larger Vienna and Karlsruhe atlases. The title of the map of the Danube Island, ‘Ichnographia Insulae, in the Vienna atlas24 suggests a military architect as its author. A similar map in the other Vienna atlas is titled ‘Insula Czallokws’, while the version in Karlsruhe in untitled. The uncoloured manuscript map drawn by Natale25 a few years earlier, probably during his activity in Styria, could have served as a source for the map of the military region in Hungary between the Danube and Mura rivers, Ditio inter Muram and Danubiu(m). The map is preserved in the Vienna atlases, while another version is in the Karlsruhe atlas. Beyond all these differences once again we must call attention to the regular order of the chorographic maps in all examples. This is a geographical arrangement, from south west towards north east the regional maps cover the five sections of the border zone. For the circumstantial evidence the existing copies suggest to us that originally each atlas included the regional maps for the five military districts. We consider these chorographic, regional maps and the plans of the fortifications as related parts of the same project. The goal of the Angelini project and the function of the atlas was to realize a Renaissance ideal, the total vision of the subject. To achieve this ambitious goal, the compilers of the Angelini atlases had to include the most comprehensive image, the geographical overview of the whole system.
Total vision: a military chorography A general map of Hungary is preserved only in atlas No. 11 in Dresden.26 The manuscript was first dated before 1566, and this date was accepted without question by map historians and historians.27 This author demonstrated earlier that this known copy was made a decade later.28 To prove the later date this author suggested a novel method: the analysis of the representation of the most prominent fortifications and comparison of
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the iconography with the historical information we know from other documentary sources. (Elsewhere we had demonstrated the usefulness of this method and used the example of the representations of Szatmár Satu Mare, Romania). The old castle was shown on the 1565 broadsheet by Natale Angelini as a rectangular, medieval castle on the island of the river Szamos. The castle was destroyed during the Habsburg campaign in Northern Hungary. Indeed, on the Dresden map the shape of the fortification of Zakmar is different. The pentagon represents the ideals of Renaissance Italian military architecture, and we know from documentary sources that a new castle was built on the island between 1569 and 1573. Niccolo Angelini himself surveyed this fortification, and we can assume the general map bearing his name was not made earlier than the time the new fortification was planned. The accurate and detailed cartographic representation of a large area in East-Central Europe makes this unique 16th century manuscript an important document.29 The name of its original author, the Italian Nicolo Angelini is given on the map, and this signed work directly relates to that atlas, as well as to the other similar fortification atlases, to the Angelinis' workshop. The modern term of general map is rather misleading here: the depiction of the military border is actually a special purpose thematic map. Even if this map covers an area much larger than the former Kingdom of Hungary, from its context we know that its purpose was to visually explain the geography, as well as to demonstrate the broader strategic and political context of the entire system of border fortifications. To complete their Renaissance chorographic project the compilers of the Angelini atlases certainly would include the reference map to be the general map of their ‘world’, the entire theatre of war. The more detailed regional maps of the military districts were their ‘continents’, while the fortification plans and views represented the ‘countries’ in their system. While their atlases were similar to the atlases of the cosmographers, and they may have followed the model of Ortelius’ atlas, the purpose and content of their collection was different. Even if their maps appear to be geographic or chorographic, they are actually special purpose, thematic maps.
Conclusion The cartographic works of the Angelinis and fellow Italian ‘Paumaisters’ integrated various modes of cartography into a Renaissance military chorographic project and the atlases produced represent the start of military cartography. Their fortification plans follow the tradition of Renaissance architecture and urban cartography; their chorographic maps
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demonstrate the pictorial and geographical representation. The Viennacentric point of view and the decorative and symbolic elements suggest Habsburg imperial, Christian propaganda, and ideology. The Angelini Atlas should be interpreted as an effective tool for the total vision and control of a contested space, the Habsburg –Ottoman border zone in the 16th century. The systematic arrangement of the cartographic material is the consequence of the Angelinis’ conceptual plan, and the realization of their principles makes their sets of maps and views the earliest thematic atlases in the history of cartography.
Bibliography Agoston Gabor, “Empires and warfare in east-central Europe, 1550–1750: the Ottoman– Habsburg rivalry and the military transformation”. In: Trim David, Tallett Frank, European warfare 1550-1750 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010), pp. 110-134. Brichzin Hansm, “Eine Ungarnkarte von Nicolaus Angielus sowie Grundund Aufrisse ungarischer Festungen aus dem Jahr 1566 im Sächsischen Hauptstaatsarchiv zu Dresden. Part 1-3.” In: Cartographica Hungarica 2 (1992) pp. 39–43, 4 (1994) pp. 12–18 and 5 (1996) pp. 8–11. Dávid Géza, Fodor Pál, Ottomans, Hungarians and Habsburgs in Central Europe: the military confines in the era of Ottoman conquest (Leiden: Brill, 2000). Domonkos György, Ottavio Baldigara, egy itáliai várfundáló mester Magyarországon (Budapest: Balassi, 2000). Holik-Barabás Floris, Maggiorotti Leone Andrea, “La fortezza di Giavarino in Ungheria ed i suoi architetti militari italiani, specialimente Pietro Ferabosco”. In: Atti del Istittuto di Architettura Militare, Fasc. II (1932). Lindgren Uta, “Frühformen von Atlanten.” In: Wolff Hans (Ed.), Vierhundert Jahre Mercator, vierhundert Jahre Atlas. (Weissenburg: Anton J. Konrad Verlag, 1995), pp. 15-30. Maggiorotti Leone Andrea, L’opera del genio italiano all’estero, Gli Architetti militari, Architetto é arhitettore militari, Vol. 2 (Roma: La Libreria dello Stato, 1936). Pálffy Géza, Európa védelmében. Haditérképészet a Habsburg Birodalom magyarországi határvidékén a 16-17. században (Budapest: MH Térképészeti Hivatala, 1999). —. “Egy XVI. századi térképtörténeti rejtélyünkrĘl: az Angielini várépítész-testvérek a horvát-szlavón és a magyarországi végeken az 1560-1570-es években.” In: Hausner Gábor (Ed.), Az értelem
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bátorsága. Tanulmányok Perjés Géza emlékére (Budapest: Argumentum, 2005), pp. 480-491. Pollak Martha D., Military Architecture: Cartography and the Representation of the Early Modern European City (Chicago: The Newberry Library, 1991). Thieme Ulrich, Becker Felix, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler von Antike bis zur Gegenwart 1 (Leipzig: Seeman, 1907). Török Zsolt, “Honterus: Rudimenta cosmographica(1542) – kozmográfia és/vagy geográfia? - Honterus Rudimenta Cosmographica (1542) Kosmographie und/oder Geographie?” In: Salgó Á., Stemler Á. (Eds.), Honterus emlékkönyv – Honterus Festschrift (Budapest: Osiris, 2001), pp. 57-72. —. “Angielini Magyarország-térképe: az 1570-es évekbĘl. Die Ungarnkarte von Angielini: aus dem 1570er Jahren.” In: Cartographica Hungarica 8 (2004), pp. 2-9. Török Zsolt G., Renaissance Cartography in East-Central Europe. In: Woodward David (Ed.), Cartography in the European Renaissance, The History of Cartography, Volume Three, Part 2 (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007), pp. 1806-1851. Török Zsolt, “Die „ungarische” Woldan-Karte und ihre kartographischen Vorgänger im 16. Jahrhundert.” In: Holzer Gerhard, Horst Thomas, Svatek Petra (Eds.), Die Leidenschaft des Sammelns. Streifzüge durch die Sammlung Woldan (Wien: Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010), pp. 505-514. —. “Visualizing in historical context: the study of the Dresden map of Hungary from the 1570s.” In: Buchroithner Manfred F (Ed.), From Pole to Pole. Proceedings of the 26th International Cartographic Conference. (Dresden: International Cartographic Association, 2013), pp. 332-333.
Notes 1
The family name of “Angelini” is used here instead of the slightly different form, “Angielini” which is more common in recent publications and was also used earlier by this author (e.g. Török 2004). The spelling ‚Angielini‘ probably stems from a Latinized form, however, in contemporary documents the name was usually spelled as 'Angelini' (with several variants e.g. Aginelli, Engelino, Angelin). The spelling 'Angelini' has already been used in the lexicon by Thieme-Becker, a most comprehensive reference work on artists, as early as 1907. See: Thieme Ulrich, Becker Felix, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler von Antike bis zur Gegenwart 1 (Leipzig: Seeman, 1907), p. 120.
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Török Zsolt G., Renaissance Cartography in East-Central Europe. In: Woodward David (Ed.), Cartography in the European Renaissance, The History of Cartography, Volume Three, Part 2 (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007, pp. 1806-1851. 3 Lindgren Uta, “Frühformen von Atlanten.” In: Wolff Hans (Ed.), Vierhundert Jahre Mercator, vierhundert Jahre Atlas. (Weissenburg: Anton J. Konrad Verlag, 1995), pp. 15-30. 4 Török Zsolt, “Honterus: Rudimenta cosmographica(1542) - kozmográfia és/vagy geográfia? - Honterus Rudimenta Cosmographica (1542) - Kosmographie und/oder Geographie?” In: Salgó Á., Stemler Á. (Eds.), Honterus emlékkönyv – Honterus Festschrift (Budapest: Osiris, 2001), pp. 57-72. 5 Dávid Géza, Fodor Pál, Ottomans, Hungarians and Habsburgs in Central Europe: the military confines in the era of Ottoman conquest (Leiden: Brill, 2000). 6 Agoston Gabor, “Empires and warfare in east-central Europe, 1550–1750: the Ottoman– Habsburg rivalry and the military transformation”. In: Trim David, Tallett Frank, European warfare 1550-1750 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010), pp. 110-134. 7 The inscription on the view titled ‘Iaverinum vulgo Raab’reads: ‘IAVERINVM olim Anno MDLXVI a Nicolao Aginelli Italo accuratissime delineatum ex maiusculo in minorem tabulam traductu(m), Amicis Agrippinensib(us), id requirentib(us) amice communicat Georgius Houfnaglius MDXCVII’. 8 Holik-Barabás Floris, Maggiorotti Leone Andrea, “La fortezza di Giavarino in Ungheria ed i suoi architetti militari italiani, specialimente Pietro Ferabosco”. In: Atti del Istittuto di Architettura Militare, Fasc. II (1932) pp. 20-22. 9 The original broadsheet is in the collection of the Széchenyi National Library, Budapest (Rare Book Department, App. M. 131). For its reproduction see: Török Zsolt, Renaissance Cartography (see note 2), Figure 61.12. 10 Brichzin Hansm, “Eine Ungarnkarte von Nicolaus Angielus sowie Grund- und Aufrisse ungarischer Festungen aus dem Jahr 1566 im Sächsischen Hauptstaatsarchiv zu Dresden. Part 1-3.” In: Cartographica Hungarica 2 (1992) pp. 39–43, 4 (1994) pp. 12–18 and 5 (1996) pp. 8–11. 11 Maggiorotti Leone Andrea, L’opera del genio italiano all’estero, Gli Architetti militari, Architetto é arhitettore militari, Vol. 2 (Roma: La Libreria dello Stato, 1936). 12 Török Zsolt, “Angielini Magyarország-térképe: az 1570-es évekbĘl. Die Ungarnkarte von Angielini: aus dem 1570er Jahren.” In: Cartographica Hungarica 8 (2004), pp. 2-9. 13 Pálffy Géza, “Egy XVI. századi térképtörténeti rejtélyünkrĘl: az Angielini várépítész-testvérek a horvát-szlavón és a magyarországi végeken az 1560-1570-es években.” In: Hausner Gábor (Ed.), Az értelem bátorsága. Tanulmányok Perjés Géza emlékére (Budapest: Argumentum, 2005), pp. 480-491. 14 Pollak Martha D., Military Architecture: Cartography and the Representation of the Early Modern European City (Chicago: The Newberry Library, 1991). 15 Török Zsolt, Renaissance Cartography (see note 2), pp. 1843-1846.
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Austrian National Library (ÖNB), Vienna, Austria, Manuscript Department, Codex 8607 and Codex 8609; Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe, Germany, Hausfideikommis (Hfk.), Band XV; Sächsicher Staatsarchiv, Hauptstaatsarchiv, Dresden, Germany, Schrank XXVI, Nr. 6 and Nr. 11. 17 The inscription in the cartouche of the regional map:‘Superior Ungaria - Nicolo Angielini’ (Generallandesarchiv, Karlsruhe, HfK. Bd.XV.fol.3.). The manuscript note in the right bottom corner of the country map titled ‘Ungaria Loca Precipua Descripa per Nicolav(m) Angielu(m) Italu(m)’ (Sächsicher Haupt- und Staatsarchiv, Dresden, Schr. XXVI, Fasc. 96. Nr. 11. fol.1). 18 Manuscript signature at the bottom right corner of the map, outside the neatline: ‚Natale di Angelini fecit’ (Austrian National Library, Vienna, Map Collection, A B 9.C.1). 19 Austrian National Library, Vienna, Manuscript Department, Cod. 8609. 20 Austrian National Library, Vienna, Manuscript Department, Cod.8607, folio 46 recto. 21 Austrian National Library, Vienna, Manuscript Department, Cod.8609, folio 66 and folio 68. 22 Domonkos György, Ottavio Baldigara, egy itáliai várfundáló mester Magyarországon (Budapest: Balassi, 2000). 23 Török Zsolt, “Die „ungarische” Woldan-Karte und ihre kartographischen Vorgänger im 16. Jahrhundert.” In: Holzer Gerhard, Horst Thomas, Svatek Petra (Eds.), Die Leidenschaft des Sammelns. Streifzüge durch die Sammlung Woldan (Wien: Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010), pp. 505514. 24 Austrian National Library, Vienna, Manuscript Department, Cod. 8607 fol. 8. 25 The uncoloured manuscript, without title, showing the Transdanubian military district in Hungary, is preserved in the Map Collection of the Austrian National Library. (ÖNB, Kartensammlung AB 9.C.1.). 26 For the colour reproduction of the map see: Woodward David, Renaissance Cartography in Europe, The History of Cartography, Vol. Three, Part 2 (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007), Plate 76. 27 Pálffy Géza, Európa védelmében. Haditérképészet a Habsburg Birodalom magyarországi határvidékén a 16-17. században (Budapest: MH Térképészeti Hivatala, 1999), p. 28. 28 Török, Die Ungarnkarte (see note 12), p. 9. 29 Török Zsolt, “Visualizing in historical context: the study of the Dresden map of Hungary from the 1570s.” In: Buchroithner Manfred F (Ed.), From Pole to Pole. Proceedings of the 26th International Cartographic Conference. (Dresden: International Cartographic Association, 2013), pp. 332-333.
CHAPTER FIVE THE EMERGENCE OF EARLY REGIONAL MAPS OF HUNGARY AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE MERCATOR MAPS OF HUNGARY ELMAR CSAPLOVICS
Introduction The rise of regional cartography in the late 15th century was based on the tabulae novae (modernae) which were thought to complement and update the set of tabulae antiquae in editions of Ptolemy's Geographia from the map of Northern Europe by Claudius Clavus attached to the manuscript copy of the Geographia ordered by Cardinal Filastre in 1425 to the first printed set of maps in the edition published by (Donnus) Nicolaus Germanus in Bologna in 1477. In the mid-16th century the Viennese physician and humanist scholar, Wolfgang Lazius, compiled one of the most famous sets of regional maps of Austria and Hungary. His maps of Hungary served as the baseline information for subsequent map makers over a period of more than 100 years. A prominent example of integration of the Lazius maps into later large scale map collections is the (fragmentary) collection of regional maps of Gerard Mercator (geographicae tabulae) published in 1585, which also contains a map of Hungary. The collection was augmented in 1589, extended and published as Atlas sive Cosmographicae meditationes from the first edition in 1595. When tracing the interrelations between the regional maps of Hungary by Lazius with the map of Hungary by Mercator the cartographic work of other mapmakers such as Lazarus secretarius and Georg Collimitius (Tannstetter), Johannes Sambucus (Zsámboky) and Matthias Zündt has to be considered. The comparative analysis focuses on the genesis of the presentation of selected landscape elements and semantic features of Lake Fertö (Neusiedler See) and Lake Balaton in the western part of the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary.
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Early regional maps of Hungary The Geographia and the Almagest of Ptolemy were studied with specific regard to the mathematical and astronomical knowledge needed for topographic mapping and adopted by natural scientists at the universities of Prague and Vienna as early as about 1420 (Johann von Gmunden 1380/84-1442, Georg Müstinger before 1400-1442).1 The school of Vienna-Klosterneuburg flourished until the death of both scholars in the year 1442. The so-called Vienna-Klosterneuburg map corpus is a highlight of early regional cartography in the first half of the 15th century and directly influenced the re-establishment of a regional Austrian school of cartography at the subsequent turn of the century.2 Research into cartography was strongly supported by the most influential humanist emperor in Central Europe, the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus (Hunyadi Mátyás, 1443-1490), who had occupied Vienna in 1485 and resided there until his sudden death in 1490. Conrad Celtis (1459-1508) was appointed professor at the University of Vienna in 1497 under the reign of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519, emperor from 1508). He had rediscovered the Tabula Peutingeriana in the last decade of the 15th century in Worms and gave lectures on Ptolemy's Geographia and on terrestrial globes. Celtis influenced Johannes Cuspinianus (Spießheimer, 1473-1529), and the latter was asked by Maximilian I to write a topography (regional geography) of the Austrian lands. Emperor Maximilian I had assigned his court mathematician Johannes Stabius (Stöberer, c.1468-1522) to join Cuspinianus in the special task of compiling a set of regional maps as part of the compendium. Stabius worked on the maps together with his friend Georg Collimitius (Tannstetter, 1482-1535). The work appeared posthumously in 1553, but surprisingly without maps.3 However, the publication of one of the first regional maps in Europe, the Lazarus-Tannstetter map Tabula Hungariae of 1528, seems to be closely related to that inventory. A manuscript map of Hungary drawn by Lazarus secretarius (secretary of the Archbishop of Gran/Esztergom) between 1514 and around 1520 was edited by Collimitius after Lazarus’ death, presumably without adding further significant detail. It was published by Cuspinianus and cut in wood as well as printed in Ingolstadt by Petrus Appianus in 1528.4 In the mid-16th century, the Viennese physician and humanist scholar Wolfgang Lazius (Laz, 1514-1564), personal physician to Emperor Ferdinand I, compiled one of the most famous sets of regional maps of Austria and Hungary. Fortunately copies of most of these maps have survived. However, all relevant maps by Augustin Hirschvogel (1503-
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1553), which could have served as an additional baseline for tracing the development of regional cartography of Hungary in the first half of the 16th century, are lost. It remains uncertain if the Lazius map of Hungary of 1552/56 and the Hirschvogel maps compiled at about the same time are somehow linked. Hirschvogel was commissioned by the senate of Nuremberg to design a map of the Austrian-Turkish borderlands as early as 1539. In 1552/53 Hirschvogel was again dedicating himself to the mapping of the southeastern parts of Austria. A map of Hungary in 12 parts published by Hans Weygel in Nuremberg in 1565 appears to be based on that lost manuscript map of 1552/53 and/or on the lost map of 1539. The only known copy of Hirschvogel’s map of Hungary was preserved at the municipal library of Breslau (Wrocáaw) and was destroyed or lost during the last months of World War II.5 However, Hirschvogel’s map of Schlavoniae … is extant in the first edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Ortelius6 and Johannes Sambucus (Zsámboky, 1531-1584), the Hungarian physician and historian, edited this map in 1572.7 It is interesting to add that Sambucus edited the Lazarus-Tannstetter map in 15668 and published his own map of Hungary in 1571 in Vienna9 which was subsequently adopted by Ortelius for the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum from 1579. Sambucus' maps of Hungary show a certain relation to the Lazarus-Tannstetter map of 1514/28 as well as significant differences to the Lazius map of Hungary. Unfortunately the amendments implemented by Sambucus do not contribute to a more detailed representation of toponyms or of topographic detail.10 Apparently the links between Celtis and the Tabula, between Cuspinianus and Collimitius as well as Stabius and Lazius, are manifold. Lazius was a physician and historian like Sambucus, deeply involved in research into ancient history, historical geography and archaeology, as well as cartography.11 He lectured at the University of Vienna from 1542 until 1565. Lazius has extensively described the remains of the Roman fortifications and settlements along the Danube Limes as mapped in the Tabula and has visited the locations not far from Vienna.12 The contents of the Tabula were at hand, as its owner Conrad Celtis (1459-1508) taught at the university in Vienna from 1497 until his death in 1508. Another of Celtis’ favourite pupils was Johann Cuspinianus, who co-operated with Johann Stabius and Georg Collimitius for work on the topography of Austria. Lazius took over the premises of Collimitius in Wiener Neustadt after the death of the latter in 1535. Coincidently, Lazius participated in a revision of the Lazarus-Tannstetter map together with 27 Hungarian contributors13 dedicated himself to the publication of a history of Austria from early times to his era and as part of it prepared eleven regional maps
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of the Austrian provinces which are preserved as Typi chorographica provinciarum Austriae, published in 1561.14 Lazius also focused on the production of regional maps more or less independently from earlier sources, though carefully using the contents of earlier maps and reports which seemed reliable. He drafted sketch maps of topographic features in situ or based on reports of others who were familiar with the topography of the respective area. A sketch map of Lake Fertö was somehow unexpectedly preserved in a collection of manuscripts belonging to Lazius on the reverse of a manuscript dealing with the archaeology of the Kingdom of Hungary.15
Lazius, Regni Hungariae Descriptio Vera
Fig. 5-1: Wolfgang Lazius, Regni hungariae descriptio vera 1552/1556 (detail). Courtesy of the University Library Basle (Map Collection AA 86-89)
One of the most famous outcomes of Lazius’ cartographic work is the map of Hungary Regni hungariae descriptio vera (1552/1556), which was printed in Latin and German versions, the latter complemented by a descriptive volume Des Khunigreichs Hungarn Wahrhafftige Chorographica.16 It is an outstanding document illustrating the topography of the Kingdom of Hungary in general and of the regions of Lake Fertö and Lake Balaton in particular (Fig. 5-1).
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The map of Hungary by Lazius, prepared in 1552 and dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand I., was printed from woodcuts (obviously made in Basle) in 1556 by Michael Zimmermann in Vienna.17 Only marginally based on the revised contents of the Lazarus-Tannstetter map, the Lazius map contains a wealth of updated and additional, though sometimes erroneous, information. It is overloaded with detail, especially toponyms, and cartographic depiction of the river network and lakes, areas of woodland and symbols for different categories of settlements and sites as well as selected land uses. Lazius verified the contents of the LazarusTannstetter map by interrogation of people who knew the places relying both on the discussion of the respective map details as well as on meeting informants. He gave a list of 24 people in the lower right corner of the map. It has been proved that Lazius travelled in northwestern Hungary in 1541 and the sketch map of Lake Fertö may serve as proof of his mapping activities. Furthermore there is evidence that Lazius performed selected latitudinal measurements in northwestern and central Hungary. For both the southwestern parts of Hungary, then occupied by the Turks, and Transylvania significant distortions prevail.18 Alternatively Lazius used the Honterus map of Transylvania (1532) for the adoption of toponyms.19 The map does not contain a graticule but a scale division in 20’ intervals. Apart from heterogeneous geometric distortions, more or less prevalent in all regional maps of the 16th century, the Lazius map provides a remarkable abundance of topographically relevant information. Larger towns and castles are represented in sketches of real views. For example the view of the town of Eisenstadt/Kysmarton from the east shows the tower of the southeast town gate and of the parish church as well as the castle at the northwestern corner of the town fortification. It is worthwhile to compare this view “from a horizontal position” which corresponds to a pictorial sign in a near-realistic style,20 with the copper engraving in Braun and Hogenberg's Civitatis Orbis Terrarum (1572-1618) by Georg and Jacob Hoefnagel (Eisenstadium).21 The similarity is striking, not only with regard to the most significant features, but also concerning the setting of the town at the slopes of the Leithagebirge. The Lazius citation apparently provides a rough but all the more interpretable sketch of the real view (Fig. 5-2).
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Fig. 5-2: Vieew of the town of Eisenstadt as depicted in Wolfgang Lazzius, Regni hungariae deescriptio vera, 1552/1556 (to op) and Georgg and Jacob Hoefnagel, H Eisenstadium m, 1617, in Braaun-Hogenberg,, Civitatis Orbiis Terrarum, 1572-1618, 1 vol. 6 (bottom m). Courtesy off the University Library Basle (Lazius) (AA 86-89) 8 and of the Collecttion Csaplovics (Hoefnagel).
The shappe of Lake Feertö resembles the draft in the sketch map m of the region whicch Lazius preppared around 1545.22 Its m mis-orientation n amounts to approxim mately 20° antii-clockwise offf north. The ssize of the sou utheastern part of the llake, coveringg the western fringe of thee Hanság and Waasen, coincides w with high wateer levels duriing the cool aand wet perio od of the mid-sixteentth century as proven by dendrrochronological data. Furthermoree the description of a larrge number oof small lakees around Podersdorf ((so-called Zusseen) in a villlage chroniclee written by Wolfgang W Kirchhofer iin 1554 also refers r to the high water leveel of the lake and/or to a wet period around the mid-century..23 The brancching river neetwork of Rab fl. and Rabnitz fl. mirrors m the diffficulties in unntangling the complex heterogeneitty of landscappe elements in n the area beetween Lake Fertö F and the confluennce of the Raab R River with w the Danuube near the town of Gewr/Rab. T There are simiilarities with the t Lazarus m map regarding details of the Moson bbranch of the Danube (Smaall Danube). L Lazius placed d as many
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as eighteen settlements along the shoreline of the lake, among them St. Margarethen (S.Margret), which is definitely separated from the lake by the Rust Hills (a chain of hills bordering the lake at its western side). The ordering of settlements along the northwestern shore of the lake is wrong Dudlskirch, Wynthn, Goys (recte Jois), Praytenprun (recte after Dudlskirch) and Newsidl. Fertöszentmiklós (Z.Nicla) and Tadten (Daten) are shown on the southeastern shoreline of the lake, according to the aforementioned high water level and the flooding of large areas of the Hanság marshes. Between these two villages, a broad stream exits the lake and flows eastwards into a large forested area which extends to Csorna (Chorno). Immediately to the west of Rust an attractive vine with leaves and two grapes as well as a smaller vine south of Kreuspach represent a cartographic symbol Lazius has created for indicating areas of vineyards in this famous wine-growing region around Rust (Fig. 5-1). The wines of Rust were well known at that time proven by a privilege of trademark protection bestowed upon the winegrowers of Rust in 1524.24 Lazius displayed both topographic detail and information on land use and land cover as well as historical sites. The map Regni hungariae descriptio vera appears to be the first map to contain a separate legend describing map signs with regard to six categories of settlements/sites and three types of (land) use in three languages, Latin, German and Hungarian, e.g. the aforementioned stylised vine with the associated text Vineta Weynperg Szolohegy for vineyards.25 The Lazius map Regni Francor. Orientalis sive Austriae ad Danubium alterius descriptio of 1561, which is included in the miscellany Typi chorographici, is a further step towards the implementation of landscape relevant information in regional topographic maps of the mid-sixteenth century.26 Apart from some minor alterations with regard to corrected positions of villages the topographic details are aimed at establishing a connection to the march constituted by Emperor Charlemagne after the defeat of the Avar Khaganate around 800AD, e.g. by highlighting east of the town of Györ (Raab) the battle site where Charlemagne allegedly defeated the Avar Khagan Chaba in 791. The shape of Lake Fertö is slightly different from that in the Regni hungariae map. It is strikingly similar to the representation in the map of Hungary by Lazius which was already part of the first edition of Ortelius' Theatrum.27 Overall the topographic significance of the map is less than that of the Regni hungariae map of 1552/1556.
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From Lazius to Mercator Referring to the more or less realistic representation of the shape of Lake Fertö as “correct map content” in the specific Lazius maps mirroring the high water levels documented during the mid-16th century - a topochronological survey may set up a time line of adoption of that content which springs from its source, the manuscript sketch map of the lake drafted by Lazius around 1545. There is a remarkable resemblance to the representation in the Lazius map of Hungary Regni hungariae 1552/1556 and the slightly similar representation in the map of the Archduchy of Austria 156328, but also with regard to the Zündt map of Hungary 156729 as well as – with some restriction – to the specific regional manuscript maps attached to the so-called Festungsatlanten, i.e. the map of Hungary by Nicolo Angielini around 1570/158030, and finally to the 1585 map of Hungary by Mercator.31 (Fig. 5-3).
Fig. 5-3: Gerardus Mercator, Hungaria 1585 (detail). Courtesy of the Csaplovics Collection.
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Fig. 5-4: Lake Fertö in the Lazius-Ortelius (Edition 1573, top) and SambucusOrtelius (Edition 1579, bottom) maps of Hungary, Courtesy of the Csaplovics Collection.
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It seems that the transcription of map contents towards the Mercator map of Hungary has in some way followed that thematic vector. Evidently the richness of detail as preserved in the Lazius map of 1552/1556 was thinned out for better or for worse during the transfer of its contents to subsequent maps. It is obvious that the scope of map collections such as the Ortelius or Mercator ones was definitely not oriented towards the integration of excessive topographic and semantic detail. The severely reduced map content of the Lazius map of Hungary in the Theatrum compared to the map of 1552/56 proves that.32 It is interesting to observe that at the same time the Sambucus map of Hungary, first published in 1571 as a single-sheet map which significantly deviates in many details from the Lazius citations, but shows a certain connection to the Lazarus map of 1514/1528 and some similarities with the Angielini map of Hungary of 1570/8033, was included in the Theatrum in editions from 1579 (f.77 versus f.76, Lazius)34 (Fig. 5-4). A certain relevance in tracing the sources of the Mercator map of Hungary points to the maps of Hungary of 1566 and 1567 by Matthias Zündt.35 The map of 1567 was compiled and printed based on the study of a wealth of existing material, though neither names nor titles of maps and/or topographic descriptions are explicitly mentioned.36 Nevertheless a comparative analysis of map contents obviously shows that apart from the counterclockwise deviation of the north direction of about 30 degrees compared to the map frame which is proven by a compass rose depicted in the centre of the map the contents themselves are strikingly in concordance with citations in the Lazius maps, though thinning is evident. There are nine settlements around Lake Fertö compared to eighteen in the Lazius map Regni hungariae 1552/1556, with St.Margret still wrongly placed by the lake. The shape of the lake coincides perfectly with the representation in the respective Lazius map with a slightly more curved representation of the shoreline. Furthermore the citation of types of (land) use such as viticulture as well as the indication of woodland areas seems to have been transferred from Lazius with an additional sign for highlighting areas of oxen breeding.37 Also, like the map by Lazius, Regni hungariae, pictorial cartographic signs for economic (land) uses are introduced and explained in a legend at the upper left margin of the map.38 The Zündt map of Hungary referred to as recens editio is part of the Speculum Orbis Terrarum by Gérard de Jode from the first edition in 1578,39 as is the map of the Archduchy of Austria published by Wolfgang Lazius as early as 1545, the original of which is lost (Fig. 5-5).40
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Fig. 5-5a: Lake Fertö in the Lazius (1552/56) map of Hungary. Courtesy of the University Library Basle (Map Collection AA 86-89)
Fig. 5-5b: Lake Fertö in the Zündt (1567) map of Hungary. Courtesy of the Austrian National Library (Map Collection K.II)
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Fig. 5-5c: Lake Fertö in the Mercator (1585) map of Hungary. Courtesy of the Csaplovics Collection.
A closer look at the Mercator map of Hungary clearly reveals a relation to the Lazius map Regni hungariae of 1552/56 not only with regard to the network of rivers and the shapes and position of lakes (Lake Fertö, Lake Balaton), but also with regard to the mapping of settlements. For instance the positions of Muzon, Altenburg and Owar (as well as Wiselburg, cp. Fig. 5-3) are wrong on both maps. Daten is mapped at the southeastern fringe of the lake, exactly at the mouth of a water course connecting the lake with the Stob flu., the Rabnitz fl. and finally with the Rab flu., and all the three toponyms are cited in the Lazius map as well. A comparison of settlements with the map by Zündt of 1567 reveals a significant deterioration of the respective content compared to both the “source map” by Lazius as well as the subsequent Mercator map. The map by Zündt shows the toponyms Owar and Altenburg as well as Masunn (MuzonMoson) in the same map area as the respective Lazius and Mercator maps though without indication of positions and, moreover, does not mention Wiselburg. It is remarkable that the map of the Archduchy of Austria Austria archiducatus 1585 by Mercator shows in the common map area of
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western Hungary more detail concerning settlements than the respective Mercator map of Hungary.41 Fifteen positions and toponyms respectively of lakeside settlements around Lake Fertö compared to ten in the map of Hungary are mapped. Apart from the position of Lake Balaton which resembles the position in the “archetype map” of Lazarus-Tannstetter 1528,42 thus mirroring a significant counter-clockwise deviation of the map orientation from the north direction,43 the Sambucus map of Hungary in the Theatrum of 1579 shows only six settlements around the lake compared to 13 named and located in the Lazius map of 1552/56 and in the Lazius-Ortelius map of 1570 respectively.44 There is a certain similarity in the position and toponyms of lakeside settlements but also of settlements in the hinterland incorporated in the Zündt map of 1567 and the Mercator map of 1585 (12 settlements). Nevertheless the large number of toponyms mapped by Lazius and adopted by Zündt and Mercator are partly erroneous and partly wrongly located. On the contrary the few toponyms in the Sambucus map such as Kestel (Keszthely), Kerestur (Keresztur) and Fanodt (Fonyód) are correctly placed. Furthermore the Sambucus map shows for the first time the marshy area of the Kisbalaton which extends along the southwestern shore of the lake by adopting a non-pictorial sign indicating coverage by reeds and grasses. However, the southwestern part of the lake is misinterpreted as the Kisbalaton wetlands. Moreover, the toponym Tapolcha together with a respective settlement sign appears in the Lazius and in the Mercator map, but is missing from the Zündt map which shows a settlement sign without a name. Furthermore the transcription of the wrong position of the Tihany peninsula at the southeastern lakeshore both in the Lazius as well as the Zündt and Mercator maps versus the more or less accurate location of the place in the Sambucus map proves a significant connection from the Lazius towards the Mercator notation (Tyhan) and beyond (e.g. map of Hungary by John Speede 1626).45 Sambucus had evidently corrected the wrong representation as an island in the Lazarus-Tannstetter map of 1528 by connecting it with the northwestern shore already in his first map of Hungary published in 1571 (Fig. 5-6 and 5-7).46 Apparently a direct transfer of information from the LazarusTannstetter map of Hungary of 1528 and its later editions to the respective Mercator map of 1585 is evident as well. The two Balaton lakeside settlements Folz (Siofok?) and Zantto (Szántod) appear in the LazarusTannstetter map of 1528 and in the Mercator map of 1585 (Folcz and Zantto), but are not indicated neither in the Lazius nor in the Sambucus and Zündt maps. A certain (non-existent) Holie lacus turns up in the
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Lazarus map and subsequently in its later editions by Vavassore 1553 and Pyhrro Ligorio - Tramezini 1559 in a location approximately north of Neusoll (Neusohl, Banska Bystrica). The lake is not cited in the Sambucus edition of 1566 of the Lazarus map, nor does it appear in the respective Lazius maps of 1552/56 and 1570 (Ortelius) or in the Zündt map of 1567, but is shown in the Mercator map of Hungary 1585. Subsequently its citation is carried into the 17th century maps of Hungary such as the map of Hungary of 1626 by John Speede.47
Fig. 5-6a: Lake Balaton in the Lazius (1552/56) map of Hungary. Courtesy of the University Library Basle (Map Collection AA 86-89)
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Fig. 5-6b: Lake Balaton in the Zündt (1567) map of Hungary. Courtesy of the Austrian National Library (Map Collection K.II)
Fig. 5-6c: Lake Balaton in the Mercator (1585) map of Hungary. Courtesy of the Csaplovics Collection.
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Fig. 5-7: Lake Balaton in the Sambucus-Ortelius (1579, top) versus LazarusTramezini (1559, bottom) maps of Hungary. Courtesy of the Csaplovics Collection (Sambucus-Ortelius) and of the Austrian National Library (Lazarus-Tramezini) (Map Collection K.I 109 403).
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The Mercator map of Hungary serves as an example for the structured extraction and synthesis as well as the amendment of map contents of early regional maps towards the aim of standardised map production based on non-pictorial signs and a homogeneous co-ordinate system under the umbrella of Mercator’s “atlas concept”.48 Anyhow, in general the reliability of thinning the cartographic information on the regional level relies on sufficient knowledge of the regional topography and may therefore affect the representation of the resulting map due to loss of authentic information. Subsequently the concentration of map production in the hands of only a few publishers obstructed periodical updates and amendment of map contents which was common during the vivid period of individual regional map production around the mid-16th century. Obviously the map contents of the Mercator map of Hungaria of 1585 transferred the Lazius citations more or less unchanged into editions all through the 17th century when the maps of John Speede (1626), of Martin Stier (1664)49 as well as of Georg Vischer (1685)50 relied predominantly on the Lazius source map. The map of Hungary by Martin Stier contains more or less similar shapes of Lake Fertö and Lake Balaton as well as roughly the same number and (still wrongly ordered) toponyms of lakeside settlements, but also shows some amendments as well, e.g. the correction of the placement of the Tihany (Thyan) peninsula. A remarkable detail is the labelling of settlements southeast and east of Lake Balaton (e.g. StuhlWeissenburg) by a crescent, thus highlighting the Turkish conquered territory around 1660 (Battle of Saint Gotthard 1664) (Fig. 5-8). After the victorious siege (sack) of Buda in 1686 and the Battle of Mohács in 1687 the reconquering of the Hungarian heartland was more or less completed. Consequently mapping campaigns were planned and it was only Ignaz Müller with his map of Hungary (1709) who overcame the stagnation of the maps of Hungary which prevailed from the maps of Lazius and Sambucus.51
Conclusion Early regional maps contribute to a better understanding of the state and changes of territories and landscapes in the 16th century. Hungary in general and the region of western Hungary in particular were subject to significant changes during that time due to the human impact caused by socio-economic as well as political pressure but also resulting from a period of colder and wetter weather which ended in a Little Ice Age after 1560/70 and affected the whole of Europe.52
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Fig. 5-8: Lake Fertö (Newsidler See) and Lake Balaton (Balaton Lacus) in the map of Hungary by Martin Stier (1664). Courtesy of the Austrian National Library (Map Collection FKB 2004).
The production of regional maps of Hungary was driven by the political situation, which became more and more threatening after the victory of the Turkish army in the battle of Mohács in 1526. The drafting of the map of Hungary by Lazarus secretarius around 1514 to 1520 and the publication of the map in 1528 were a direct consequence of the advance of the Turkish forces. The updated extension of the territory “plundered” by the Turkish troops after the Battle of Mohács has been delineated in the map by a dotted line which extends to a short distance southeast of Raab (Györ).53 The location of the battlefield of Mohács is
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highlighted by a roughly depicted battle scene, together with a text including the date 1526 and a cross commemorating the death of the Hungarian king Ludwig II. Wolfgang Lazius accompanied King Ferdinand I (Emperor from 15581564) as his military surgeon on an unsuccessful campaign against the Turks in 1541. He published a map of a subsequent campaign under Ferdinandތs son Archduke Ferdinand II. in 1556.54 Gerard Mercator benefited from the wealth of cartographic work by Lazius in terms of the detailed topographic and semantic information collected and mapped by Lazius based on his own historical and topographical surveys in situ. Lazius travelled extensively throughout Austria and western and northwestern Hungary in order to sketch topographic detail and to verify the content of earlier maps. Although Zündt, due to his strong reliance on the respective map contents in the Lazius map of Hungary, contributed to a dissemination of Lazius’ work on a European level it was the integration of the maps or at least of the respective map contents adopted by later authors into the Theatrum by Ortelius as from the first edition in 1570, the Speculum of de Jode as from the first edition in 1578 (the recens editio of the Zündt map 1567) and finally into the Atlas by Mercator from 1595, which established the fame of Lazius as the most influential topographer and cartographer of Austria and Hungary in the mid-sixteenth century.
Acknowledgements This chapter is partially based on the respective contents of an extended study by the author on the topochronology of the region of Lake Fertö.55 Written communication by Katalin Plihál (National Széchényi Library Budapest) is appreciated, as is the support by Jan Mokre and Peter Prokop (Austrian National Library) in updating scans of maps. Permission of publication of maps was kindly approved by the University Library Basle and the Austrian National Library Vienna.
Bibliography Aull Otto, Die Freistadt Rust am Neusiedler See (Eisenstadt: Burgenländisches Landesmuseum, 1933). Bagrow Leo, Skelton Raleigh A., Meister der Kartographie (Berlin: Safari, 1963). Banfi Florio, “Sole surviving specimens of early Hungarian cartography”. In: Imago Mundi, 13 (1956), pp. 89-100.
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Bennett Durand Dana, The Vienna-Klosterneuburg map corpus of the 15th century - a study in the transition from medieval to modern science (Leiden: Brill, 1952). Braun Georg, Hogenberg Frans (Eds.), Civitates Orbis Terrarum, 6 vol. (Köln, Antwerpen: Gallaeum, 1572-1618). Csaplovics Elmar, Topochronologie der Landschaft um den Neusiedler See - von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des 16.Jahrhunderts (Eisenstadt: Burgenland Regional State Archives, 2005). Delano-Smith Catherine, “Signs on Printed Topographical Maps, ca. 1470-ca. 1640”. In: Woodward David (Ed.), The history of cartography, 3. Cartography in the European Renaissance, 1 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007), pp. 528-590. Dörflinger Johannes, Wagner Robert, Wawrik Franz (Eds.), Descriptio Austriae (Wien: Edition Tusch, 1977). Halmai Róbert, “Orography and hydrography on the Lazarus maps”. In: Stegena Lajos (Ed.), Lazarus Secretarius, the first Hungarian mapmaker and his work (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1982), pp. 8486. Hrenkó Pál, “Symbols of settlement and place names on the Lazarus maps”. In: Stegena Lajos (Ed.), Lazarus Secretarius, the first Hungarian mapmaker and his work (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1982), pp. 72-78. Irmédi-Molnár, László, “The texts of the Lazarus maps”. In: Stegena Lajos (Ed.), Lazarus Secretarius, the first Hungarian mapmaker and his work (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1982), pp. 23-31. Lazius Wolfgang, Commentariorum Rei publicae Romanae in exteris provinciis constitutae commentariorum libri XII (Basel: Oporinus, 1551). —. De gentium aliquot migrationibus libri XII (Basel: Oporinus, 1557). Karrow Robert, Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and Their Maps. Bio Bibliographies of the Cartographers of Abraham Ortelius, 1570, based on Leo Bagrow's Ortelii Catalogus Cartographorum (Chicago: Seculum Orbis Press, 1993). Meurer Peter H., Corpus der älteren Germania-Karten: Ein annotierter Katalog der gedruckten Gesamtkarten des deutschen Raumes von den Anfängen bis um 1650, text volume and portfolio (Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto, 2001). Oberhummer Eugen, Wieser Franz Ritter von (Eds.), Wolfgang Lazius, Karten der österreichischen Lande und des Königreichs Ungarn aus den Jahren 1545-1563. Zum 50jährigen Bestehen der k.k. Geographischen Gesellschaft (Innsbruck: Wagner, 1906).
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Ortelius Abraham, Catalogus Auctorum Tabularum Geographicarum (Antwerpen: 1570). Penck Albrecht, “Wolfgang Lazius’ Karten von Österreich und Ungarn“. In: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin 2 (1907), pp. 76-86. Pfister Christian, “Weeping in the snow - the second period of Little Ice Age Type Impacts 1570-1630”. In: Behringer Wolfgang, Lehmann Hartmut, Pfister Christian (Eds.), Cultural consequences of the Little Ice Age (Göttingen: Vandenhoek und Ruprecht, 2004), pp. 31-85. Pfister Christian, Brázdil Rudolf, Glaser Rüdiger, Barriendo Mariano et al., “Documentary evidence on climate in sixteenth-century Europe”. Climatic Change, 43 (1999), pp. 55-110. Plihál Katalin, A Tabula Hungariae... Ingolstadt, 1528. Térkép és utóélete, az eddigi és a jelenlegi kutatások tükrében (Budapest: Kossuth Kiádo, 2013). Prickler Harald, “Wieviele Ochsen wurden um 1570/1590 aus Ungarn nach Westen transportiert?” Burgenländische Heimatblätter, 66, 1 (2004), pp. 21-53. Szantai Lajos, Atlas Hungaricus, Magyarország nyomtatott térképei 15281850, 2 vol. (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1996). Szathmáry Tibor, Descriptio Hungariae (Fusignana, 1997). Török Zsolt, “Renaissance cartography in East-Central Europe, ca. 14501650”. In Woodward David (Ed.), The history of cartography, 3. Cartography in the European Renaissance, 2 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007), pp. 1806-1851.
Notes 1
After the exodus of German-speaking scholars from the University of Prague in 1409 due to the signing of the Decree of Kuttenberg by King Wenceslaus IV there was a reversal of majorities to the advantage of the Bohemian students towards the three foreign nations (Poland, Bavaria and Saxony). The University of Leipzig was founded in the same year and several universities such as the University of Vienna benefited from immigrating scholars and students. 2 Bennett Durand Dana, The Vienna-Klosterneuburg map corpus of the 15th century. A study in the transition from medieval to modern science (Leiden: Brill, 1952, p. 159); in 1437 a manuscript copy of the Geographia of Ptolemy was made by order of Georg Müstinger in Klosterneuburg (Austrian National Library, MS Vind. 5266, ff. 78r-171r.). It originally contained 4 maps, which were separated from the manuscript. 6 fragments, 3 each cut out of 2 tabulae modernae on vellum, were discovered in the municipal archive of Koblenz and in the municipal library of Trier respectively.
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Cuspinianus mentions a map in the chapter Austriae Regionis Descriptio, dedicated on 20 May 1528 to Bernhard of Cles, Chancellor to King Ferdinand I (King of Hungary and Bohemia as from 1526/27), when describing lacus Newsidel, […], ut in tabula nostra aperte videmus. Apart from the similarity with the Lazarus map, there is some evidence that Cuspinianus and Collimitius had collaborated from around 1521 in the preparation of maps of Hungary or at least with the theatre of war against the Turks apart from the Lazarus map, cp. Török Zsolt, “Renaissance cartography in East-Central Europe, ca. 1450 – 1650.” In Woodward David (Ed.), The history of cartography, 3. Cartography in the European Renaissance, 2 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007), pp. 1822-1823. 4 Tabula Hungarie / ad quatuor latera per / d Lazarum quondam Thomae / Strigonien[sis] Cardin[alis] Secretariu[m] viru[m] / ex[per]tum congesta a Georgio Tannstetter / Collimitio reuisa auctiorque reddita, at- / que iamprimu[m] a Jo. Cuspiniano edita. … opera Petri Apiani / de Leyssnigk Mathematici Ingol / stadiani invulgata Anno / D[omi]ni. 1528. Ingolstadt 1528. Woodcut, ca. 1:1,150.000, Széchényi B/App H 136. 5 Nova et hactenus non visa regnorum atque provintiarum per Aug. Hirsvogel descriptio - Zu Ehr der Römischen zu Hungern und Behaim Kün May, Ertzhertzogen zu Osterreich, Ist diese Carta der künigreich Fürstenthumb, Grafschafften, Herrschafften, und Landen hungern, Bossen, Crabaten, Dalmatien, windisch lande, …, woodcut, 12 sheets; written communication by Franz Wawrik, 2005; cp. also Banfi Florio, “Sole surviving specimens of early Hungarian cartography.“ In: Imago Mundi, 13 (1956), pp. 89-100. 6 Schlavoniae, Croatiae, Carniae, Istriae Bosniae Finiti Marumque / Regionum Nova Descriptio, Avtore Avgvstino Hirsvogelio. Engraving, ca.1:600.000. In: Ortelius Abraham (Ed.), Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Antwerpen: 1570), f.41, Austrian National Library, Map Collection K I 116.602. 7 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Add.41A, as from 1573; Illyricum / Ioan Sambvcvs / Ortelio Svo S. / Mitto hanc quoque tabellam qua/necessaria confinia Pannoniæ de:/ clarantur, fluuiorum & aliquot lo: / corum situs, Hirschvogeli recte / mutaui, Angelini autem studio / plurimi adieci, et interualla cor: / rexi, vt parum quis si cum Hirsch: / vogelij hæc coniungat desiderarit, / si qui errores sint, dies certiota do: / cebit, Viennæ, Vale, 25 October 1572. 8 Vngariae / Tanst.(etter) descriptio / nunc correcta et / aucta Maximiliano II. / Aug.Opt.Pr.P.P.Dicata / per J.Samb.[ucum] / MDLXVI. Engraving, ca.1:900.000. National Széchényi Library Budapest; cp. Bagrow Leo / Skelton Raleigh A., Meister der Kartographie (Berlin: Safari, 1963), pp. 227. 9 Vngariae loca praecipua recens emendata atque edita per Ioan. Sambvcvm MDLXXI Viennae. Engraving, ca.1:900.000. Austrian National Library Map Collection 9 A 1; Karrow Robert, Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and Their Maps. Bio-Bibliographies of the Cartographers of Abraham Ortelius, 1570, based on Leo Bagrow's Ortelii Catalogus Cartographorum (Chicago: Seculum Orbis Press, 1993), pp. 460-461.
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Vngariae Loca Praecipua Re: / cens Emendata Atque Edita, / Per Ioannem Sambvcvm Panno: / nium Imp. Ms. Historicvm.1579. Engraving, ca.1:1,600.000. In: Ortelius Abraham (Ed.), Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Antwerpen: 1579), f.77. Austrian National Library, Map Collection 393.504-D; cp. Lazius Wolfgang, Hungaria descriptio […], in the same edition as f.76. 11 Lazius Wolfgang, Commentariorum Rei publicae Romanae in exteris provinciis constitutae commentariorum libri XII (Basel: Oporinus, 1551); idem, De gentium aliquot migrationibus […], Libri XII (Basel: Oporinus, 1557). 12 Lazius Wolfgang, Regni Hungariae Archeologiae Libri / Tres ex observatione nobilis et / Excell: viri D. Volfgangi Lazy Medici. In: Lazius Wolfgang, (Miscellany) 1564. Austrian National Library, Manuscript Collection, Codex 8664. 13 Ortelius Abraham, Catalogus Auctorum Tabularum Geographicarum (Antwerpen: 1570); Szantai Lajos, Atlas Hungaricus, Magyarország nyomtatott térképei 1528-1850, 2 vol. (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1996), p. 336. 14 Typi choro- / graphici Proiun: Austriae / .., 1561. Etchings, hand-coloured, different scales. Austrian National Library, Map Collection 393 221-E. 15 (Lazius Wolfgang), freehand sketch map of the area of Lake Fertö, around 1545 (1541). Drawing, ca. 1:500.000, cp. note 12, there f. 81. 16 Lazius Wolfgang, Regni hungariae descriptio vera, 1552/1556. Woodcut, 10 sheets, ca. 1:650.000. (Wien: Michael Zimmermann, 1556), University Library Basle, Map Collection AA 86-89; text volume: Des Khunigreichs Hungern sampt seinen eingeleibten Landen grundtliche und Warhafftige Chorographica beschreybung. Gedruckt zu Wienn in Osterreich durch Michel Zimmermann in S.Annen Hof. 1556; cp. Oberhummer Eugen, Wieser Franz von (Eds.) Wolfgang Lazius, Karten der österreichischen Lande und des Königreichs Ungarn aus den Jahren 15451563. Zum 50jährigen Bestehen der k.k. Geographischen Gesellschaft (Innsbruck: Wagner, 1906), Tafeln 14-19; (Lazius Wolfgang), Des Khünigreichs Hung..n .., (1556). National Szécheny Library, Map Collection, parts of a map which had been discovered in bookbindings in the Széchenyi Library Budapest in 1988. The preserved parts of text prove for fragments of a copy of the map in German. The title fragment coincides with the title of the book printed by Michel Zimmermann in S.Annen Hof 1556, cp. Szantai, Atlas Hungaricus (see note 15), p. 336. Another part of that map was found in an antiquarian bookshop in Budapest in 1995 and is incorporated in the Szathmáry collection. 17 Szathmáry Tibor, Descriptio Hungariae (Fusignana: Author’s Edition, 1997), pp. 115-118. 18 Oberhummer, von Wieser, Wolfgang Lazius (see note 16), p. 41. 19 The first printing of the first regional map of Transylvania Chorographia Transylvaniae Sybemburgen of Johann Georg Honter (Honterus) (1498-1549) was carried out in 1532 in Basle, cp. Száthmáry, Descriptio Hungariae (see note 19), p. 79-82; Hrenkó Pál, “Symbols of settlement and place names on the Lazarus maps.” In: Stegena Lajos (Ed.), Lazarus Secretarius, the first Hungarian mapmaker and his work (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1982), p. 78. 20 Delano-Smith Catherine, “Signs on Printed Topographical Maps, ca. 1470 – ca. 1640.” In: Woodward David (Ed.), The history of cartography, 3. Cartography in
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the European Renaissance, 1 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007), p. 541. 21 Hoefnagel Georg, Hoefnagel Jakob, “Eisenstadium / vulgo Eisenstat, in ultimis finibus Austrie Inferioris civitas, (l.l.:) Communicavit Georgius Houfnaglius / depictum a filio Iacobo anno 1617.” In: Braun Georg, Hogenberg Frans (Eds.) Civitates Orbis Terrarum, 6, Theatri praecipuarum totius mundi urbium, Liber sextus (Köln, Antwerpen: Gallaeum, 1572-1618); the copperplate of 1617 shows the nave of the parish church St. Martin roofless - the roof collapsed after a fire in 1589 and was reconstructed only in 1620. 22 Cp. note 15. 23 Kirchhofer Wolfgang, Beschreibung von Podersdorf (1554) (Heiligenkreuz: Abbey Archives, 1554), Rubr. 50, fasc. 2, n. 21; Pfister Christian, Brázdil Rudolf, Glaser Rüdiger, Barriendo Mariano et al., “Documentary evidence on climate in sixteenth-century Europe.” In: Climatic Change, 43 (1999), pp. 82-83. 24 Aull, Otto, Die Freistadt Rust am Neusiedler See (Eisenstadt: Burgenländisches Landesmuseum, 1933), p. 33. 25 Further pictorial signs are a miner (Fodinae Bergkwerck Hegymuka), a bathtub for a spa (Thermae Wildbad Wadfordo), and apart a nonpictorial black slice for indicating historical sites (Antiquitates alt Stät.), cp. Oberhummer, von Wieser, Wolfgang Lazius (see note 16), p. 42. 26 Regni Francorum orientalis sive Austriae .., 1561. Etching, ca. 1:365.000, Austrian National Library, Map Collection 393 221-E; cp. note 14. 27 Hvngariae Descriptio, Wolfgango Lazio Avct. Engraving, ca. 1:400.000. In: Ortelius Abraham (Ed.), Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Antwerpen: 1570), f.42 (15791581, f.76), Austrian National Library, Map Collection 393 504 D; cp. Oberhummer, von Wieser, Wolfgang Lazius (see note 16), p. 43. 28 Austriae Chorographia autore Wolfg. Lazio Viennensi Austrio MD. Consiliar, et Historico Regio (1563), ed. by Matthias Bernegger, Straßburg 1620. Engraving, ca. 1:400.000, German National Museum Nuremberg, cp. Oberhummer, von Wieser, Wolfgang Lazius (see note 16), plate 2; Penck Albrecht, “Wolfgang Lazius’ Karten von Österreich und Ungarn.“ In: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin, 2 (1907), pp. 76-86. 29 Neuwe und Gründtliche beschreibung Des gantzen Künigreichs Ungern mit den anstossenden Landen .. ver / fertiget durch Matthias Zündten zu Nörmberg / […] 1567. Engraving, ca. 1:750.000, Austrian National Library, Map Collection K.II 142; cp. Szántai, Atlas Hungaricus (see note 13), p. 716. 30 Ungaria loca praecipua descrip[t]a per Nicolau[m] Angielu[m] Italu[m], 1570/1580. Drawing, hand-coloured, ca. 1:1,250.000. Saxon General State Archives Dresden, Schr.XXVI, F 96, Atlas No.11, map f.1. 31 Hun / garia. Duisburg (1585). Engraving, ca. 1:1,320.000. In: Mercator Gerardus, Galliae Tabulae Geographicae, Belgii Inferioris Geographicae Tabulae, Germaniae Tabulae Geographicae. […] Duysburgi Cliuorum edita (1585), as from 1595 in: Mercator Gerardus, Atlas sive Cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura. Edition 1606: Austrian National Library, Map Collection, 393.231-D.
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Cp. note 27. Cp. note 30. 34 Cp. note 9, 10. 35 Ain warhafftige beschreibung des Khünigreichs Hungarn, / .., Nürmberg / 1566 / Mathis Zyndt. Woodcut, ca. 1:1,700.000, Austrian National Archives, KriegsA/B IXa 487; Zündt has copied the hydrographical network and - though extremely reduced in the map of 1566, but significantly extended in the map of 1567 – topographic information from the Lazius reference, but some toponyms prove for the study of the Lazarus-Tannstetter map as well, cp. Oberhummer, von Wieser, Wolfgang Lazius (see note 16), pp. 44-45. 36 Inward map title: .. diligens desumpta ex pluribus aliorum editis cosmographicis chartis et typis aereis incisa a Matthia Cynthio Norimbergensi. 37 Prickler Harald, “Wieviele Ochsen wurden um 1570/1590 aus Ungarn nach Westen transportiert?” In: Burgenländische Heimatblätter, 66, 1 (2004), p. 41. 38 Berckwerck (mine), Weinperg (vineyard), Warmbad (spa) and Aufferzyeung der oxen (oxen breeding), as well as a sign for episcopal sees and signs associated with settlements indicating the political territorial situation, Kaiseris (spire with cross), Waydis (Voivode ruled Transylvania, spire with asterisk) and Turkis (spire with crescent). 39 Hungariae totius uti ex compluribus aliorum geographicis Chartis / a Matthia Zinthio Norico delineata est, recens editio. Antwerpen 1593. Engraving, ca. 1:1,300.000, Austrian National Library, Map Collection 393 693 D; cp. Szántai, Atlas Hungaricus (see note 13), p. 717. 40 Avstriae / Dvcatvs Choro: / Graphia, Wolf / gango Lazio / Avctore. Engraving, ca.1:900.000. In: Ortelius Abraham (Ed.), Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Antwerpen: 1570), f.27, Austrian National Library, Map Collection 393 504 D; Avstriae Dvca: / tvs Sev Pannoniae / superioris Chorogra / phia Germana summa / fide ac industria elabo / rata a Wolfgango Lazio. Engraving, ca.1:660.000. In: De Jode Gérard (Ed.), Speculum Orbis Terrarum (Antwerpen 1578). De Jode Cornelis, Speculum Orbis Terrae, Edition 1593: Austrian National Library, Map Collection, 393 693 D, cp. Oberhummer, von Wieser, Wolfgang Lazius (see note 16), p. 24. 41 Austria / archiducatus. Duisburg (1585). Engraving, ca. 1:675.000. In: Mercator Gerardus, Galliae Tabulae Geographicae, Belgii Inferioris Geographicae Tabulae, Germaniae Tabulae Geographicae. […] Duysburgi Cliuorum edita (1585), as from 1595 in: Mercator Gerhard, Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura. Edition 1602: Austrian National Library, Map Collection, 393.698-D.K; cp. Johannes Dörflinger, Robert Wagner, Franz Wawrik (Eds.) Descriptio Austriae (Wien: Edition Tusch, 1977), pp. 84-85. 42 Cp. this article, fig.5-7: Edition of 1559 by Pyhrro Ligorio, published by Michaele Tramezini. Nova des- / criptio totius / Hvngariae / Pyrrho Ligorio Neap. Auctore / Romae M.D.LVIIII / Michaelis Tramezini for- / mis cu[m] priuilegio summi / Pont. […], Rom 1559. Engraving, ca.1:1,620.000, Austrian National Library, Map Collection K. I 109 403. 43 The Lazarus-Tannstetter map was apparently not north-oriented in its draft version and most likely did not show an indication of the cardinal directions. It was 33
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Collimitius who obviously adapted the map to a frame without being sure of the right orientation as suggested in the text in the lower right corner of the map “[…] Auch so du diese Carta recht nach den vier oertern der welt legst / sichstu welche Stat zu der andern mehr kegen Auffgang oder Nidergang / deß gleichen kegen Mittag oder Mitternacht gelegen ist. […]”. The erroneous orientation was sealed when the conventional cardinal directions were added to the map frame during preparation for printing at the workshop of Petrus Appianus, cp. Irmédi-Molnár László, “The texts of the Lazarus maps”. In: Stegena Lajos (Ed.), Lazarus Secretarius, the first Hungarian mapmaker and his work (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1982), p. 26; Halmai Róbert, “Orography and hydrography on the Lazarus maps”. In: Stegena Lajos (Ed.) Lazarus Secretarius, the first Hungarian mapmaker and his work (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiádo, 1982), p. 85; Török Zsolt, Renaissance cartography in East-Central Europe (see note 3), pp. 1826-1827. 44 Adversely the Lazius map of Hungary in Ortelius 1570ff. shows a significant deterioration of toponyms of lakeshore settlements along Lake Fertö (5 versus 18 in the Lazius map of 1552/56, cp. Fig. 5-4). 45 The Mape of / Hungari / newly augmented by Iohn Speede / Ano Dom: 1626. Engraving, ca. 1:1,550.000, Austrian National Library, Map Collection D 24.699 B. 46 Cp. note 9; surprisingly Sambucus corrected the wrong representation of Tihany in the Lazarus-Tannstetter map 1528 – though the interpretation as an island may have originated from the fact that the peninsula was cut off from the mainland by marshland occupied by reed stands – firstly following the wrong correction by Lazius (1552/56) as a peninsula at the southeastern lakeshore, as shown in the Sambucus edition of 1566 of the Lazarus-Tannstetter map (cp. fn.8). Sambucus in this edition applied several amendments, especially additional settlements, often wrongly placed (sic!), obviously adopted from Lazius (1552/56), cp. Pál Hrenkó, Symbols Lazarus maps (see note 19), pp. 77-78. 47 Written communication by Katalin Plihál, retired director of the Map Collection of the National Széchényi Library Budapest, cp. Plihál Katalin, A Tabula Hungariae... Ingolstadt, 1528. Térkép és utóélete, az eddigi és a jelenlegi kutatások tükrében (Budapest: Kossuth Kiádo, 2013), p. 61. 48 Meurer Peter H., “Corpus der älteren Germania-Karten: Ein annotierter Katalog der gedruckten Gesamtkarten des deutschen Raumes von den Anfängen bis 1650“, text volume and portfolio (Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto, 2001), pp. 367-374. 49 Landkarten des Königreichs Vngarn ... Martin Stier Kay: / Ober Ingenier delineavit / 1664. Engraving, 12 sheets, ca.1:540.000. Austrian National Library, Map Collection FKB 2004. 50 Theatrum belli inter magnos duos Imperatores Romanorum et Turcarum [...] von Georg Matthäus Vischer, Viennae 1685. Engraving, ca. 1:750.000. Austrian National Library, Map Collection K III 110 490. 51 Regni Hungariae / ... / opera J. C. Mülleri S.C.M. Ingen., Wien 1709. Engraving, ca. 1:560.000, Austrian State Archives, Kriegsarchiv Wien B IXa 491. 52 Pfister Christian, “Weeping in the snow. The second period of Little Ice Age Type Impacts 1570-1630.” In: Behringer Wolfgang, Lehmann Hartmut, Pfister
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Christian (Eds.), Cultural consequences of the Little Ice Age (Göttingen: Vandenbroek and Ruprecht, 2004), pp. 31-85. 53 Text in the upper left corner: […] Alles so in der getailtn lini begriffen ist / hat der Thurck geplundert/nach dem er die schlacht gewonnen het im 1526 jar. 54 Title: wahrhaffte beschreibung deß rhumreichen von Gott verlihenen siegs wider den Erbfeind der Chri / stenhait, durch ritterlichen streit erlangt im Jar MDLVI herbstzeit verganen: mit sampt ainer Landtafel und augenscheinlicher verzaichnung, welcher orten geschlagen, / gestürmt, und sich zu gelegt worden. Beschriben durch herrn Wolfgang Latzen, der Artznei Doctorn, u. Röe:Köe:Mt:Historischreibern. 1556. Woodcut, ca. 1:500.000. Austrian National Library, Map Collection 9 B 28; cp. Oberhummer, von Wieser, Wolfgang Lazius (see note 16), plate 20, reprint Basle 1577; also Szathmáry, Descriptio Hungariae (see note 17), p. 119-121, prints Basle 1557 and 1577. 55 Csaplovics Elmar, Topochronologie der Landschaft um den Neusiedler See. Von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des 16.Jahrhunderts (Eisenstadt: Burgenland Regional State Archives, 2005).
PART 2: GERHARD MERCATOR: HIS “ATLAS” AND THE COSMOGRAPHY OF HIS TIME
CHAPTER SIX GERHARD MERCATOR AND HIS COSMOGRAPHY: HOW THE “ATLAS” BECAME AN ATLAS PETER VAN DER KROGT
“My purpose then is to followe this Atlas, a man so excelling in erudition, humanitie, and wisedome, ... to contemplate Cosmographie, as much as my strength and abilitie will permit mee, to see if peradventure, by my diligence, I may finde out some truths in things yet unknowne, which may serve to the studie of wisedom.”
These are the words of Gerard Mercator in the introduction to his Atlas, published posthumously in 1595 (translation from the English edition of 1636).1
What is an atlas?2 This is a question that must be answered if one wishes to study the history of the atlas. It is a question concerning the definition of the word atlas. Helen Wallis and Arthur Robinson give a definition in their book Cartographical Innovations:3 “A particular collection of maps, usually bound together”. As a commercial product, it is necessary that several identical copies be made of an atlas, since otherwise it would be impossible to market the product. For this reason the atlas must be comprised of printed maps. An atlas as a commercial product must fulfil other conditions as well. The maps of which an atlas is comprised must have similar characteristics, such as format, drawing style and layout, and they must evenly cover the area that is the theme of the atlas. This brings us to a more precise definition of an atlas as a product of a publisher: “a systematically bundled collection of maps that represent the entire earth or individual regions, comprised according to the requirements of the
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publisher or the author and perhaps supplemented with explanations of the maps or of the area to which the maps refer.” This definition more or less agrees with the general use of the word atlas: a systematic, cohesive collection of maps, usually published in book form, which represents a certain geographic area or deals with one or several geographical phenomena. When we open such an atlas we encounter another Atlas — a mountain range in northwest Africa. According to myth, it was here that the giant who supported the heavens and guarded the Garden of the Hesperides was transformed in to a mountain. Atlas, the giant, was a Titan, the son of Iapetos and Clymene from Asia. He was a god from the oceans, father of the Pleiades and the Hyades and — with Hesperis — father of the Hesperides. He was also pictured as King of Mauritania in Africa, the first cosmographer. The first person to put together such an atlas was Abraham Ortelius. He called his atlas, which was published in 1570, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, which means: Showplace of the World.4
Mercatorތs Atlas What is the role of Gerard Mercator in the history of atlases? It is his name that was affixed to these cartographic documents; but that was actually never his intention. Gerard Mercator announced his great plans in 1569 in the foreword to Chronologia.5 He wished to publish a cosmography, a description of the heavens and the earth, the cosmos. Mercatorތs biographer Walter Ghim described the contents of the intended cosmography as having five parts:6 5. In the first book he described the creation of the world and according to his own statement this task took priority over everything else he had done in his life. 6. Secondly he began to address astronomy. 7. Thirdly he wanted to present astrology. 8. Fourthly he planned to address the creation of the elements, the movement of the sun and moon, and the organization and positions of the planets. 9. Fifthly, the geography of the entire world. The name for this cosmography was to become Atlas sive cosmographicae speculationis libri quinque (Atlas, or five books on cosmographical thoughts). More on this title later.
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But Mercator was never able to realise his ambitious plans. Bound by his scholarly nature, he postponed publication hoping to receive new data. He only completed half of the cartographic part of his cosmography, and only finished the chronology and the story of the creation for the remaining part. As the first part of the geography, he published a description of antique geography in 1578. For this he chose the suitable form, publication of Ptolemy's maps in the Geographia. The title is Tabulae Geographicae Cl. Ptolemæi ad mentem autoris restitutæ & emendatæ Per Gerardum Mercatorem (Geographic Maps according to Claudius Ptolemy, drawn in the spirit of the author and expanded by Gerard Mercator). In contrast to many of his contemporaries, for the drawing of the Ptolemaic maps he used not only Ptolemy’s Geographia, but also other antique sources. He presented a copy of this Ptolemaic edition to his friend Werner von Gymnich and readily announced the next section of his cosmography in an accompanying letter,7 “I am now tackling the new geography of all countries, to know where they are and to describe them, and they will produce no less than one hundred maps. I have started with the Netherlands, France and Germany because these are the countries of which I have the most complete description.”
Following this announcement, it took Mercator seven years to complete the first part of his Modem Geography in 1585. The first three deliveries of 1585 comprised:8 1. Galliae tabulæ geographicæ, with 16 maps of France and Switzerland. 2. Belgii Inferioris Geographicae tabule, with 9 maps of the Netherlands and 3. Germaniae tabulæ geographicæ, with 26 maps of the German states. Each series had its own title page. The one of France was followed by a dedication to Duke Johann Wilhelm von Jülich und Kleve, in which Mercator reveals his plans for a cosmography and says that these maps of France and Germany are only the first part. This dedication is followed by a general foreword. Four years later, a series of 22 maps of Italy, the Balkan area and Greece followed: Italiae, Sclavoniæ, Et Græciæ tabulae geographicae.9
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Once again, this delivery is preceded by a one-page dedication – to Ferdinand de Medici – as well as a message to the reader. In 1594, the year he died, Mercator had published four parts of his modem atlas and left 29 unpublished maps; these included maps of the North Pole, Iceland, the British Isles and the countries of northern and eastern Europe. He had produced a total of 102 of these Tabulae Geographicae, and his work was still unfinished. Spain is nowhere to be found, and regional maps of the continents are missing. He also left a text on the creation, meant to have been incorporated into the first part of his cosmography. As homage to his father, but also probably not without commercial reasons, his son, Rumold Mercator, tried to publish as much of his father’s work as possible. One year after his father’s death, Rumold published everything he could find of the Atlas, with the exception of the Ptolemaic maps and the chronology.10 This publication contained a new edition of the four series of maps from 1585 and 1589 and the first publication of the 29 remaining maps. To obtain a more complete world atlas, Rumold added his own world map dated 1587, his small map of Europe and three maps of the other continents. The maps of the three continents were engraved by his nephews, Gerard Mercator Junior and Michael Mercator, Arnold Mercator’s sons, and copied from the 1569 large world map. The maps are prefaced by a lot of text with the usual praise and letters of recommendation, followed by a Praefatio in Atlantem, which had probably been written by Mercator, and his work on the creation, De Mundi Creatione et Fabrica Liber. The work has two title pages (not counting the four pages preceding each series of maps). The first title page introduces the entire work and carries the title Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura (Atlas of cosmographical considerations on the creation of the world and the shape of its creation) (Fig. 6-1).11 The second title page has as its title Atlantis Pars Altera: Geographia Nova Totius Mundi (Atlas Part Two: New Geography of the entire World). The text on the creation, therefore, constitutes the first part of the Atlas, and the maps the second part.
Why Atlas? In his introduction, Praefatio in Atlantem, Mercator explains his choice for the name Atlas. He follows the version of Diodorus of Sicily (Diodoros Siculus), a Greek historian who wrote some historical works between 60 and 30 BC. Diodorus tells two myths about Atlas which strongly deviate from other myths stating that he is the son of the Titan Iapetus.12 Diodorus
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Fig. 6-3: Title page of Mercator's Atlas, showing Atlas sitting on a mountain and studying globes (from facsimile)
Fig. 6-2: A depiction of the Atlante Farnese in the top section of the title page of the atlases of Lafreri (from A.E. Nordenskiöld, Facsimile-atlas, Stockholm 1889)
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claims that Atlas, a very knowledgeable astronomer, was a son of Uranus and and the first human to describe the doctrines of the universe (Appendix II, 3.60.1). Diodorus thought that this had created the idea that the heavens rested on his shoulders (3.60.2) (Fig. 6-2). Mercator goes on with a confusing story about the brothers and sisters (the Titans) of Atlas and his children, including Atlas (Jr.) and Hesperus, both also very knowledgeable about astronomy. Here Mercator combines two myths which Diodorus’ work mentions in various places. It is said that Hesperus, Atlas’ son, carried out his observations from the top of Mount Atlas. One day a violent gust of wind threw him down the mountain, and he was never seen again (3.60.3). Mercator does not agree, and writes that a favourable wind carried Hesperus to Spain, where he became king. Later he went to Etruria, fleeing his brother Atlas. Diodorus also tells stories about Hercules which mention the brothers Hesperus and Atlas (4.27.1). Hercules saw to it that Atlas was reunited with his daughters. Here, the same story is told about Atlas, i.e., his experience in the field of astronomy was vast, leading the common people to believe that he carried the firmament on his shoulders. This was also said about Hercules, because he had introduced Atlas’ knowledge of the universe to Greece (4.27.5). Mercator introduced two people called Atlas, a father and son. He tried to combine the two stories of Diodorus, who himself knew of only one Atlas. The family ties between Atlas and Hesperus are mentioned differently; in the third book Hesperus was a son of Atlas (3.60.2), and in the fourth book Hesperus and Atlas were brothers (4.27.1). Someone who is even vaguely familiar with the world of Greek gods knows that it produced uncommonly bizarre relationships. In his final statement, Mercator states that his objective is to follow this Atlas, but it is unclear whether he means Atlas Sr. or Atlas Jr.! From the 1636 English translation one might assume that Mercator is taking Hesperus as his example (See Appendix I). In any case, on the 1595 Atlas title page a man appears sitting on top of a mountain and studying a (celestial) globe with a pair of compasses and a globe of the earth at his feet (Fig. 6-1). This could well represent Hesperus sitting on top of Mount Atlas. For that matter, the idea of Atlas as bearer of the firmament was in Mercatorތs opinion not important because it had nothing to do with his choice of Atlas as example. Mercator wanted to lend Atlas’ name to his cosmographical work because he considered him to be the first cosmographer. The last sentence
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of his Praefatio once again indicates what he had planned for his Atlas: the story of creation; classification of the celestial phenomena (astronomy); astrology; basic questions; and finally, geography. Mercator certainly did not limit the name Atlas to the section containing the maps. In the dedication to Duke Johann Friedrich, Mercator only refers to “novae Geographiae tabulas” (new geographical maps) and to Ferdinand de Medici about “novum Geographiæ nostræ tomum” (the new part of our geography). One can clearly deduce from the title of his Ptolemaic edition and the four series of modern maps that Mercator wished to give part of his cosmography dedicated to geography, the name Tabulae Geographicae. A modest name for a book of maps, because the only two other atlases (in the modern meaning of the word) of that time had quite presumptuous names, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Showplace of the World) by Abraham Ortelius (1570) and the Speculum Orbis Terrarum (Mirror of the World) by Gerard de Jode (1578). In my opinion, in this way Mercator indicated that the geographical maps were not an independent publication, but rather just part of a more comprehensive work, the cosmography.
The Atlas becomes an atlas The Atlas as published by Rumold Mercator13 consisted of the following parts: Preliminaries: 16 pages Dedication to Wilhelm and Johann Wilhelm von Jülich etc., Portrait of the author and a biography (Vita by Walter Ghim), followed by two letters and a few poems. Praefatio and Stemma atlantis (an explanation of the name Atlas). Part 1: 30 pages De Mundi Creatione (without title page), the story of Creation. Part 2: 498 pages Preliminaries, 6 pages, Continents, British Isles, Northern and Eastern Europe, 150 pages (34 maps (4 pages each with 6 extra text pages) and 8 pages register), France, 78 pages (12 pages title page and text, 16 maps (15 of 4 pp., 1 of 2 pages) and 4 pages register), Low Countries, 46 pages (6 pages title page and text, 9 maps (4 pp each) and 4 pages register), Germania, 114 pages (6 pages title page and text, 25 maps (4 pages each) and 8 pages register),
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Fig. 6-3: The Atlante Farnese, a 2nd-century Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic sculpture of Atlas kneeling with a celestial globe on his shoulders (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples). See also Fig. 12-1.
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Italia, 104 pages (4 pages title page and dedication, 22 maps (4 pages each) and 12 pages register). The 30-page text about the Creation is entirely out of proportion to the 102 maps on about 500 pages. The map part is over 90% of the volume. One can therefore understand that contemporaries and successors viewed Atlas as the name of Mercator’s modern geographic maps and the story of Creation as only a suitable introduction for the part of the publication comprised of maps.
Four times a first atlas? A half century earlier Italian publishers such as Antonio Lafreri, provided a series of bound made to order maps to their customers, and therefore no two copies needed to be the same.14 However, they did often add an engraved title page. Lafreri had placed a globe-bearing Atlas on such a title page (Fig. 6-2). The title does not mention Atlas, however, leading us to believe that the illustration was, at best, an allegoric reference to the world. The figure on Lafreri’s title page is an illustration of the so-called Atlante Farnese, a classical image of the firmament bearing Atlas, found in Rome and acquired by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1562 (Fig. 6-3).15 This discovery certainly revived the use of the Atlas figure as a representation of the world. It is somewhat improbable that Mercator followed Lafreri’s example or, for that matter, even knew him. As explained above, Mercator did not consider the heaven-bearing aspect as important. For that reason Mercator’s title page illustration does not resemble the Atlante Farnese in any way. Around 1604, the Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz. and the engraver Jodocus Hondius purchased the copperplates of Mercator’s Atlas from the heirs of Rumold Mercator, who had died in 1599.16 They came out with a new edition of the Atlas in 1606, completed with 37 additional maps and, in addition to Mercator’s tabular surveys, geographical descriptions of the various countries, in Latin. This 1606 edition was the first large world atlas published in Amsterdam.17 One year after the first Amsterdam publication of the large Atlas in folio format, Hondius and Claesz published a cheaper pocket edition.18 This small atlas includes all maps of the large atlas in reduced size, and the text to the maps. With this they followed the tradition that had been commenced in Antwerp with the Epitome, a smaller edition of Ortelius’ Theatrum, 1577. This pocket atlas was meant for the masses who could
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not afford to buy an expensive folio atlas. The title is Atlas Minor - Small Atlas and this is the first step in the redefinition of the word Atlas. The Atlas Minor (Fig. 6-4) includes all text to the maps, but not the story of the Creation which is the first part of the Atlas. This is thus the first book with just geographical maps named Atlas. To summarize, there are four books which can be seen as the first atlas:
Lafreri, first book with Atlas on the title page, Ortelius 1570, first book according to the definition of an atlas, Mercator 1595, first book with the title Atlas, Atlas Minor 1607, first book according to the definition of an atlas and having the title Atlas.
Fig. 6-4: Title page of the Atlas Minor (1607), one of the first books to be called an 'atlas'. Above the title a bearded figure carrying the terrestrial globe (Brussels, Royal Library)
From 1630 a second publisher started atlas production: Willem Janszoon Blaeu. His first atlases he suggestively called Atlantis Appendix, sive pars altera (Appendix to the Atlas, or Part Two).19
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The Atlas in question was, of course, Mercator’s, since the title Atlas was originally reserved for his work. Blaeu called his first complete atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Novus Atlas (1634) a title in which, on the one hand, he refers to Ortelius — and, therefore, a work not produced by Mercator — and on the other hand, he admits that his work adds new elements to the work of Mercator. Janssonius, the publisher of Mercator’s Atlas, subsequently calls his new publication Novus Atlas sive Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (New Atlas or Showplace of the World). With publication of the multi-volume Atlas Maior (Great Atlas) in the 1660s, all references to Ortelius have completely vanished but the cosmographical element has returned: Atlas Maior sive Cosmographia Blaviana (Great atlas or Blaeu's cosmography) and Joannes Janssonius’ Atlas Major sive Cosmographia Universalis (Great atlas or universal cosmography) (Fig. 6-5). Hondius did keep Mercator’s story of the creation which had appeared in the first volume of the Atlas, and even translated it into French and English (in 1609 and 1636 respectively). This section, however, was increasingly considered as an introduction to the maps. In the Dutch and German editions (1633 and 1634 respectively), and later in the Latin and French editions (both published in 1638), the story was replaced with a more appropriate introduction on geography. Blaeu’s atlases, of course, never did contain this text written by Mercator. Because of the frequent use of the name Atlas in all different publications, the word 'atlas' was no longer considered a proper name and became generic. During the first 40 years of the seventeenth century, the Atlas evolved from an incomplete cosmography (story of creation plus modem maps) to a complete atlas (maps and geographical descriptions) (Fig. 6-6). In France, the first person to adopt the name 'atlas' for a publication was Alexis-Hubert Jaillot, who called his 1681 publication of Sanson’s maps Atlas Nouveau (however, Jaillot placed Hercules carrying the world globe, l’Hercule François, instead of Atlas on the illustrated title page!). In England the first work bearing the name 'Atlas' is the co-production of Steven Swart, Moses Pitt and Johannes Janssonius van Waesbergen (Joannes Janssonius’ successor). They planned to publish The English Atlas, an English equivalent of the Atlas Maior. Due to various problems, only four volumes were printed in the period 1680-1683. The first book published in the United States under the name 'Atlas' was A General Atlas for the Present War, printed in 1794 in Philadelphia by Matthew Carey (1760-1839). This gave Carey the honour of having introduced the atlas to the U.S. exactly 200 years after the death of its 'inventor,' Mercator.
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Fig. 6-5: The title page of the Atlas Contractus (Jansssonius' heirs, 1666) shows Gerard Mercator, Jodocus Hondius and Johannes Janssonius with in the background a statue of Atlas carrying a celestial globe (Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet)
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Fig. 6-6: On the title page of of Frederick de Wit’s atlas (illustrated is the copy by Justus Danckerts) the figure of Atlas is standing on the Earth and carrying the heavens, depicted as a starry sky (Amsterdam, University Library)
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Mercator’s choice of the name 'Atlas' as a description of his cosmography became the definitive word used to describe a muchabridged edition of a book with maps, as I defined this at the beginning of this article. Unintentionally, Mercator had added a word to all European languages – and this is not a claim that every scholar can make!
Note This article is mainly based on three other publications by the author: Van Atlas tot atlas. Kartografisch Tijdschrift 20(1994)3: 11-18. From 'Atlas' to atlas. Mercatorތs World 1(1996)1: 61-63 & 93. Gerard Mercator and his cosmography: how the Atlas became an atlas. Archives Internationales dތHistoire des Sciences 59, 163 (Dec. 2009): 465-483.
Appendix I English translation of Mercatorތs Præfatio in Atlantem in the English edition of 1636, published in Amsterdam by Johannes Janssonius and Henricus Hondius. THE PREFACE VPON ATLAS ATLAS, King of Mauritania, was borne of a Royall race, and had for his father Serrenus, or Indigena (as Eusebius withnesseth out of the most auncient Historians) whose surname was Coelus, & whose mother was Titea, surnamed Terra; his great Grand-father on the Fathers and mothers side were Elius or Sol, King of Phoenice, who with his wife Beruth, dwelt in Biblius, both of them excellently versed in ASTRONOMIE, and in naturall disciplines, so that for their learning sake, they were accounted worthy of the names of Sol and of Coelum, vndoubtedly this Atlas, as the Ancients report (namely Diodorus in his fourth booke and fifth chapter) [= Book III, Chapters 57 and 60, and Book IV, chapter 27, P.v.d.K.] was a most skillfull Astrologer, and the first amongmen, that disputed of the Sphoere. He had manie Bretheren, to the number of 45. whom Coelus begot of diverse woemen, whereof 17 of them he had by Titea, a most prudent Matron, that did many good offices to men, whom he after their mothers name called Titanes. He had also sisters, among whom the principall were Basilia who in favour of her mother, brought vp all her brethren, and therefore they called her Grandmother, and Rhea Pandora. Now after the decease of Coelus, Basilia being the eldest, and excelling the others in prudence and vertue, by the common consent of her
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bretheren, and the people, being a Virgin and vnmarryed, shee obtayned the Kingdome. Afterwards, being desirous to leave and heire behind her, she was marryed to her brother Hyperion, and shee bare him two Sonns, to wit, Sol and Luna, whose prudence Hyperions brethren, admiring, to the intent the Kingdom might not be setled vpon his issue, they masacred him, and drowned Sol his Sonn being yet an Infant in the river of Erydanus. Then the Sonnes of Coelus, whereof the noblest of them were Atlas and Saturnus, shared their Fathers Kingdomes betweene them. Atlas had for his part, those Countries, which lay next vnto the Ocean, and Lybia, and the streights of Gibraltar, whence Mount-Atlas and the Atlanticke people in Mauritania tooke first their name, and Saturnus obtayned Sicilia, and Lybia, who being afterward hated of his people, for the crueltie he vsed against his Father Coelus, fledd into Italie, where by Ianus he was made Partaker of the Kingdome. Now forasmuch as Dyodorus alledgeth, that Coelus was the first King that reigned among the Atlanticks, the people being before desperced vp and downe in fields in Collonies, he admonished them, to gather themselves together, and to build townes. Without all question these Kings were very ancient, because Atlas, Sonne of Atlas, having chased away his brother Hesperus was King of Iberia, which afterwards in the yeere 738, after the vniversall flood was called Spayne. Hesperus flying into Etruria, where he was made tutour to Ianus. The Grandfather of Atlas (Elius) reigned in Phenice anno 662 after the deluge. And Diodorus witnesseth, that those Kings out of the nature of things, and the contemplation of them, they attayned to excellent knowledg; and withall became pious, and more humane, that as Dyodorus truely faith, the Atlanticks bore away the bell both for their pietie, and humanitie to straungers, from all other Nations whatsoever, when there were scarcely not above 22 or 23 generations compleat, and manie parts of the earth not yet inhabited. Atlas had manie Sonns, but among the rest, one famous for his pietie, justice, and courtesie to his subjects. His name was Hesperus, who ascending vp to the top of Mount Atlas, to seach out diligently the course of the Starrs, was on a sudden violently carryed away with winds, and appeared no more. So much Dyodorus speaketh of him: but in my opinion (as I have said) I finde he was King in Iberia, into which at last, he came with a prosperous winde, wehre he lived so prudently and religiously, that when he fled into Etruria, being driven from thence by his brother, for his excellent wisedome and prudence he was made Tutor to Ianus, and administratour of the Kingdom, which offices Atlas his brother vndertooke. My purpose then is to followe this Atlas, a man so excelling in erudition, humanitie, and wisedome, (as from a loftie watch tower) to contemplate Cosmographie, as much as my
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strength and abilitie will permit mee, to see if peradventure, by my diligence, I may finde out some truths in things yet vnknowne, which may serve to the studie of wisedom. And as the world conteyneth the number of all things, the species, order, harmonie, proportion, vertues and effects; so beginning from the creation: I will number all the parts thereof, so farre as methodicall reason requireth, according to the order of the creation, and will contemplate physically, that the causes of things may be knowne, whereof consisteth that science of sciences wisedom, which directeth everything to a good end, by a provident wisedom, which doth facilitate the way to the ends. This is the maine scopy I ayme at. Afterward I will handle Coelestiall things in their ranke: then the Astronomicks; which appertayne to conjecture by the Starrs. Fourthly, treate of things Elementarie, & lastly the Geographicks, and so (as in a mirrour) will set before your eyes, the whole world, that in making vse of some rudiments, ye may finde out the causes of things, and so by attayning vnto wisedom and prudence, by this meanes leade the Reader to higher speculations.
Appendix II Diodorus Siculus on Atlas Diodorus Siculus. Library of History (Books III - VIII). Translated by Oldfather, C. H. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 303 and 340 (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1935). On-line http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4A.html and http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/ho me.html (both consulted 9 December 2013). Italics added by Peter van der Krogt! Book 3, chapter 60: [1] After the death of Hyperion, the myth relates, the kingdom was divided among the sons of Uranus, the most renowned of whom were Atlas and Cronus. Of these sons Atlas received as his part the regions on the coast of the ocean, and he not only gave the name of Atlantians to his peoples but likewise called the greatest mountain in the land Atlas. [2] They also say that he perfected the science of astrology and was the first to publish to mankind the doctrine of the sphere; and it was for this reason that the idea was held that the entire heavens were supported upon the shoulders of Atlas, the myth darkly hinting in this way at his discovery and description of the sphere. There were born to him a number of sons,
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one of whom was distinguished above the others for his piety, justice to his subjects, and love of mankind, his name being Hesperus. [3] This king, having once climbed to the peak of Mount Atlas, was suddenly snatched away by mighty winds while he was making his observations of the stars, and never was seen again; and because of the virtuous life he had lived and their pity for his sad fate the multitudes accorded to him immortal honours and called the brightest of the stars of heaven after him. Book 4, chapter 27: [1] But we must not fail to mention what the myths relate about Atlas and about the race of the Hesperides. The account runs like this: In the country known as Hesperitis there were two brothers whose fame was known abroad, Hesperus and Atlas. These brothers possessed flocks of sheep which excelled in beauty and were in colour of a golden yellow, this being the reason why the poets, in speaking of these sheep as mela, called them golden mela. [5] For Atlas had worked out the science of astrology to a degree surpassing others and had ingeniously discovered the spherical nature of the stars and for that reason was generally believed to be bearing the entire firmament upon his shoulders. Similarly in the case of Heracles, when he had brought to the Greeks the doctrine of the sphere, he gained great fame, as if he had taken over the burden of the firmament which Atlas had borne. He intimated in this enigmatic way what had actually taken place.
Bibliography Durme Maurice van (Ed.), Correspondance mercatorienne (Anvers: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1959). Meurer Peter, “De verkoop van de koperplaten van Mercator naar Amsterdam in 1604.” In: Caert-Thresoor, 17 (1998). Gerard Mercatori Mercatoris et I. Hondii Atlas or a Geographicke description..., vol. 1 (Amsterdam: Henricus Hondius and Johannes Janssonius, 1636). Van der Krogt Peter, Koemanތs Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. I: The Folio Atlases Published by Gerard Mercator, Jodocus Hondius, Henricus Hondius, Johannes Janssonius and Their Successors (ތt Goy-Houten: HES Publishers, 1997). —. “'The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum: The first atlas?” In: Van den Broecke Marcel, Van der Krogt Peter, Meurer Peter (Eds), Abraham Ortelius
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and the first atlas: Essays commemorating the Quadricentennial of his Death, 1598-1998 (ތt Goy-Houten: HES Publishers, 1998). —. Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici: New Edition, Vol. II: The Folio Atlases Published by Willem Jansz. Blaeu and Joan Blaeu (’t GoyHouten : HES & De Graaf Publishers, 2000). —. Koemanތs Atlantes Neerlandici: New Edition, Vol. III: Orteliusތs Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, De Jodeތs Speculum Orbis Terrarum, The Epitome, Caert-Thresoor and Atlas Minor, The Atlases of the XVII Provinces, and Other Atlases Published in the Low Countries up to c. 1650 (ތt Goy-Houten: HES & De Graaf Publishers, 2003). Wallis Helen M., Robinson Arthur H., Cartographical Innovations: An International Handbook of Mapping Terms to 1900 (Tring: Map Collector Publications (1982) Ltd,, 1987). Woodward David, “The Italian Map Trade, 1480-1650.” In: David Woodward (Ed.), The History of Cartography, vol. 3 (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007).
Notes 1 Gerard Mercatori Mercatoris et I. Hondii Atlas or a Geographicke description..., vol. 1 (Amsterdam: Henricus Hondius and Johannes Janssonius, 1636), f. A1r. The original Latin text was published by Rumold Mercator in the first edition of Mercatorތs Atlas in 1595. For the translations of the Latin text of the Atlas I used the CD-ROM: Gerardus Mercator: Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura (Atlas, or Cosmographic Meditations on the Fabric of the World and the Figure of the Fabrickތd), Commentary by Robert W. Karrow, Jr. (Oakland: California (USA): Octavo Editions, 2000). 2 This paragraph is based on Van der Krogt Peter, Koemanތs Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. I: The Folio Atlases Published by Gerard Mercator, Jodocus Hondius, Henricus Hondius, Johannes Janssonius and Their Successors (ތt Goy-Houten: HES Publishers, 1997), pp. 17-19. 3 Wallis Helen M., Robinson Arthur H., Cartographical Innovations: An International Handbook of Mapping Terms to 1900 (Tring: Map Collector Publications (1982) Ltd,, 1987), p. 311. 4 Van der Krogt Peter, “'The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum: The first atlas?” In: Van den Broecke Marcel, Van der Krogt Peter, Meurer Peter (Eds), Abraham Ortelius and the first atlas: Essays commemorating the Quadricentennial of his Death, 1598-1998 (ތt Goy-Houten: HES Publishers, 1998). 5 Mercator Gerard, Chronologia (Cologne: Arnold Birckmann, 1569), f. (†)3r-v. Translation by Languagenetworks, Amsterdam. 6 Mercator Gerard, Atlas (1595), f. 3r. 7 Letter of 14 July 1578, published in: Durme Maurice van (Ed.), Correspondance mercatorienne (Anvers: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1959).
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Van der Krogt, KAN (see note 2), Atlas 1:001. Van der Krogt, KAN (see note 2), Atlas 1:002. 10 Van der Krogt, KAN (see note 2), Atlas 1:011. 11 In the Octavo edition (see note 1) the title is translated as: Atlas or Cosmographic Meditations on The Fabric of the World and The Figure of the Fabrick’d. 12 See for instance the Wikipedia article on Atlas at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_%28mythology%29 (seen 28.07.2014). 13 A complete description of the contents of the atlas can be found in Van der Krogt, KAN (see note 2), Atlas 1:011. 14 Woodward David, “The Italian Map Trade, 1480-1650.” In: David Woodward (Ed.), The History of Cartography, vol. 3 (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007). 15 Now in the Museo Archeologico Naziomale in Naples. 16 Meurer Peter, “De verkoop van de koperplaten van Mercator naar Amsterdam in 1604.” In: Caert-Thresoor, 17 (1998), pp. 61-66. 17 Van der Krogt, KAN (see note 2), Atlas 1:101. 18 Van der Krogt Peter, Koemanތs Atlantes Neerlandici: New Edition, Vol. III: Orteliusތs Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, De Jodeތs Speculum Orbis Terrarum, The Epitome, Caert-Thresoor and Atlas Minor, The Atlases of the XVII Provinces, and Other Atlases Published in the Low Countries up to c. 1650 (ތt Goy-Houten: HES & De Graaf Publishers, 2003). 19 Van der Krogt Peter, Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici: New Edition, Vol. II: The Folio Atlases Published by Willem Jansz. Blaeu and Joan Blaeu (’t Goy-Houten : HES & De Graaf Publishers, 2000). 9
CHAPTER SEVEN “INTENTIO TOTIUS COSMOGRAPHIAE” MARICA MILANESI
Cosmographies Cosmographia, during the sixteenth century, had more than one meaning. “Description of the universe” was one (but Sphaera was much more in use): a text – often with a teaching approach – describing the structure of the celestial spheres and orbits of the planets, the position of the Earth at their centre, and all the consequences of such a position on the Earthތs surface, from the astronomical phenomena to the climates. Petrus Apianus defines Cosmographia as a description of the world of the four elements, of the sun, the moon and the stars, explained by means of mathematical demonstrations (“iuxta Mathematicas ostensiones demonstrate”). Cosmographia is different from Geographia, he adds, in as much as it distinguishes the earth only through the circles of heaven, not the mountains, the seas, and the rivers. Geographia is for him a pictorial representation of the main known parts of the Earth; Corographia, or Topographia – the rigid partition of Ptolemy is gradually fading away – describes the details.1 From the fifteenth century, Cosmographia also meant the Latin equivalent of Geographia, as defined by Ptolemy: a map of the known world based on coordinates. This kind of description, bringing Heaven and Earth together through the use of the mathematical language of coordinates, established between them a connection that had nothing mystic: if anything, its character was astrological. In this sense, a cartographer like Giacomo Gastaldi could legitimately be called cosmographer: his maps were based on coordinates, as well as on the most modern sources available around the middle of the 16th century on the more distant parts of the world.
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Also, Cosmographia was the title of books where description and history of the world was mixed with coordinates, or based on a map. Such were, for example, the cosmographies of Sebastiano Compagni (15081509), Sebastian Münster (1544), Jean Alfonse (1544), Guillaume Le Testu (1555), André Thevet (1575). Even the collection of Navigazioni e viaggi (Navigations and travels) edited by Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Venice 1550) may be regarded as a cosmography. This collection of modern and ancient travel records has indeed a unitary character, and an originality of thought that other cosmographies did not normally show. It also has an innovative order: the texts are not arranged by continent. They describe territories placed around particular maritime areas (Atlantic and Indian Oceans), or around empty inlands (Central Asia), along routes of approach or by penetration areas (Central America, South and North). In addition, the narratives of travel and itineraries are framed by extensive comments and historical introductions. It is an open work: it can be read, as proposed by Ramusio, as the set of sources needed to replace Ptolemyތs co-ordinates as the basis for a new map of the world, but also as a full description of the non-European parts of the Earth. Such compilations allowed plenty of room for modern information, and gave a relevant role to the personal experience of the author, or of his sources. All are strongly influenced by the Iberian cosmographers of the first half of the century - Duarte Pacheco Pereira, Martin Fernandez de Enciso, Pedro Nuñez, João de Castro. Ramusioތs collection includes an amount of text whose protagonist is autopsy, ranging from the short letter of a merchant to memories, rutters, and very broad narratives of events in distant countries. If the authors seem reliable, the sources are considered safe, being the product of that experience which is the mother of all things, according to a saying attributed to Aristotle and much repeated among the authors of the sixteenth century. Their testimonies are, where possible, compared with the existing literature: if the modern experience belies that of the Ancients, it is accepted in its place. Jean Alfonse, a Portuguese sea captain at the service of the king of France, enriches his cosmography with quotations of other authors, but guarantees it all with his own autopsy, because he “sailed on all the coasts of the Seas Ocean, the Pacific and many others”.2 Portuguese cosmographers and their followers like Ramusio emphasize the geographical errors and shortcomings of the Ancients, in order to challenge their opinions on the habitability of different climates and the relationship between sea and land on the terrestrial sphere. All the climates are habitable to them; all the seas are mediterranean, and continents are therefore not islands, but parts of one enormous mainland, separated only
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by a few, very narrow straits.3 The purpose of this type of cosmography was to represent the Earth as we know it, or at least according to the most probable hypotheses. The image of the Earth, writes Le Testu, is not stable but incomplete and changeable: it is not only inevitable but likely, therefore, that the map may also contain what we do not know yet, in the form of conjecture.4 For Le Testu (as, by implication, for Gastaldi), conjecture is a necessary and extremely valuable heuristic tool. All cosmographers of the sixteenth century found the standard justification for their research on worldly matters in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas, for whom the knowledge of the created world is an essential first step in appreciation of its Creator. Not everyone, however, in an environment of people whose education was inspired by humanism, felt the need to justify himself. For many, the knowledge had a value in itself, and in cases like that of Thevet, was openly meant to obtain honour and earnings, and fuelled the presumption of the author.5 Those, like Gerard Mercator, who gave cosmography a deep religious meaning, could never agree with such a secular attitude. They saw the affirmation of the absolute primacy of autopsy toward authority as a sin of pride as well as a source of error. The emphasis on the relationship between geographical knowledge and the divine was present mainly in the Reformed authors, many of whom were priests. Simon Grynaeus, the Swiss mathematician and a Reformer, in his introduction to Novus Orbis, a collection of travel reports, praises the men who have gone to discover the nature and peoples of the world. They, along with geographers, mathematicians and astronomers, are the tools that Providence has created so that people do not forget to admire, through nature, the divine work. Their zeal in this mission makes them comparable even to those who forsake everything to follow the word of God.6 Another Reformer, Sebastian Münster opens his cosmography (1544) with a commentary of biblical passages. Mercator does the same, with much greater amplitude: his project of a cosmography includes a discussion of the creation and of the natural processes by which the creation took place, a history of the created world and of its inhabitants in the form of a chronology, and the complete and exact mapping of the Heavens and the Earth following the Ancients and the Moderns. Of these, only the astronomical part has not been achieved. No one had done it before at this scale: Mercatorތs Meditationes de Fabricati Figura (Meditations on the figure of the created world) are more than an exposition of the Bible. They are, in his opinion, the thanksgiving prayer that a very pious and learned layman raises to his creator, through the lifelong daily work as a cosmographer. As Frank Lestringant, and more recently Patrick Gautier
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Dalché pointed out, Mercator goes back to the medieval use of the commentary on the map as a spiritual act of contemplation of God through his creation.7 “Intentio totius Cosmographiae” (the purpose of the whole cosmography) is to show the infinite wisdom and inexhaustible goodness of God so that everyone can worship his majesty, writes Mercator in the first chapter.8 Such an act of devotion is achieved through the pursuit of truth, that is, a true description of how the created world is made: Geography, as a part of Cosmography, has the task of establishing geographicam veritatem, geographical truth. To reach "a perfect knowledge of truth", one should discard all which obvious reasons reveal to be false, and retain that which is probable until experience and reasoning are in agreement: then "the facts themselves in their very truth are placed before the eyes " (1569).9 These are criteria that cosmographers used for centuries, Gautier Dalché reminds us, and continued to be in use in the sixteenth century. The results achieved, however, are very different: not all cosmographers have the same goals. The problem is, obviously, how to establish what is false and what is probable in modern (and ancient) experience. Experience is very important for those - like Mercator - who see geography as the science dealing with the visible part of divine revelation, and who are convinced that the order of the Earth is made for man, as a direct expression of the divine purpose. A mapping inspired by the goals of Mercator is not intended to represent only what we do know about the world, but to reconstruct its features in their transcendental truth, established from eternity, but so far only partially revealed to us, or forgotten. Such cartography does not allow hypotheses and conjectures: its purpose is not the construction of knowledge, but the reconstruction (restitutio) of a lost truth that the cosmographer must discover, so that his praise to the Creator does not sound like blasphemy because of the factual errors it contains. Restitutio is, after all, the first step to the coming of the kingdom of Christ on Earth. In Mercatorތs opinion, the truth he seeks about Europe, Asia and Africa has already been known, and later forgotten or misunderstood. This explains why he is giving such importance to old, ancient or medieval texts. He cannot completely reject any existing information, because he could lose a fragment of truth contained in it. “It is certain that the whole of our continent is surrounded by water and that all its coasts were known to the Ancients and it is clear that the descriptions thereof are founded on their own observations”.10 The books of the Ancients prove it – especially the lost books, like those cited by Pliny the older, like Statius Sebosus or the books of the Carthaginians, for which Mercator, like all the restorers of
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the truth (he is not alone in his act of restitutio), have a passion without limits. In one of the notes on his 1569 map of the world, Mercator discusses the identification of Ptolemaic places in South and East Asia – Ptolemyތs India extra Gangem. He rejects the modern identification of the Ganges and the Aurea Chersonesos of the Ancients with the “Guenga” flowing into the Bay of Bengal and the peninsula of Malacca. The identification had been generally accepted after 1521; in the policy of King Manuel of Portugal, it had also taken a millenaristic significance.11 According to Mercator, on the contrary, the true Ganges is the great river of Canton, Aurea Chersonesos is the island of Japan, and the Sinus Magnus washes the shores of the kingdom now called Tenduch, in Northern East Asia. Here the positions and distances of Ptolemy give way without an explanation to Marco Polo describing the golden roofs of Zipangu and the kingdom of Prester John. Mercatorތs argument is based on trust, absolute and partial at the same time, in the ancient and medieval sources, and consequently also in more modern sources which agree with the Ancients. In the case of the position of the Ganges, he probably trusts the Spanish cosmographer Enciso and his contemporaries of the beginning of the Sixteenth century. Placing the river in the position given by Ptolemy, 200 miles east of Malacca, Enciso identifies the Aurea with Poloތs Ciampagu, Japan.12 But Enciso was writing in 1519, before the navigation of Magellan would change the whole geography of the Far East forever.13 In the Sixties, nobody else is disputing the identity between the ancient and modern Gange. Mercator argues on the contrary that the Moderns are wasting the wealth of knowledge accumulated by their ancestors through their mistakes. Ancient descriptions of the Indian sea are based on long standing experience of navigation and trade, as witnessed by Pliny and Ptolemy, and such knowledge must not be discarded or forgotten. Mercator accepts modern experience, and trusts autopsy: his map of South and East Asia is wholly modern, and his criticisms of the marine charts of his time are an echo of those formulated by the Portuguese Pedro Nuñez.14 But he is firmly convinced that it is his duty as a Christian cosmographer to decide which opinions can be accepted, and which not, and behaves accordingly. In the case of the Ganges, as in all other cases where there is no possibility of proof (as in the description of the Arctic, or in that of the Passages to the north east and north west), his criteria are of course just as arbitrary as those of his predecessors: the sources are trusted or rejected by him depending on whether or not they correspond to his needs. The admission of the possibility of failure of one of the sources Mercator
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decides to adopt would destroy the whole construction: each part of the cosmographic discourse is necessary to build the validity of the whole. Mercator states – without explanation – that Ptolemy was evidently wrong about directions and distances, when placing India beyond the Ganges to the south rather than north of the equator; but he cannot have been wrong about longitudes, or the order in which the locations are arranged along the coasts of the sea of India. Maybe Ptolemy was wrong; maybe the long trasmission has corrupted the text. But those who make blunders are in fact only the geographers (or cosmographers) of Mercatorތs century. They do not understand, or refuse to believe, that everything discovered today about the continent formed by Europe, Asia and Africa must be placed within the boundaries established by the Ancients, because the Ancients have already visited and measured all its shores. Mercator is arguing against the Iberians and their Italian and French imitators, and all those who claim that the world known to the Moderns is more extended than the world known to the Ancients, and that the wisdom of the Ancients should therefore surrender to the experience of the Moderns. In the world of the Protestant Reformation (and, after the middle of the century, of the Catholic Counter-Reformation), the idea that Modern had surpassed the Ancients is being replaced by the renewed conviction that the Ancients had already known all the world which the Moderns are rediscovering.15 The testimony of Marco Polo, Lodovico de Varthema and Nicolò de Conti are accepted by Mercator without question. He is not the only cosmographer not to make a difference between ancient and medieval sources. The prestige of Marco Polo and Nicolò de ތConti, already high in the fifteenth century, has grown thanks to the Portuguese voyages in the seas of India, and Ramusio admires Pliny and Strabo even more after studying what the Moderns are writing on the Near East and India. For Mercator, however, early sources often prevail over the more ambiguous modern experience. In fact, his work shows a strong affinity and continuity of themes, settings, and sources with the medieval Christian authors.16 They speak the same language as he does. They provide the connection between the Bible and the profane stories, so necessary for a Christian cosmographer. They confirm what was said by the Ancients – nobody seems to realize that medieval notions about geography usually spring from the same, ancient source. They describe places and events unknown to the classics, or give a local and Christian version of facts already known from a heathen point of view. Above all, they reveal forgotten secrets, truths remained hidden until a medieval manuscript does bring them to light again, as in the case of the narrative of Jacob Cnoyen that forms the
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basis of the description of the Arctic. Mercator trusts also Annius of Viterbo and his fictional reconstructions of lost historical texts – preclassical, Egyptian and Etruscan. This search for the secrets of the past outside the classical world is shared, of course, by many of Mercatorތs contemporaries, whose books he keeps in his library.17 Medieval texts lost, or gone out of circulation because the moderns consider them to be superseded by more recent experience, are especially reassuring if they meet modern needs – for example messianic expectations and political interests such as those that lead John Dee to propose the legacy of King Arthur as a justification of an aggressive policy by England towards Spain.18 These sources are read in a way that ignores not only the historical depth, but also the possible component, hypothetical or conjectural, that other cosmographers of the sixteenth century inserted explicitly in their maps. In this Mercator reveals the lack of sense of history of those who are in search of an absolute and timeless truth and for whom the experience is verified on the basis of what it should be. Only “New Indies” and Terra australis incognita are worlds never described before, or still to be described. But even America may have been known more than we think: two medieval texts, the Inventio Fortunatae and the story of the brothers Zeno may furnish some evidence and Mercator makes use of both in his renowned map of the Arctic (1569). The map is drawn following a text written by Jacob Cnoyen of tsތHertogenbosch, the city where Mercator went to school. It mixes a version of the story of King Arthur with a description of the North Pole and of the four islands surrounding it, derived from a fourteenth century text which enjoyed some popularity between the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century: the Inventio fortunatae or Fortunae. Author and origin of both sources, Cnoyen and Inventio, are as unknown to us as to Mercator himself: but he preferred it to the description of the Arctic he himself had shown in his first map of the world (1538), following the directions of Claudius Clavus.19 Mercator does not explain his choice, but we can probably guess. Johannes Ruysch has already used the Inventio Fortunatae to draw the North Pole on his map of 1508 (“Universalior cogniti orbis tabula”): the source may therefore be accepted as truthful. Besides, Cnoyen reveals a double secret: the true shape of the North Pole, and the true extent of the domains of King Arthur. The source proves credible, because it frames important secrets in a familiar and irrefutable context: Cnoyen turns the endless, indefinite expanse of ice described by Claudius Clavus, in a space organized and rational and, most of all, well known. The same can be said of a document that receives not only the confidence of Mercator but also that of many of his contemporaries: the story of the
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discovery of North America by the Venetian brothers Zeno in the fourteenth century, and the related map.20 These too have an altogether unlikely history, but the map shows Clavus ތplacenames in a modern design: it is reassuring, because it ascribes the current design of Greenland to two centuries earlier. It must therefore be true, and we find its features in Mercatorތs 1569 map of the Arctic.
Sacred geographies In the space designed by Mercator on the basis of reliable authorities can be safely placed the actual sacred geography: that is, the depiction of the visible manifestations of the sacred on the Earthތs surface.21 Like cosmography, sacred geography has different meanings. Benito Arias Montanus composes his sacra geographia of the world in 1571 as a historical map, based on a modern representation of the world. Mercator, for whom the whole geography is sacred, because it is a description of the works of God, prudently limits himself to the traditional map of the Holy Land. Guillaume Postel, on the other hand, extends his sacred geography to the whole Earth. The French priest Guillaume Postel is the cosmographer who most resembles Mercator in stressing the link between geography and the sacred. As a cosmographer, he feels himself called by Christ to restore the apparent disorder brought on the face of the Earth by the discovery of a fourth and fifth continent. His map of the world (“Polo aptata nova charta universi”, 1578) is designed as a tool for measuring the true position of the places on the Earth, and the true duration of the year. By achieving this particular truth, the map should fulfil cosmographyތs ultimate task, which is to establish exact time when the world will end, as a first step to the coming of the kingdom of Christ on Earth. Postelތs map shows nothing symbolic: it is a geographical map in a usual form, but it shows the will of God which is hidden in this form. This is the explanation that the most profound scholar of Postel, François Secret, has given to the fact that the map is in polar projection.22 A prophecy has convinced Postel that the Creator has placed the Garden of Eden to the North Pole in defence of humanity, because the North Pole is the residence of the devil. Thus his world map is focused on what Postel calls the “true East” - that is the North pole. To the Arctic he gives the same features as Mercator, probably because his islands, inhabited by the blessed Hyperborean, agree to a heavenly setting, more than the desolate expanses of ice where the savage Karelians cross to loot the Norse settlements of Greenland – as Claudius Clavus described them.23
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With the guidance of mathematical joined with cosmographical truth, Postel could also trace the geography of the future Earth restored to the divine order. Marked on his map are the future headquarters of the 12 Patriarchates who will hold the spiritual government of the world, subjected to the temporal power of the king of France.24 The French Postel reclaims for the King of France the role that John Dee – another passionate researcher of secrets, led by angelic apparitions – wants for the Queen of England, and later for the Emperor. These monarchs have a duty to reestablish a universal temporal power, thus enabling the spiritual power of a new Jerusalem to extend all over the world, as a necessary condition for the advent of the end of time and the Final Judgement. The history, told by Cnoyen, of the colonization of the Arctic island Grocland by King Arthur arouses therefore great interest in Dee.25 Mercator does not take part, at least publicly, in this prophetic moment. We do not know if Postel and Mercator ever met, or if they are in contact: we must not forget that most of what has been written about Mercatorތs mental universe is the result of speculation. Postelތs correspondence is lost, and there are only a few letters by Mercator left; but Postel is in contact with Dee, Ortelius, Arias Montanus and Plantin, all friends of both. We may expect them to have much in common. The religious position of all these men is complicated: all are irenic – or heretical – depending on the point of view; they are Catholics of origin, still swinging on the blurred frontier between catholic orthodoxy and reform, never quite orthodox, never rigidly framed in a reformed confession. The depiction of Groclant island, which according to Cnoyen is a colony of King Arthur in the Arctic, and especially the explicit reference to King Arthur in the cartouche of the North Pole map, might suggest that Mercator shares with Dee his expectations of an emperor of the world; and that, at least in 1569, he is seeing as a possible candidate for this role Queen Elizabeth, the heir of Arthur, then supporting the Flemish rebels against Philip II of Spain. If he sees the construction of geographical truth not as the ultimate scope of his work, but as the necessary step to get to an additional, and even higher purpose, I am not sure. Even in this atmosphere of restitution, prophecy, and search of secrets, however, we must not forget the practical aspects of Mercatorތs choices in geography. The North Pole described by Cnoyen, and Mercatorތs idea of the continents as enormous islands, make possible the passages to the north east and north west, so desired by his friends and contemporaries, and by himself. Choices, of course, never have a single reason, and even Mercatorތs Cosmography turns out to be, consciously or not, the product
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of a human mind which interprets the Creation to suit its own intentions, attributing them in perfect good faith to Godތs will.
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Grynaeus Simon, “Praefatio Simonis Grynaei ad Collimitium.” In: Johannes Huttich ed., Novus Orbis regionum ac insularum veteribus incognitarum (Basel: Johannes Hervagius, 1532). Lestringant Frank, André Thevet, cosmographe des derniers Valois (Genève: Droz, 1991). —. “Le déclin dތun savoir. La crise de la cosmographie a la fin de la Renaissance.” In: Annales. Histoire, Sciences sociales, 46/2 (1991), pp. 239-260. King Robert J., “The Jagellonian Globe, Utopia and Jave la Grande.” In: Globe Studies 55/56 (2009), pp. 39-52. —. “Havre de Sylla on Jave la Grande.” In Terrae Incognitae, 45/1 (2013), pp. 30-61. Le Testu Guillaume, Cosmographie universelle, selon les navigateurs tant anciens que modernes / par Guillaume Le Testu, pillotte en la mer du Ponent, de la ville francoyse de Grâce, 1555, fol. 35 r., 37 r. BnF, Cartes et plans, ms. D.1.Z14 (gallica.bnf.fr). Milanesi Marica, “Guillaume Postel cosmografo: qualche nota sulla carta polare del 1578.” In: Donattini Massimo, Marcocci Giuseppe, Pastore Stefania ed., LތEuropa divisa e i nuovi mondi. Per Adriano Prosperi (Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2011), vol. II, pp. 45-54. Münster Sebastian, Cosmographia oder Beschreibung der gantzen Weltt, (Basel: Henricuspetri, 1544). Nuñez Pedro, Tratado em defensam da carta da marear (Lisboa 1537). —. “De regulis et instrumentis, ad varias rerum tam maritimarum quam et coelestium apparentias deprehendendas, ex mathematicis disciplinis.” In: Petri Nonii Salaciensis opera (Basel 1566). Pacheco Pereira Duarte, Esmeraldo de situ orbis, Barradas de Carvalho Joaquim ed. (Lisboa: Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian. Serviço de educaçao, 1991). Parry Glyn, “John Dee and the Elizabethan British Empire in Its European Context.” In: Historical Journal 49, 3 (2006), pp. 643-675. Penneman Theo, “La bibliothèque de Mercator.” In: Watelet Marcel ed., Gérard Mercator cosmographe. Le temps et lތespace (Baron: Fonds Mercator Paribas, 1994), pp. 121-131. Ramusio Giovanni Battista, “Discorso di M. Gio. Battista Ramusio sopra vari viaggi per li quali sono state condotte le spezierie e altri nuovi che se potriano usare per condurle.” In: Ramusio Giovanni Battista, Navigazioni e viaggi. Venezia 1550-1559, Milanesi Marica ed., vol. II (Torino: Einaudi, 1979), pp. 967-999. Reisch Gregor, Margarita Philosophica (Freiburg: Joh. Schott, 1503).
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Secret François, “Le Compendiolum in sphaeram de Guillaume Postel.” In: Bibliothèque dތHumanisme et Rénaissance 28 (1966), pp. 695-96. Shalev Zur, Sacred Geography, “Antiquarianism and Visual Erudition: Benito Arias Montano and the Maps in the Antwerp Polyglot Bible.” In: Imago Mundi. The International Journal for the History of Cartography, 55 (2003), pp. 56-80. Suarez Thomas, Early Mapping of South East Asia (Boston: Tuttle, 1999). Subrahmanyam Sanjay, “Du Tage au Gange au XVIe siècle: une conjoncture millénariste à lތéchelle eurasiatique,” In: Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, 56, 1 (2001). Taylor Eva G. R., “A Letter Dated 1577 from Mercator to John Dee.” In: Imago Mundi. The International Journal for the History of Cartography, 13 (1956). Thevet André, Cosmographie universelle (Paris: Pierre lތHuillier et Guillaume Chaudières, 1575). Zeno Nicolò, Commentari ... dello scoprimento dellތIsole Frislanda, Eslanda, Engrovelanda, Estotilanda, et Icaria, (Venezia: Francesco Marcolini, 1558).
Notes 1
[Apian Peter, Frisius Gemma R.], Cosmographicus Liber Petri Apiani mathematici, iam denuo integritatem restitutus per Gemmam Phisium (Antwerp: Iohannes Grapheus, 1530), f. II. 2 [Fonteneau Jean Alfonse], La Cosmographie avec lތespère et régime du soleil et du nord, par Jean Fonteneau, di Alfonse, de Saintonge, capitaine-pilote de François Ier, George Musset ed. (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1904) p.377. One of the authors he quotes is Enciso about the position of Ophir, Tarsis and Jocat. Enciso Martin Fernandez de, Suma de geografia, M. Cuesta Domingo ed. (Madrid: Museo Naval, 1987), p. 84. 3 Pacheco Pereira Duarte, Esmeraldo de situ orbis, Barradas de Carvalho Joaquim ed. (Lisboa: Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian, 1991), p.14; Ramusio Giovanni Battista, Discorso di M. Gio. Battista Ramusio sopra vari viaggi per li quali sono state condotte le spezierie e altri nuovi che se potriano usare per condurle. In Ramusio Giovanni Battista, Navigazioni e viaggi. Venezia 1550-1559, Milanesi Marica ed., vol. II (Torino: Einaudi, 1979), pp. 967-990; Thevet André, Cosmographie universelle (Paris: Pierre lތHuillier et Guillaume Chaudières, 1575), t.I fol. 6v. On Thevet and Le Testu see especially Lestringant Frank, André Thevet, cosmographe des derniers Valois (Genève: Droz, 1991) and Lestringant Frank, “Le déclin dތun savoir. La crise de la cosmographie a la fin de la Renaissance.” In Annales. Histoire, Sciences sociales, 46/2 (1991), pp. 239-260. 4 Le Testu Guillaume, Cosmographie universelle, selon les navigateurs tant anciens que modernes par Guillaume Le Testu, pillotte en la mer du Ponent, de la ville
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francoyse de Grâce, 1555, fol. 35 r., 37 r. (Paris: BnF, Cartes et plans, ms. D.1.Z14). 5 Lestringant, Le déclin (see note 3), p. 254. 6 Grynaeus Simon, “Praefatio Simonis Grynaei ad Collimitium.” In Johannes Huttich ed., Novus Orbis regionum ac insularum veteribus incognitarum (Basel: Johannes Hervagius, 1532); Münster Sebastian, Cosmographia oder Beschreibung der gantzen Weltt, (Basel: Henricus Petri, 1544). 7 Lestringant, Le déclin (see note 3), p. 254; Gautier Dalché Patrick, “Les antécendents médiévaux de la méditatio géo- cartographique.” In: Besse JeanMarc, Couzinet Marie-Dominique ed., Les Méditations cosmographiques à la Renaissance (Paris: PUPS, 2009, Cahiers V.L.Saulnier 26), p. 19-40; Gautier Dalché Patrick, “Der „mittelalterliche“ Mercator.” In Das Werk Mercators: Perspektiven und Herausforderungen (Leipzig: Primus Verlag), in press. 8 «Id enim molimur, dum Cosmographiam tradimus, ut ex mirabili omnium rerum in unum Dei finem concordia, & ex inperscrutabili in compositione providentia, infinita Dei sapientia, & inexausta eius bonitas conspiciantur, quo ad venerandam eius maiestatem, colendam amplexandamque eius divitem bonitatem, perpetuo feramur». Mercator Gerard, “De mundi creatione ac fabrica liber. Prolegomenon Fabricae mundi Caput primum. Intentio totius Cosmographiae.” In: Atlas. Sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et de fabricati figura (Duisburgi: Clivorum, 1595), p. 3. 9 "Ea quae longa experientia discuntur si ad perfectam veritatis cognitionem progredi non autem falsitate obscurari debeant sic instituenda sunt, ut castigatis quae per manifestas rationes falsa sunt, probabilia retineantur, donec experientiae et ratiocinationes omnes inter se consentaneae res ipsas in sua veritate ob oculos ponant." Mercator Gerard, “De vero Gangis et Aureae Chersonesi situ.” In: Nova et aucta orbis terrae descriptio ad usum navigantium emendata et accomodata, 1569. Here and below, the English translation is the one published on the Wikipedia site Mercator 1569 world map. 10 "Certum est igitur oceano cingi continentem nostram, et a veteribus ambitum ejus notum, ac pro maxima parte descriptum esse ipsorum autoritate constat". Mercator Gerard, “Inspectori salutem.” In: Nova et aucta (see note 9). 11 Subrahmanyam Sanjay, “Du Tage au Gange au XVIe siècle: une conjoncture millénariste à lތéchelle eurasiatique.” In: Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, 56, 1 (2001), p. 83. Ramusio takes for granted the errors of Ptolemy, but he has no doubt that Malacca is in the Aurea, Thina of Ptolemy is China, and the Sinus Gangeticus is the Bay of Bengal. Ramusio, Discorso (see note 3), p. 976. 12 Enciso writes in 1519 that the demarcation line passes through the mouth of the Ganges, which is 200 leagues to the east of Malacca (Melaca): therefore the king of Spain has a right to the whole of India extra Gangem of Ptolemy, including Ciampagu, which is located in the Aurea Chersonesos. In the 1519 edition of the book, Ciampagu is the Ciampa of Marco Polo (Central Vietnam); in the 1530 edition of the same book, Ciampagu is clearly to be identified with Japan. Enciso, Suma (see note 2), p. 84.
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All these positions are brilliantly illustrated by King Robert J., “The Jagellonian Globe, Utopia and Jave la Grande.”, In: Globe Studies 55/56 (2009), p.39-52, and King Robert J., “Havre de Sylla on Jave la Grande.” In: Terrae Incognitae 45/1 (2013), p. 30-61. See also Suarez Thomas, Early Mapping of South East Asia (Boston: Tuttle, 1999). 14 In his 1537 Tratado em defensam da carta da marear, Nuñez praises the marine charts and critics the pilots who do not know how to use them. Nuñez Pedro, Tratado em defensam da carta da marear (Lisboa 1537). In the 1566 Latin edition, modified and extended Nuñes exposes the flaws of the map at constants latitudes and proposes as a solution a type of map similar to that realized by Mercator in 1569. De regulis et instrumentis, ad varias rerum tam maritimarum quam et coelestium apparentias deprehendendas, ex mathematicis disciplinis, in Petri Nonii Salaciensis opera (Basel 1566). 15 A similar exchange of views had occurred in the previous century, and had assumed a cyclical character. See Gautier Dalché Patrick, La Géographie de Ptolémée en Occident (IVe - XVIe siècle) (Turnhout: Brepols, 2009). 16 Gautier Dalché, Mercator (see note 7). 17 Penneman Theo, “La bibliothèque de Mercator.2 In: Watelet Marcel ed., Gérard Mercator cosmographe. Le temps et lތespace (Fonds Mercator Paribas, 1994), pp. 121-131. 18 Taylor Eva G. R., “A Letter Dated 1577 from Mercator to John Dee.” In: Imago Mundi. The International Journal for the History of Cartography, 13 (1956); Abeles Jennifer Terpsichore, An edition of John Deeތs “Brytannici imperii limites” (1578), Ph.D. Dissertation, City University of New York 2006 (UMI Digital reproductions); Parry Glyn, “John Dee and the Elizabethan British Empire in Its European Context.” In: Historical Journal 49, 3 (2006), pp. 643-675. 19 For Clavus, writing in the third decade of the XVth century, Groenland is a peninsula of a septentrional land unknown because of the ice; the Pole is therefore not a part of the Ocean, but of the mainland. Björnbo Axel Anthon, Petersen Carl Sofus, Der Däne Claudius Clavus (Innsbruck: Verlag der Wagnerތschen Universitäts-Buchhandlung, 1909), pp. 52-84. 20 Zeno Nicolò, Commentari ... dello scoprimento dellތIsole Frislanda, Eslanda, Engrovelanda, Estotilanda, et Icaria, (Venezia: Francesco Marcolini, 1558). The “Zeno map”, dated by its author to the thirteenth century, derives partly from Clavus, partly from Olaus Magnus. Björnbo, Petersen (see note 19), pp. 52-84. 21 Shalev Zur, Sacred Geography, “Antiquarianism and Visual Erudition: Benito Arias Montano and the Maps in the Antwerp Polyglot Bible.” In: Imago Mundi. The International Journal for the History of Cartography, 55 (2003), p. 56-80. 22 Secret François, “Le Compendiolum in sphaeram de Guillaume Postel.” In: Bibliothèque dތHumanisme et Rénaissance 28 (1966), pp. 695-96. 23 Destombes Marcel, “An Antwerp 'unicum': An Unpublished Terrestrial Globe of the 16th Century in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.” In: Imago Mundi. The International Journal for the History of Cartography, 24 (1970), p. 84-94; Destombes Marcel, “Guillaume Postel cartographe.” In: Leather Kuntz Marion ed.,
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Actes du Colloque International dތAvranches 5-9 septembre 1981 (Paris 1985), pp. 361-371. 24 Milanesi Marica, “Guillaume Postel cosmografo: qualche nota sulla carta polare del 1578.” In: Donattini Massimo, Marcocci Giuseppe, Pastore Stefania ed. LތEuropa divisa e i nuovi mondi. Per Adriano Prosperi (Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2011) vol II pp. 45-54. 25 Taylor, A Letter; Abeles, An Edition; Parry, John Dee (see note 18).
CHAPTER EIGHT UNPASTED: A GUIDE TO SURVIVING PRINTS OF MERCATOR’S NAUTICAL CHART OF 1569 PATRICIA SEED
Mercator’s projection constituted a watershed moment in nautical cartography. Since the start of systematic open ocean travel over a hundred years before, mapmakers had been experimenting with the ways in which pilots could plot their course accurately on a flat map.1 In 1569 Gerard Mercator succeeded, creating a giant map of the entire world complete with compass roses that could be used to plot direction. Although pilots still needed detailed coastal maps for landing and departing, Mercator’s plan provided a grid for plotting oceanic routes between ports. Today’s airplane pilots use maps called enroute maps – for much the same purpose – flying in the open skies between airports. From the hundreds of maps Mercator printed beginning in 1569, prints remain today in only four locations: London, Paris, Rotterdam, and Basel Switzerland.2 Given the importance of this projection to the histories of mapping and navigation, it seems important to establish exactly what Mercator printed. The map has spawned centuries of speculation and criticism replete with suggestions that some prints should be considered “test” sheets and first passes. On the other hand, an equally confident group of researchers maintain that the printing they have investigated constitutes the only accurate copy. Most studies have used only a single exemplar, in one location, rather than travelling to the multiple sites where his original prints reside. In order to establish whether Mercator’s projection was the same on every print, the first step must be to identify and compare all surviving prints to establish whether all display the same characteristics.
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Literary studies have long confronted the issue of multiple versions of a single work, and have established a set of standards by which an authoritative version of a text can be established. For a work as important for cartography as Mercator’s 1569 production, it seems that similar procedures need to be found in order to establish when and where variations appear. The first step in such a process is to identify all the surviving maps and their component sheets. The relatively small size of the available high quality paper meant that Mercator had to divide up his giant map into smaller sections for printing. He chose to divide the map horizontally into three rows, with each row containing 6 sheets. Mercator printed each of the 18 sheets in the centre of a larger piece of paper with guidelines extending into the white spaces surrounding the map. Such lines allowed individual purchasers to glue the separately printed sheets together if they chose to do so. Only a single complete print of all the separate sheets endured until the twentieth century. Unfortunately it was destroyed in the bombing of Wroclaw (Breslau) during the Second World War, leaving present-day researchers with only one solitary image of a single sheet printed in Mercator’s workshop. This single page is preserved in the library of the Royal Geographical Society London; it shows East Africa and the Indian Ocean.3 All of the remaining surviving prints are glued together. Thus in order to establish the total number of extant sheets for purposes of comparison, it is necessary to unpaste (virtually of course). Only by taking the glued together sections apart is it possible to locate the corresponding sections in order to compare any individual section of the map let alone the map as a whole. Establishing such an overview remains key to determining whether any changes were made during the printing, whether Mercator made only one version of his celebrated map – or whether he (or someone else) introduced changes during the printing. Four pasted collections survive today: in, the Biblioteque Nationale (Paris), the Maritime Museum (Rotterdam), the University Library in Basel, and the British Library. In all four instances, someone, perhaps Mercator, or a subsequent owner of the prints, had joined sheets together. Two of the four maps had been glued in a similar manner, the other two in quite different ways. In Paris, all eighteen sheets were fastened together forming a single gigantic map. In Basel, the engraved pieces had been fixed horizontally into three long sheets. Only the exemplars in Rotterdam’s Maritime Museum and London’s British Library had been similarly joined. In both places, the sheets were combined to create a new cartographic form, which would subsequently be termed an atlas. As a result, unpasting of these two objects became more
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complicated than it had been for either of the other editions. Furthermore, because complex pasting is easily misread from reproductions such as scans and pictures, it was necessary to travel to all these locations to examine the actual patterns of pasting on all the originals.4 To create an atlas required cutting up Mercator’s meticulously printed sheets into separate pieces and gluing them together. To this end, multiple sheets and sometimes multiple copies of the same sheet were needed. For example, both London and Rotterdam atlases contain a lovely map of Western Europe. What at first glance looks like a single map in reality consists of four printed sheets. Two of the sheets were nearly complete (having been trimmed only at the top) while the top third had been cut out from two other sheets. The partial sheets were glued to the nearly whole ones to form an apparently seamless map. In this instance, both copies of the map of Europe contained identical pasting, suggesting that they may have been joined by the same hands. Fortunately the British Library exemplar titled the “Mercator Atlas of Europe” contains only two illustrations made on the 1569 model, both relevant to Europe: the complex pasted map covering Europe and the second, a double sheet showing the North Atlantic. By contrast, the Dutch atlas illustrated the entire world, and as a result contained multiple copies of many sheets. In order to understand how the sheets were assembled, a word about the nature of the projection is required. The key to Mercator’s flattening the earth lay in the way in which he spaced latitude and longitude lines. Lines of longitude were separated by the same distance all around the earth. Given the 360 degrees circumference of the earth, each row of six sheets needed to cover 60 degrees of longitude: 0-60 degrees, 60-119 degrees, 120-179 degrees, 180- 239 degrees, 240-299 degree, and 300-360 degrees. Unlike the even spacing of longitude lines, spaces between the latitude lines grew steadily larger farther from the central line, which lay along the equator. Mercator extended the scale further in the north (79 degrees)5 than in the south, because the northern hemisphere held a greater quantity of land masses at high latitudes (e.g. Greenland and Siberia) than did the southern hemisphere. The result was an uneven division of the sheets by latitudes. From top to bottom, the first row covered the globe from 79 to 54 degrees north; the second or middle row encompassed the entire world, from 54 degrees north to approximately 16 degrees south, and the final sheet enveloped the earth from 16 to 66 degrees south (Fig. 8-1).
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Fig. 8-1: Sheets of a complete Mercator World Map
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Fig. 8-2: Maps in the Rotterdam Atlas
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To establish how many copies of each sheet survive, the place to start is the single copies. The pasted Basel and Paris exemplars have one copy of every sheet, the Royal Geographical Society has sheet 11. The British Library copy contains sheets 3, 4, and 5, as well as a little over a third of sheets 10 and 11. Together these four institutions hold 42 sheets from Mercator’s original 1569 atlas. The Rotterdam exemplar remains the most complex to unpaste. Excluding the cartouches for the moment, thirteen pages include maps; one illustrates the North Pole, leaving 12 maps showing continents and oceans.6 These can be grouped geographically (Fig. 8-2), one illustrating the Pacific, then a group of three for the Americas (North America, South America, the Strait of Magellan), followed by another three for the Atlantic (the North Atlantic, the mid-Atlantic, the South Atlantic), and finally two pairs ( Europe and Africa) plus (Siberia and Asia).7 At the base of each of the thirteen maps in figure 2, numbers identify the original printed sheet used to construct the grouping. Beginning with the Pacific, three separate sheets were required, sheets 12, 7, and 8 of the original. The North and South American continents were constructed from four sheets each, while the bottom map showing the straits of Magellan only needed two. Moving eastward, the North and South Atlantic each were created from four sheets, while the mid-Atlantic utilized only three. Maps of Europe and Africa also used four sheets each, while Siberia required the greatest number of sheets (six in all). Both Asia and the directory of courses (Organum directorium), like the Straits of Magellan, only needed two printed sheets. Thus two maps (plus the directory of courses) needed only two sheets, another two required three sheets, six maps were constructed from four sheets, and one map (Siberia) required six. The next task was to determine how many of these sheets had been required to produce each of the individual maps of continents and oceans. By overlaying copies of each of the separately printed sheets (Fig. 8-3), we can see that the darker grey areas highlight the eastern coast of North America and northern South America (sheet number 9) and western Europe and Africa (sheet 10) as the two most heavily reused prints. The remaining question concerns how many separate prints would have been required to construct this atlas. When this volume first appeared publicly in Rotterdam, the first curator stated that three entire prints of the map were used to construct this multi-part atlas.8 However, the reality is more complex as some atlas pages required only a single print, while others required at least three and perhaps as many as five depending upon whether pieces from cut sheets were reused for other maps in the atlas.
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Thus it seems prudent to express the number of prints required for the Rotterdam atlas as a range rather than a single digit.
Fig. 8-3: Overlay of 12 Rotterdam maps
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Had all the cut-up printed sheets been reused, six of the maps would have needed a minimum of three prints. But had those same sheets been damaged during the cutting, as many as five different prints may have been required. Dismantling or unpasting the map shows that an equal number of maps (six) would have only required a single print. Thus the range of numbers of required prints varies from sheet to sheet. Had the directory of courses and north pole been excluded, those sheets would not have been needed at all. (Fig. 8-4) To complete the analysis of the number of sheets used, we turn to the cartouches, containing texts. Because the cartouches flowed over from one sheet to another, all but one of the cartouches were created from more than one sheet. Only the cartouche (and map) of the North Pole appeared on a single sheet. (Fig. 8-4)
Fig. 8-4: Cartouche Pages
Taking the frequency of the sheets used in cartouches and combining them with the ones used in the compound atlas-style maps, we can suggest the minimum and maximum number of sheets employed. (Fig. 8-5) Two copies of each sheet in the middle of the top row would have been needed at a minimum, except for the four corners, which covered little explored areas of the map—sheets 1 and 2 containing the cartouche which strategically covers an unexplored North America and last sheet in the row (easternmost Siberia), at least three copies nearly all the sheets from the
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second row (excluding thhe first sheet), and from thee third row, haalf would have requireed only a single sheet. A minimum of 36 sheets wo ould have been requireed.
Fig. 8-5: Brreakdown of thhe sheets used in Mercator’ss Atlas of the World in Rotterdam. T Top: Number of o times sheett appears on sseparate mapss. Bottom: Minimum num mber of sheets necessary n to compile the atlas..
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At the other end a maximum of 55 sheets may have been needed, with the greatest number of sheets possibly required coming from the middle row, where as many as five sheets might have been needed, depended upon the way that the sheets were trimmed. Thus when we total the number of surviving prints, taking the low estimate (every cut sheet was re-used) 46 percent of all existing prints from the 1569 map can be found in the Rotterdam atlas, with the remainder found in other locations. As a guide to the comparison of prints, figure 8-6 shows the location and number of copies of each sheet of the 1569 map. The next step in this project is to compare the surviving prints to determine what differences, if any, exist among these surviving sheets. To refer to conclusions in the singular, referring to “the 1569 Mercator map” or “the Mercator projection,” as if variations and differences did not exist seems premature at this point. Until such time as definitive comparisons are conducted upon all of the printed sheets, it would be prudent to refer to conclusions as drawn from a particular print.
Bibliography Albuquerque Luís (Org.), Martim Afonso de Sousa (Lisboa: Publicações Alfa, S.A., 1989). Drecker Josef, “Ein Instrument, eine Karte, und eine schrift des Nuremberger Kartographen und Kompastmachers Erhard Etzlaub.” In: Annalen der Hydrographie und maritimen Meteorologie 45 (1917), pp. 217-224. Englisch Brigitte, “Erhard Etzlaub’s Projection and Methods of Mapping.” In: Imago Mundi, 48 (1996), pp. 102-123. Herbert Francis, Mercator 400 Exhibition Guide: an exhibition to commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of Gerardus Mercator Rupelmundanus (London: Royal Geographical Society, 14th - 30th September 1994). Mercator Gerhard, Nova et aucta orbis terrae desscriptio ad usem navigantium emendate accommodate (Duisburg: Mercator, 1569). Nuñes Pedro, Tratado da sphera com a theorica do sol e da lua (Lisboa: Galhard, 1537). Watelet Marcel, “The Atlas of Europe Circa 1570-1572.” In: Watelet Marcel (Ed.), The Mercator Atlas of Europe (Pleasant Hill, OR,: Walking Tree Press, 1998), pp. 9-14.
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Fig. 8-6: Minimum number of surviving sheets by location
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Notes 1
Regularized open ocean travel began with Portuguese voyages in the 1440s. The struggles to create such a map is apparent in works by Erhard Etzlaub, Pedro Nunes, and Martim Affonso da Sousa. Drecker Josef, “Ein Instrument, eine Karte, und eine schrift des Nuremberger Kartographen und Kompastmachers Erhard Etzlaub.” In: Annalen der Hydrographie und maritimen Meteorologie 45 (1917), pp. 217-224; Englisch Brigitte, “Erhard Etzlaub’s Projection and Methods of Mapping.” In: Imago Mundi, 48 (1996), pp. 102-123; Albuquerque Luís (Org.), Martim Afonso de Sousa (Lisboa: Publicações Alfa, S.A., 1989); Nunes Pedro, Tratado da sphera com a theorica do sol e da lua (Lisboa: Galhard, 1537). 2 Mercator Gerhard, Nova et aucta orbis terrae desscriptio ad usem navigantium emendate accommodate (Duisburg: Mercator, 1569); [The Mercator atlas of Europe], [S.l.] : [S.n.], pp. 1570-1572. 3 Herbert Francis, Mercator 400 Exhibition Guide: an exhibition to commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of Gerardus Mercator Rupelmundanus (London: Royal Geographical Society, 14th - 30th September 1994). 4 At least one scholar claims that the Basel exemplar consisted of only five sheets across, when in fact there are six containing the map and an additional two for the border on each side. See Watelet Marcel, “The Atlas of Europe Circa 1570-1572.” In: Watelet Marcel (Ed.), The Mercator Atlas of Europe (Pleasant Hill, OR,: Walking Tree Press, 1998), pp. 9-14 esp. 11, 13. 5 While some scholars have rounded the number of latitude degrees up to 80, neither a marking nor a label for 80 degrees appears on the map. If Mercator had included such a line it would have been off the map, and covered by the engraved border. 6 The sheets in the reproduction containing only text are (sheets 1, 2, 3, 6, 14). The North Pole appears on a separate sheet (17) but the South Pole does not. 7 The numbering system in the reprint follows the sequence of the maps in the bound print of Mercator’s originals, since it is not known why the pages wound up in the order in which they appear. For clarity we have organized them for geographic unity starting with the Pacific (sheet 8) North America (sheet 6) South America (18), Strait of Magellan (9), the North Atlantic (sheet 4), the mid-Atlantic (sheet 5) South Atlantic (sheet 7), Europe (sheet 2), Africa (sheet 11), Siberia (number 12) and Asia (sheet 13). 8 Nooteboom, “Forward,” p. 9 identifies the estimate of three prints with the first Rotterdam curator in 1932.
PART 3: GERHARD MERCATOR: ACQUAINTANCES AND SOURCES
CHAPTER NINE MERCATOR AND ORTELIUS: TWO OF A KIND? MARCEL VAN DEN BROECKE
Mercator and Ortelius first met at the Frankfurt book and print fair in the spring of 1555. Mercator at that time was 43 and had already moved to Duisburg, Ortelius was 28, thus they were half a generation apart. Yet, a friendship arose at that meeting which would last until Mercator’s death in 1594. To picture their relationship it is significant that Ortelius’ first world map of 1564 in 8 sheets shows the West coast of South America (correctly) as a straight line from North to South. When Mercator’s World map in 18 sheets was published in 1569, it showed the west coast of South America (incorrectly) with a potato-like protrusion. In Ortelius’ first atlas, the world map and the Americas map also showed this incorrect protrusion, which was only corrected 17 years later, undoubtedly after Ortelius had consulted Mercator. Both recognised that Mercator was the leader of the two as regards cartographic knowledge. On the other hand, when Mercator first published his Ptolemaic atlas in 1578, the maps had no list with regional names and place names like many other Ptolemaic atlases. In 1579 Ortelius first published such a list at the end of his Latin atlases and those atlases in other languages derived from it. In 1582, the second printing of Mercator's Ptolemy contained Ortelius’ list on the verso of the Ptolemy maps. The introduction of this atlas, written by Mylius, contains profuse words of gratitude thanking Ortelius for providing the names of all the regions and place names. Ortelius was clearly the classicist of the two, and had read all the 3500 books he owned, the majority of which were written by classical authors.1 Thus, their relationship was characterised by a deep mutual respect for each other’s achievements and talents. Their education differed radically. Mercator went to the best secondary school of his time in ‘s Hertogenbosch, followed by academic study at Leuven University, where he learned mathematics and triangulation from Gemma Frisius, insights
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which eventually led to his so-called Mercator projection. Ortelius was taught some Latin, Greek and mathematics by his father, who died when he was 11, followed by some instruction from his uncle, Jacques van Meteren but most of his education was self-taught. In addition, he had to work to contribute to the family budget. Ortelius was ambitious and by the time he first met Mercator he was continuing the work of his father as an antiquarian, trading in coins, medals, books and prints including maps. He also worked as a colourist of maps which earned him admission to Saint Luke’s guild in 1547, but by the time they first met Ortelius’ sisters had taken over the colouring. Ortelius’ native languages were Flemish and French, but he also continued his studies in Greek, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and some English. Although living far apart, both men would maintain close contact throughout the rest of their lives. Both Latinised their name, but Ortelius would have deserved the name Mercator [merchant] more appropriately, since he made a fortune with his atlas by devising a new product and by being his own publisher, whereas Mercator never achieved a comfortable financial position in spite of his hard work as a globe and instrument maker, engraver and map-maker. Mercator’s influence on the maps in the Theatrum by Ortelius has been well documented independently by Meurer (1991)2 and Karrow (1993)3. The Catalogus Auctorum in the Theatrum of 1570 mentions Mercator’s maps of Palestine, Flanders, Europe, the World made in Duisburg, and the British Isles. From 1579 onwards, the Catalogus adds to this his Ptolemaic atlas of 1578, and his general atlas “to be expected”.
Fig. 9-1: Mercator in Catalogus Auctorum of the Theatrum (1579), a qualification which would not change. In translation: Gerard Mercator from Rupelmonde, [made maps of] Palestine or the Holy Land, also of Flanders in Leuven. He also made a map of the British Isles, designed by someone else and Ptolemaic maps published in Duisburg in 1578. More is expected from him, useful as well as pleasant for those studying geography.”
There is only one map in two versions which mentions Mercator as its source, viz. the Flanders map, which first appeared in the 1570 Latin edition of his Theatrum, my Ort75, replaced in 1579 by an almost identical map, Ort76, again mentioning Gerardus mercator | Rupelmondanus | describebat as its source.
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Fig. 9-2: Mercator’s 9-sheet Flandria map, Leuven, 1540. This 9-sheet map is the source for Ortelius’ first two maps of Flanders. It is the only map Mercator made without degrees. According to van Raemdonck4 it is the only Mercator map without degrees because he was under pressure from merchants to produce it quickly.
As Ortelius explains in his address to the reader in each Latin edition of the Theatrum, a map which shows the name of its maker is an exact replica of its original, except for its dimensions, which may have been altered to fit the page size of the Theatrum, including any mistakes that the author’s map may contain. If no name is mentioned on a Theatrum map, it represents a mixture of sources. If Ortelius’ own name is given on a map, which is the case on only 3 modern maps, but on all Parergon maps and on the Utopia map, he has designed it himself. Ortelius’ second map of Flanders (Ort77) is rather different and contains two names, viz. those of Mercator and of Ortelius, and is based on Mercator’s new, reduced Flanders map of 1585, made for his atlas, shown below:
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Fig. 9-3: Names of Mercator and Ortelius as sources on Ortelius’ map of Flanders, Ort77.
But what about the texts on the verso of these two maps? Mercator’s text is just a long list of names. This page contains lists of ecclesiastical prelates, members of the nobility, civil dignitaries, jurisdictions, specifying numerous names of officials and their location. The nature of this list, a simple enumeration, is representative for all of Mercator’s on verso map texts. On Ortelius’ text on his Flanders map, 1592 (Ort77), we find a story dealing with the location of Flanders with respect to its neighbours, its size, its regions and its main cities. Then it discusses its rivers, praises its cows and horses also fit for war, and its cheese, corn and butter. It praises its linen and wool draperies, for which the wool is imported from England and Spain. Ortelius quotes Erasmus in his praise of Ghent, better than any other city with its lions and cubs, and Bruges for its elegant houses and women. Lille is so industrious that it is comparable to Antwerp (which is further discussed on verso of the Brabant map). Like Milan surpasses all cities in the Christian world as a Duchy, so does Flanders as an Earldom. Next, Ortelius discusses the Flanders coat of arms. Flanders used to be under the protection of France, but Charles the Fifth set it free. Guicciardini’s “Descrizione di tutti i Paesi Bassi altrimente Germania inferiore” (also translated into Dutch), Jacob Marchantius or Jacques Marchant’s “Flandriæ commentariorum libri IV descripta; in quibus de Flandriæ origine, commoditatibus, oppidis, ordinibus, magistratibus, indigenisque tractatur”, and Jacob Meyerus’ “Flandricarum rerum annalium libri XVII” are given as sources for further reading. In numerous on verso texts, but not in this one, Ortelius wrote an on verso map text in his Dutch, French and early German Theatrum editions that is different from the Latin editions. In these vernacular editions, aimed at clients who could not read Latin, no references to classical text source are given, but instead Ortelius relates personal experiences with a high “human interest” content. When comparing the text by Mercator with that of Ortelius, Mercator's reads like a governmental list, whereas the text by Ortelius is more like a predecessor of Baedeker. They have nothing in common.
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As we have seen when discussing the Catalogus Auctorum, Ortelius refers to Mercator’s maps of Palestine, Flanders, Europe, the World map made in Duisburg, and the British Isles, to his Ptolemaic atlas of 1578, and his general atlas, “to be expected”. Thanks to the pioneering work of Meurer (1991) and Karrow (1993), who worked independently of each other, we have detailed information about Ortelius’ cartographic sources. Of the 159 modern maps that appeared in Ortelius’ Theatrum during his lifetime, Meurer lists 28 maps with Mercator as one of its sources, and Karrow lists 26 maps. With these scores, Mercator is by far the most frequently used source for the Theatrum-maps (providing input for 18% of all maps), followed at a distance by Gastaldi. It is in particular the important maps, such as the World, Americas, Africa, Europe, Pacific and Far East where Mercator’s maps, particularly his world map of 1569, are followed closely. Ornamentation on Mercator’s map is much more restrained than on maps by Ortelius, where monsters, fishes, mermaids, ships, often in fierce battle, occur abundantly, usually drawn like cartouches from model books which were produced in Antwerp and circulated amongst engravers5 of the time.
The on verso texts in the Theatrum mentioning Mercator The texts on verso of the Theatrum maps have been explored in Van den Broecke6 and contain some information on Mercator. In the text of the world map (Ort1,2,3) we find:
Fig. 9-4: Opening text on verso of Ortelius’ world map (Ort1,2,3). In translation: The World. This map contains and shows the entire world and its surrounding oceans, which universe the ancients (to whom the New World was as yet unknown) in three parts, namely Africa, Europe and
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Asia: but with the discovery of America, this is now in our age added as the fourth part; and a fifth part is expected to lie in the South. Gerard Mercator, the leader among the geographers of our time, on his never sufficiently praised map of the world, distinguishes this world into three continents: the first he calls that which the ancients considered to be divided into three parts, and where man originated according to the Holy Scripture; the second is what we now call America or the West Indies; the third is the Southern land, by some called Magellanica, of which the shores have so far only been seen by a few. This world measures at its largest place 5400 German miles, or 21600 Italian miles as antiquity teaches us, and this is confirmed in our time.”
Ortelius gladly acknowledges that Mercator’s 1569 world map is by far the most important source he used. In the same on verso text Mercator is again referred to as a source, calling him “the best geographer of our times”. In 10 other on verso map texts he is mentioned as a source, also for Parergon maps such as “the travels of St. Paul” (Ort181), “ancient map of Britain” (Ort190, 191, 192), and “Black Sea” (Ort213).
Fig. 9-5: Map dedication by Mercator to Ortelius on his 4-sheet wall map of Switzerland.
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There is only one dedication in Mercator’s work to Ortelius, occurring on his 4-sheet wall map of Switzerland dating from 1585 or earlier, three sheets of which were included in Mercator’s atlas of France. Translated, it reads “To the insightful, noble and famous royal cosmographer, dedicated in everlasting friendship by Gerard Mercator.”
This dedication is a clear indication that Mercator wants to express his honour, gratitude and friendship towards Ortelius.
Ortelius’ Synonymia, Thesauri and Nomenclator and their relation to Mercator’s Ptolemy atlas Ortelius’ Synonymia was first appended to his earliest Theatrum of 1570, counting 26 folio text pages. In 1573 it was expanded to 47 pages. It was published separately as Synonymia in 1578 by Plantin, and consists of 354 quarto pages. Ortelius received 25 copies for his authorship and in 1587 it was published by Plantin again, now as Thesaurus Geographicus in a format between quarto and folio counting 644 unnumbered pages, and in further expanded form in 1596, then counting 728 folio pages. These last two books were published again by Plantin, but initially financed by Ortelius, who was paid back in instalments. These works have remained almost totally unresearched so far.7 This ever-growing document is a list of geographical names which occur in Greek and Roman works with their modern equivalents. Almost 2000 authors are mentioned as sources in the final edition. These turn out to be important for information about Mercator, “the Ptolemy of our times” as Ortelius calls him. This is a great compliment for Ptolemy is by far the author most quoted in these works. In the on-verso text of the World map (Ort1) Ortelius calls Mercator “geographorum nostri temporis coryphaeus” (the leader of the geographers of our time). Mercator is mentioned 350 times as a source in Ortelius’ Synonymia (1570L), mostly referring to his maps of the World, Great Britain and Europe, 360 times in Synonymia (1571L, 1573L, 1574L, 1575L), and further in the Catalogus Auctorum of Ortelius’ Synonymia (1578) 178 times. In Ortelius’ Thesaurus (1587). Mercator's world map is mentioned 15 times as a source, his Europe map 8 times and his Great Britain map once. In lemmas ACHATARA, BRAMMA, BVCEPHALA, CERNE, CHRYSAS, DAONA, GANGES, NANIGERIS, PANASSA, RAPTVM, SABADIBÆ, SÆNOS and VMBILICVM of Thesaurus (1596), there are
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again additional references to Mercator’s world map and in lemmas CALAVRIA, CIGISA, ESIGVS, GOBÆVM, OPANE and PACTORVM to his Europe map. There are also three references to his Ptolemaeic maps in the lemmas BOSARA, COLCAICVM and ZAGRI of Thesaurus (1587) and 5 times in lemmas BEPYRVS, BOSARA, COLCAICVM, HEMASA and ZAGRI of Thesaurus (1596). Altogether Mercator is mentioned 197 times as a source in Thesaurus (1587) and 206 times in Thesaurus (1596). Ortelius’ Nomenclator Ptolemaicus is first appended to his Latin Theatrum editions in 1579. They are an excerpt from Mercator’s Ptolemaic atlas, which was published one year earlier. No wonder that Ortelius chose Mercator’s atlas as his example, because, as we saw in the lemma Mercator of the Catalogus Auctorum (see also Fig. 9-1), Ortelius has the opinion that Mercator has improved on Ptolemy’s original. Ortelius’ Nomenclator Ptolemaicus is the only part of his atlas that did not develop, but remained exactly the same over all Latin editions from 1579 onwards.
Fig. 9-6: Letter from Mercator to Ortelius, dated 22 November, 1570 and included in all Latin editions of the Theatrum from 1573 onwards.
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Letters exchanged between Mercator and Ortelius Mercator and Ortelius most probably exchanged many letters, but only a few have survived. Best known is the letter which Mercator wrote to Ortelius concerning his Theatrum in 1570, included in this work from 1573 onwards.8 Translated, in somewhat abbreviated form: To the most honoured man, Abraham Ortelius, most dear among my friends: “I have inspected your Theatrum, most honoured Ortelius, and compliment you on the care and elegance with which you have embellished the labour of the authors, and I praise the faithfulness with which you have preserved the production of each individual, which is essential in order to bring out the geographical truth, which is so corrupted by many mapmakers. For maps without order, without proportion, without discretion, many false and depraved maps are combined with genuine and true ones in one collection, as can be seen in many maps which reach us from Italy, in which followers, who have never seen what the author really made, corrupt the originals that came before, which form, if followed by all, necessarily in the end leads a state of general geography which is obscured by inextricable errors which have crept into it. Hence you deserve great praise for having selected the best representations of each region, and collected them into one manual without leaving out anything but in entirety and perfection, which work can be obtained at a limited cost, which only requires a small place, and can even be carried about wherever we please… I am convinced that your work will always remain saleable, whatever may be reprinted by others. That you prefer me above other recent authors, I regard as due to your partiality for me, as there are many who have made more learned maps, though perhaps fewer in number, than I have. Allow me to discuss or rather gossip with you thus affectionately; I thank you for your goodwill and I shall always be ready to do what I can for you. Be well. Duisburg, November 22, 1570. Your most honest Gerardus Mercator”.
The next letter from Mercator to Ortelius dates from May 9, 15729, translated in abbreviated form: “Many thanks for sending me the map of Bavaria which I was unable to buy at Frankfurt. I have likewise failed to obtain the description of Bavaria by the same author [it is unclear to whom Mercator refers here]. As regards the description of Moravia, you are the first to inform me of its being published as we have here no merchants who procure such wares from
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Frankfurt, and the booksellers of Cologne, occupied with their books, neglect geographical maps. Send me therefore the map of Moravia and the description of the area Hainaut, with their prices. Arnold Mylius [a common friend] tells me about certain maps of the West Indies which, I hope, will be published by you. Retain in your publication the longitudes and latitudes as I have them in my World map, unless you can prove with strong reasons that my data are wrong, for example those of San Domingo in Hispaniola,…[etc.]... Insert new data according to the new descriptions which you have. I ask you this because I have been active for some years now with correcting Ptolemy’s atlas and modern maps, so that I can be the first after you to make use of these characteristics.”
The last letter from Mercator to Ortelius dates from December 12, 158010, translated in abbreviated form: “Greetings to my most dear friend Ortelius. I am glad to hear that you have received the map of China, and to receive further tidings about the new naval English explorations [of Francis Drake]. My opinion as to the secrecy observed with regard to this expedition has to do with riches of the Indies in terms of silver and precious stones. I have heard from England that captain Arthur Pitt has been despatched to explore the Northern coast of Asia, even beyond the promontory Tabis, probably to meet, on its return, the fleet which, through the straits of Magellan, had proceeded to Peru, the Moluccas, and Java. I think that this fleet returned by the West and North of Asia, as the strait which surrounds the Northern coasts of America had been almost entirely explored by Frobisher, for which reason Drake will not be likely to try it that way. The return by the Western route is shorter and already partly known. Do not mention this expedition of Pitt to anyone. I will try to find out the truth about this matter. I have heard from Guilelmus Maldeius that a map in many sheets is being made of France. A map of the world has been lent to me by a friend, drawn on parchment, but roughly, so that cities which are a hundred parasangs [500 km] apart are on the map close together, though the order and sites of places are mostly well observed. Cathay [China] and Mangi [India] are well described; but it is very wrong with respect to Africa. I thought of combining that part of the East which contains Cathay and Mangi as far as the Ganges on one sheet and sending it to you, but as you have a map of China, I will wait till I see that map. I am ready to copy the rest of Eastern Asia if you want me to.”
Only one letter from Ortelius to Mercator has survived. It is the opening page of Ortelius’ Itinerarium11, a booklet reporting on a journey, made by Ortelius and his friends Jean Vivien, Jérôme Scholiers and Jan
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van Schille. This journey was made in 1575, but the booklet was only published in 1584. Eight different editions appeared between 1584 and 1757. Ortelius’ Itinerarium (1584) opens as a letter to Mercator. In translation: “Abraham Ortelius and Ioannes Vivianus greet Gerard Mercator. Since we received your letter at the time when we left from here, it seemed right not to answer it until our intended journey, about which you already knew, had come to an end. Our answer would be more welcome to you when we would include in it what we had observed on our journey. We had not expected to experience anything in these regions which are close to us that was not familiar to all of us. Yet, since we had decided that we would travel through a part of our Gallia, famous because of its historical features throughout different times, yet not visited by us before, and since we cannot avoid being involved in enquiries into history, it seemed better to report about it than to be idle. Thus, despite what we have seen before we had better retain it in our memory so that our annotations would also be useful for ourselves, and also be pleasant for you, because you have explored these regions before. [Mercator had surveyed Lorraine and made a map of it]. It will give you pleasure, to remember these matters anew at home without having to go through the inconveniences of another journey. Our journey went through the area of the Tungri, Eburoni Treviri and Mediomatrici, as they were once called, and through the area of other people who, though of German descent, live in Gallia and are counted among the Belgians.”
Mercator’s name is mentioned twice after this, and then disappears. We do not learn much, or rather nothing at all, about the relation between Mercator and Ortelius from this particular work, although it is nominally addressed to Mercator.
Mercator in Ortelius’ Album Amicorum. Ortelius, like many of his contemporaries, made an Album Amicorum12 and invited his friends to write in it. He also took it with him on his travels for the same purpose. The earliest entry dates from 1571, and the latest from 1594. Perhaps he also sent or gave loose blank pages to his friends, to be inserted later. Mercator’s short entry dates from 1575, and has an engraving below it, made by Hubert Goltzius, (Venlo 1526 - Brugge 1583) a numismatist, archaeologist, painter, engraver, writer and editor who lived in Venlo, Antwerp and Brugge. He was a very close friend of Ortelius, with whom he co-operated. They shared a passion for coins and medals.
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Fig. 9-7: Merrcator in Ortellius’ Album Am micorum. Courteesy of Pembrokke College Library, Cam mbridge.
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Translated: “To the best one in the world. For the most learned Abraham Ortelius, geographer of the king [Philip II], my excellent and very dear friend, Gerard Mercator has written this as a symbol of perpetual friendship. Duisburg, 1 October, 1575”.
Of course, it was customary to write in laudatory terms in a Liber Amicorum, but these few words convey the highest praise one can think of. It was written in autumn 1575, as Ortelius was returning from the Frankfurt book fair and stopped, in possession of his Album, at Mercator´s home in Duisburg.
Ortelius in Mercator’s Ptolemaic atlas From letter 136 in the Correspondance Mercatorienne of Van Durme13 it is clear that Mylius asked Ortelius to check and correct the text of Mercator’s Ptolemaeus atlas, which had appeared in 1578 without texts on verso of the maps. In 1579 Ortelius replaced the Synonymia as an appendix for his Thesaurus by his text called Nomenclator Ptolemaicus. When Mercator’s Ptolemaeus atlas was reprinted in 1584, this time with texts on verso, this text closely resembles the texts of Ortelius’ Nomenclator Ptolemaicus. Mylius dedicates this second edition of Mercator’s Ptolemy to Ortelius to express his gratitude and that of Mercator for Ortelius’ help. Clearly, Ortelius and Mercator had very different talents, accomplishments and fortunes. Ortelius was a student of history and languages. He entered the commercial world as a colourist of maps, and as a dealer in maps, prints, antique coins and medals, and natural objects. His interest in publishing maps arose in the early sixties, and after having produced some wall maps, he hit upon two ideas that together would make him wealthy: the first was to turn existing maps or combinations of existing maps to uniform size and bind them into a book, with supporting texts. There appeared to be a great market for this, not just in Antwerp, but Europewide. The second idea which proved to yield a great gain for him personally was to be his own publisher. Normally authors would go with their manuscripts to printers/publishers, and often had to pay for being published. When asked advice by his nephew Emanuel van Meteren in 1584 how to arrange the publishing of a book for which he had written the manuscript, Ortelius answered:14
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“As far as my experience goes, authors have seldom obtained money for their books as these are mostly presented to the printers, but they usually receive a few printed copies, and generally expect also to get something for their dedication [if any], which often or mostly, as I believe, fails them. I was present when Plantin received a hundred daelders [one and a half florin] into the bargain from Adrian Occo for printing his work on medals, probably because the printer thought that the book would not sell well. This is also the case for books which are very expensive on account of many engravings, so the author has to compensate for the costs. Sambucus paid for all the plates in his Emblemata. Plantin recently undertook a little book for which he will receive two hundred guilders in addition”.
For his first edition of the Theatrum atlas, Ortelius bought the amount of paper required for 325 copies from Plantin for 225 guilders.15 He ordered engravers, particularly Hogenberg, to follow other examples, or copy drawings combining different examples and he provided copper plates to his engravers for this purpose. Ortelius, then in his early forties, had accumulated enough money to pay for the paper, engraving, printing maps and map texts and for binding. He sold back part of the impression to Diest, the printer of the first edition of this atlas, part to Plantin, and sold the remainder himself via the Frankfurt fair, and other book traders. That Ortelius grew rich by selling his atlases himself is evidenced by the fact that he moved to ever bigger houses, ending up in a former school in order to house his “museum” which included some 3500 books, hundreds of manuscripts, thousands of maps and further prints, natural objects, and over 2000 Greek and Roman coins16 Ortelius was the true “Mercator” of the two in terms of being a very successful salesman as compared to his friend Mercator. Ortelius was highly skilled in his mastery of foreign languages, studied his books in Latin, Greek, some Hebrew, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English, which he primarily used for his Synonymia and Thesauri. First and foremost he must be called what he called himself, viz. a historiographer. Geography was for him the “Eye of History” as his title pages for his historical Parergon in his atlas testify, (just like his coins were another “eye of or on history”). Geography is for him a discipline supporting, exemplifying and visualising his interests in history. Ortelius was truly a self-educated man, and had only limited interest in and knowledge of mathematics. Unlike Mercator, he never surveyed or measured lands. But he was practical enough to say (in on verso texts) that after he had climbed the towers of Antwerp, Vienna, Strasbourg, and London, that the local measurements (used for each of these towers), could not be compared with any accuracy.
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Ortelius could not make instruments, had no fine handwriting, and his capacity for drawings and illustrations was limited.
Fig. 9-8: Ortelius copied by hand a title page of a book written by Ambrosius de Morales on transparent tracing paper.
Figure 9-8 shows a title page of Ambrosio de Morales (1513 - 1591) from Cordoba, Spain, a historian who also used non-literary sources such as inscriptions and coins. He wrote “Crónica general de España,
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prosiguiendo adelante los cincos libros que el mæstro Florian Docampo, coronista del emperador D. Carlos V., dexo escritos” (3 volumes). This title page shows the last of these 3 volumes. Note the uncertain handwriting although the example could be seen through the transparent paper, when compared with a woodcut by Mercator.
Fig. 9-9: Mercator’s woodcut in his Literarum Latinarum (1540) (as in: “Mercator”, by A.S. Osley, Faber and Faber, London, 1969, page 134-135.)
In many respects Mercator stands in sharp contrast to Ortelius. As discussed, he had a university education during which he learned to apply triangulation and acquire the mathematical basis for inventing and applying his own projection, a landmark in the history of navigation. Ortelius was purely self-educated. Mercator had many misfortunes including imprisonment on the charge of heresy and he was often behind schedule on the tasks at hand, and sometimes lived on the verge of poverty. He was a mathematician, engraver, instrument maker and designed all his maps himself in a uniform manner, according to strict and sober standards. They always included longitude and latitude information, which is often lacking on Ortelius’ maps. As we have seen, Mercator gives factual information on the verso of his atlas maps about the organisation of nobility, church districts, judicial districts, usually in lists. In contrast to this, Ortelius writes about history,
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development, produce of the area, characteristics of the inhabitants, famous people, writers, linguistic characteristics etc. Mercator gives navigational instructions and describes his new projection method in the cartouche on his world map of 1569. Ortelius gives pronunciation rules for the spelling of the place names occurring on his map of Hungary (Ort150). “How Hungarian words should be pronounced. The letters CH in Hungarian [should be pronounced as] CZ. The letter S as SCH. The letter Z as simple S in Hungarian words. The letter W in word-final position as VY”.
This difference in messages contained by their cartouches reflects the differences between them. Mercator applied his mathematical talents to his maps, globes and measuring instruments. Ortelius applied his knowledge of languages to the study of his enormous library, in order to make geographical knowledge from Greek and Latin antiquity accessible to his contemporaries, although he did not slavishly copy these texts, but scrutinised them critically. They were both perfectionists, but their fields of specialisation within cartography were very different. Ortelius wanted to make existing cartographic knowledge accessible in an attractive form, which his atlas provided, and he wanted to make ancient cartographic knowledge accessible by linking classical topographical names to their modern equivalents. He did this in a critical way and even his favourite sources, Ptolemy, Strabo and Pliny were often accused of “dreaming” or “hallucinating”. Mercator wanted to improve on existing cartography by devising and applying new techniques, new forms of measurement and new ways of portraying the globe on the flat surface of a map. Both of them were fully aware of their differences in talent, manual dexterity, knowledge and interests. Yet they recognised and had great respect for each other’s accomplishments, different as they might be. Mercator’s letter to Ortelius of 1572 is fairly blunt in saying: “Retain in your publication the longitudes and latitudes as I have them in my World map unless you can prove with strong reasons that my data is wrong”. Ortelius was fully aware that Mercator’s data was based on his superior geographical knowledge, and had no difficulty at all in accepting this prescription. Ortelius is the historiographer of the two, often looking backwards to find valuable data and insights from history and he regarded cartography as the eye of history, without neglecting contemporary knowledge. Mercator was the geographical innovator, looking forward and raising the cartography of his time to a new and much higher level.
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Returning to the title of this paper, Ortelius and Mercator are both called cartographers, but they were definitely not two of a kind. They were quite different, but they represent the two sides of Renaissance humanism in the Low Countries. Ortelius was critically rediscovering history and retaining any knowledge from the classical authors that was of interest and value whereas Mercator focussed on advancing present day knowledge of cartography in its most eminent form by devising a new, superior projection method.
Bibliography Denucé Jan, Oud-Nederlandsche kaartmakers in betrekking met Plantijn, deel II, (Antwerpen 1912, repr. Amsterdam: Meridian, 1964). Depuydt Joost, “De brede kring van vrienden en correspondenten rond Abraham Ortelius.” In: Karrow Robert W. (Ed.), Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598). Cartograaf en humanist (Turnhout: Brepols,1998), pp. 117-140. Harris Jason, “Het Album Amicorum van Abraham Ortelius: codicologie en verzameling.” In: De gulden passer 85 (2005), pp. 117-135. Hessels Jan, H. Epistulae Abrahami Ortelii et virorum eruditorum ad eundem et ad Jacobum Colium Ortelianum epistulae: cum aliquot aliis epistulis et tractatibus quibusdam ab utroque coll. (London 1889, repr. Osnabrück: Otto Zeller, 1969). Karrow Robert W., Mapmakers of the 16th century and their maps (Chicago: Speculum Orbis Press, 1993) Meurer Peter H., Fontes Cartographici Orteliani (Weinheim, VCH Acta Humaniora, 1991). —. “Synonymia-Thesaurus-Nomenclator, Ortelius’ dictionaries.” In: Van den Broecke Marce, Van der Krogt, Meurer Peter H. (Eds.), Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas, 1598-1998, (’t Goy: Hes & de Graaf Publishers 1998) pp. 331-346. Puraye, Jean (Ed.), Album Amicorum Abraham Ortelius (Amsterdam 1969) Schmidt-Ott Klaus, Itinerarium per nonullas Gallicae Belgicae Partes (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2000). Van Durme Maurice, Correspondance Mercatorienne (Anvers: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1959). Van den Broecke Marcel, “Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Characteristics and Development of a Sample of on verso Texts.” In: Nederlandse geografische studies 380 (2009), 304 pp.
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—. (2014) “Abraham Orteliusތs library reconstructed”. In: Imago Mundi 66/1 (2014), pp. 25-50. Van Raemdonck Jan, “Grande Carte de Flandre de 1540.“ In: Bulletin de la Societé de Geographie d’Anvers 4 (1879), pp. 87-116. Vuylsteke Bea “Het Theatrum Orbis Terrarum van Abraham Ortelius (1595). Een studie van de decoratieve elementen en de gehistorieerde voorstellingen (Leuven: University of Leuven, unpubl. Ph.D., 1984).
Notes 1 Van den Broecke Marcel, (2014) “Abraham Orteliusތs library reconstructed”. In: Imago Mundi 66/1 (2014), pp. 25-50. 2 Meurer Peter H., Fontes Cartographici Orteliani (Weinheim, VCH Acta Humaniora, 1991), pp. 360. 3 Karrow Robert W., Mapmakers of the 16th century and their maps (Chicago: Speculum Orbis Press, 1993), pp. 846. 4 Van Raemdonck Jan, “Grande Carte de Flandre de 1540.” In: Bulletin de la Societé de Geographie d’Anvers 4 (1879), p. 87-116. 5 Vuylsteke Bea “Het Theatrum Orbis Terrarum van Abraham Ortelius (1595). Een studie van de decoratieve elementen en de gehistorieerde voorstellingen (Leuven: University of Leuven, unpubl. PhD, 1984). Vol. 1, 173 pp, Vol. 2, Illustrations, unpublished Ph.D. University of Leuven. 6 Van den Broecke Marcel, “Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Characteristics and Development of a Sample of on verso Texts.” In: Nederlandse geografische studies 380 (2009), 304 pp. All on verso texts on http://www.orteliusmaps.com (seen 27.07.2014). 7 Meurer Peter H., “Synonymia-Thesaurus-Nomenclator, Ortelius’ dictionaries.” In: Van den Broecke Marcel, Van der Krogt, Meurer Peter H. (Eds.), Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas, 1598-1998, (’t Goy: Hes & de Graaf Publishers 1998), pp. 331-346, t Goy-Houten, calling for more research. 8 Hessels Jan, H. Epistulae Abrahami Ortelii et virorum eruditorum ad eundem et ad Jacobum Colium Ortelianum epistulae : cum aliquot aliis epistulis et tractatibus quibusdam ab utroque coll. (London 1889, repr. Osnabrück: Otto Zeller, 1969). 9 Hessels, Ortelii (see note 7) nr. 38. 10 Hessels, Ortelii (see note 7) nr. 99. 11 For a thorough discussion and translation into German, see Schmidt-Ott Klaus, Itinerarium per nonullas Gallicae Belgicae Partes (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2000), 307 pp. 12 Facsimile and comments in Puraye, Jean (Ed.), Album Amicorum Abraham Ortelius (Amsterdam 1969), p. 99 and 124. The order in it is different and contents have been reduced, compared with Hessels' description. See also Depuydt Joost, “De brede kring van vrienden en correspondenten rond Abraham Ortelius.” In: Karrow Robert W. (Ed.), Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598). Cartograaf en humanist (Turnhout: Brepols, 1998) pp. 117-140, and Harris Jason, “Het Album Amicorum
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van Abraham Ortelius: codicologie en verzameling.” In: De gulden passer 85 (2005), pp. 117-136. 13 Van Durme Maurice, Correspondance Mercatorienne (Anvers: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1959). 14 Hessels, Ortelii (see note 7) 148. 15 Denucé Jan, Oud-Nederlandsche kaartmakers in betrekking met Plantijn, deel II, (Antwerpen 1912, repr. Amsterdam: Meridian, 1964), p. 164. 16 I conclude this on the basis of analysis of Ortelius’ Synonymia and Thesauri which allow reconstruction of his library. Ortelius owned Occo’s Imagines imperatorum Romanorum numismata a Pompeio magno ad Heraclium. Jacob Cools also owned a copy of this book in which he wrote that in 1597, Ortelius possessed 1925 ancient coins. Colius himself, in 1603, owned 1179 ancient coins.
CHAPTER TEN THE SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY OF GERHARD MERCATOR JAN DE GRAEVE
CATALOGVS | LIBRORVM BIBLIOTHECAE | Clarissimi Doctissimique Viri, | piæ memoriæ, | GERARDI MERCATORIS | Illustrissimi Ducis Juliæ Cliviæ etc | Cosmographi. Catalogue vande Bouc- | ken des gheleerden ende wijtberoemden | Wereldt-beschijver, | GERARDI MERCATORIS. LVGDVNI BATAVORVM, | Ex Officina THOMÆ BASSON 1604.
This is the title of the auction catalogue of 1604 by Thomas Basson in Leiden, 10 years after Gerard Mercator died and his family decided to sell the books of his library. [As in the 1891 manuscript transcription (c/o KOKLW) reproduced on p. 121 in Gerardus Mercator Rupelmundanus, ed. M. Watelet (1994)]
Introduction Gerard Mercator was born in Rup[p]elmonde on March 5th 1512. The first part of his life he lived in Flanders but in 1552, the same year that Emperor Charles V left for Spain, he moved his family to Duisburg. He died on December 2nd 1594. In 1994 a series of events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of this illustrious surveyor and cartographer’s death were organised in Sint Niklaas and Duisburg. Mercatorfonds (Antwerp) published a reprint of the transcript of the 1604 auction catalogue of Mercator’s library; and the Koninklijke Oudheidkundige Kring van het Land van Waes (KOKLW), the city of Sint Niklaas and the Mercator BVBA co-organized an exhibition in the city’s Mercator Museum in 1994.
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A catalogue, entitled Mercator en zijn Boeken, was published with the support of UNESCO on this occasion. The curator, Mr Theo Penneman, wrote in the introduction: “These are no books which belonged to Gerard Mercator, for, to our present knowledge, no printed work with Mercator’s ownership mark has been traced.” That exhibition inspired me to start this research and describe the books in Mercator’s library: not only in order to identify their locations in private or public libraries, but especially those with Mercator’s manuscript annotations. It would be of particular interest to find and study these copies, which could teach us a lot more about the intellectual process and his inventions. Not only the bibliophilic interest would be served but also his intellectual evolution could be studied and the books identified which could have given him the inspiration for his main works. When I started my research in 2001, only one book with manuscript annotations of Gerard Mercator had been identified, by Professor Owen Gingerich of Harvard University, and located in Glasgow University Library: the first edition of Copernicus’ de revolutionibus orbium coelestium Libri VI, 1543 (No. 22). 1 The facsimile edition of a transcription of the only surviving catalogue of the 1604 auction, which had belonged to the Bibliothek des Börsenvereins der Deutschen Buchhändler in Leipzig in 1881, and had been lost in World War II, served as a guide. Early in the 19th century the catalogue had been on loan to Gent University, where it had been copied for Dr Jan van Raemdonck, inspirer of KOKLW and who devoted his later life to the study of Gerard Mercator. This transcript was found by Mr Alfred van der Gucht, former president of KOKLW, in a file titled/labelled ‘Theologia’ in van Raemdonck’s papers. This manuscript transcription has signatures A4-E4 +F and had been foliated 1-43 by another hand. It is divided into 5 subject areas: Theology, History, Mathematics, Medicine and ‘Libri Politores’. Each subject is then subdivided in a manner typical for the period and material: firstly, by format into folio, quarto and 8°+16° works. Secondly, by language: the first subsection is in Latin, the following in Gallici (Italian, Spanish and French), followed by Teutonici, which is German, English and Flemish/Dutch, these latter in red ink. The auction catalogue represents the books of the Mercator family, 10 years after Gerard and his son Barthelemy (1540-68) had passed away; the collection was also apparently enriched by another son, Romuald (154199). To call this the ‘Gerard Mercator Library’ was to increase the auction’s commercial prestige and to boost the financial results. Unfortunately the prices are unknown and have not survived.
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My research is limited to the mathematical books in a broader sense. This section is from pp. 29 to 37 of the catalogue and deals with arithmetic, geometry, and trigonometry, surveying, architecture, fortification, astronomy, astrology, time measurement, calendar calculation, scientific instruments, cartography and their applications; there are books on chemistry, optics, encyclopaedias and works on multiple subjects. I also selected some books in the ‘History’ and ‘Medicine’ sections, and among the ‘Libri Politores’, that I describe after the mathematic books. All together 202 books in 160 volumes. Theo Penneman described 37 items (numbers 66 to 102 in his catalogue) which he had found in Belgian public and private libraries. Mercator’s library contained about 1000 titles, often bound together, in 800 volumes. No book is given in full details: the name of the author is sometimes omitted, the title is very short or too abbreviated, the dates and places of printing are rarely both mentioned. Of the 202 titles only 105 are dated, and names of printer or publisher are never mentioned. Nevertheless I could identify most of the books; but, for some, lacking too many bibliographic details, their absolute attribution to the Mercator library is impossible. For the Arithmeticae Practicae of Gemma Frisius (item 117c) I have listed most of the 68 editions known before Gerard Mercator’s death and another two prior to the 1604 auction: so you can understand the difficulty in attribution of one, rather than another, edition. As a methodology I chose to number the items of the transcript starting with the mathematics books in folio. Following the 1604 catalogue’s style I reproduced the titles of the transcript in bold & italic script. I have mentioned the authors’ names and searched for their dates; completed the given titles, sometimes still abbreviated; completed the names and places of the publishers and/or printers and the date; and the signature or number of folios or pages, mostly after or under the title. If the book is mentioned in a non-appropriated section I have mentioned the format. Contrary to most bibliographers I had no access to the books themselves, which are rare and often not accessible in Belgian libraries. I have tried to find the title which best matches the available data from the transcript. More than once the consulted sources gave titles that were different, too abbreviated or incomplete; many do not supply signatures or do not mention if they give folios or pages. When I had the choice I generally chose the first edition, mentioning the others, but choosing the wording closest to the transcript of other available data. For some items further research in the Plantin-Moretus Museum’s Archives has given complementary information.
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The book was published in 2012 by the Société Royale des Bibliophiles et Iconophiles de Belgique and issued as No. 177 in its series Le Livre & L’Estampe.2
Analysis of the 1604 auction catalogue of Mercator’s Library The part examined here, dealing only with the scientific books, concerns about one fifth of the Mercator library. To subdivide, and classify, them could be unwise as many books deal with multiple subjects. There are 47 books on astronomy, 39 deal with mathematics, 6 on arithmetic, 9 on geometry, only one deals with spherical trigonometry, 2 with algebra, 13 concern scientific instruments, 12 about calendars, 10 on navigation, 38 on geography or cosmology, 3 on surveying, about ten on astrology, one single on architecture, 2 on alchemy, 4 on squaring the circle, 4 others are encyclopaedia and many deal with several disciplines. Gerard Mercator must have been abreast of new publications, or books announced for publication, as 139 are first editions. He had of course a continuing relationship with the Plantin workshop, which not only sold his maps and globes but also bought the paper he needed for his maps. His agent in Antwerp, Louys de Dieu, bought many books for him. Gerard also bought many books from the Frankfurt Book Fair, and Christoph Wechel acted for him in Paris. In the library we find two copies of Waldseemüller’s Introductio in cartam; one from 1511 the other undated. Pomponius Mela is to be found in a folio edition of 1540 (No. 8), a quarto edition of 1582 (No. 98) and an 8° edition of 1532 by Wechel in Paris (No. 107). From Tunstall we find two copies of the first Paris edition of 1529: Nos. 74b and 81a (the latter is bound with another book). In the catalogue will be found books by his teacher, Gemma Frisius: Principiis astronomiae et cosmographiae, the de locorum describendorum ratione and, furthermore, his Arithmetica and the Astrolabium Catholicum of 1566. This last book describes the method to transform polar coordinates into equatorial ones, and to convert the map coordinates on the globe and vice versa - a system of particular interest to Mercator. On the other hand Mercator’s copy of Vögelin’s book on geometry, from which he studied in Louvain, is absent: as we read in Ghims’s biography [i.e. the ‘Vita Mercatoris’] of Mercator, Vögelin had very much influenced him. Other books I expected to find are also absent: Dürer’s Unterweisung des Messens from 1525 or a later Latin edition; The human proportions in any edition; Peter Apianus’s Astronomicum Caesareum of 1540 dedicated
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to the Emperor; the Astronomique Discours of Jacques Bassentin, the equivalent for the King of France. The library lacks, too, the books of Tycho Brahe and Tartaglia. This proves that he did not systematically buy all books published; otherwise dozens of books should have to be added. But Gerard Mercator bought very important scientific books. In astronomy he possessed the de Revolutionibus Libri VI of Copernicus in its first edition from 1543. From the catalogue we know that this copy is annotated by Mercator himself. In the library we also find the Narratio prima in first edition from 1540 by Rheticus, which is much rarer, but easier to read and to understand, and in which the heliocentric theory is clearly explained. He had the Alphonsine Tables of 1545. In the library there are 11 editions of Ptolemy; The Optics of Vitello; and Classical works by Archimedes, Aristotle and Plinius [Pliny] are present – sometimes in more than one edition. The theory of the loxodrome by Pedro Nuñez from 1566 is in the library, and a manuscript by the same Nuñez together with its printed version, which could have inspired Mercator in developing his projection system he applied in his world map Ad Usum Navigantium of 1569. He bought also the Gregor Reisch’s Margarita Philosophica in the 1512 edition with the appendices; he had Luca Paccioli’s Summa Arithmetica, but not his Divina Proportione. The important books on mineralogy and mine exploitation are present by Agricola, books on gnomonics, and numerology as well. As we see under No. 89 he also received books. He must have been a wealthy man to possess such a remarkable library. Did he read his books? From the transcript of the catalogue we find that some books have been annotated by Mercator. The Copernicus copy in Glasgow University confirms this statement. His biographer Ghim mentions that Gerard Mercator was always working or reading each time he met him. We also see that he applies the theories he read. For instance: in the Flanders map of 1540 he applied the triangulation and intersection technology to visualize the towns correctly, which had been measured from elevated towers, most probably by Jacob van Deventer, using Gemma Frisius’ method as described in the de Locorum describendorum ratione, first published in 1533. The Mercator projection with increasing latitudes is inspired by the treatises of the loxodrome by Pedro Nuñez published in 1566 (see No. 11c). The loxodrome is the curved line in navigation by which the navigator cuts the meridians in a same angle; on a globe, like the earth, you have to change your bearings regularly; for a very long time this had been a major problem for safe navigation. The Mercator projection solves
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this problem by transforming this complicated curve of the loxodrome into a straight line, by increasing accordingly the latitudes. It had taken a long time to prove the mathematics of Gerard Mercator’s invention until Edward Wright explained this in his Certaine Errors in Navigation, of which I know three editions: 1599, 1610 and, the most complete, of 1657 to which is added the Havenfinding Art by Simon Stevin of Bruges (a translation from his original Dutch De havenfinder). Study of the annotated copies, once found, and the analysis of the second edition of the Chronologia by Gerard Mercator will probably teach us a lot more about Gerard Mercator’s way of thinking. I would like to add some information about a couple of books I selected. Concerning the book No. 89, Vegetius’s de Re Militari, Plantin Antwerpiae, 1585: this is the first Plantin edition, having the annotations and comments by Godeschalc Steewich (1551-86), and was given to Mercator. During my research I found a Sotheby’s (Paris) auction catalogue for 30th May 2006 whose lot 37 was Vegetius de re Militari. At the bottom of the front page one reads a manuscript annotation: “D Gerardo Mercatori Illustrissi[mi] Clivii et cet[erae] Principiis Geographo excel[en]tis[sim]o Amigo Singulaii Carolus Nellius L,d.d.” The Sotheby’s catalogue describes the donor as Carolus de Nielles (1576-1652). It did not seem logical to me that a young boy of 9 years old could offer this to the most illustrious of cartographers; moreover the calligraphy is not that of a young person. Even if a book nearly 10 years old were offered in 1594 why should one offer this, when one of 1592 was available from the same publisher? More logical is to attribute the donor as Charles de Nielles senior (1535-1604). Currently this presentation copy to Mercator is in a Belgian institution: the Cultura Fonds, Dilbeek.
Gerard Mercator’s relations with Christoffel/ Christophe Plantin During my research I had the opportunity to examine the Archives at the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp, recently added to the World Heritage List. I read the eight volumes of Plantin correspondence, edited by Max Rooses in 1883; but I found no correspondence with either Gerard Mercator or between his agent, Louys de Dieu, and Plantin. I did find, however, in the Great Book of accounts, valuable information for this paper. In the archives n°16 to 21, and for the years 1569 to 1591, I found when Mercator or his agent bought some books at Plantin’s printing
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office. Louis de Dieu [?], on April 6 1568 [?], buys the Aratus [published in 1569!] (No. 27), the Peuerbach (No. 118), the Mithologia Naturalis, a book by Anaxiom, and the Chronology of Flanders. On May 13 1571 he buys the Isolario (No. 134) and the Mithologia Naturalis and another book by Anaxiom and he also orders l’Anatomica Figura de Valverde, in folio, which will be published the next year in Antwerp. The accounts are finalised annually for each client and the excess due is paid. In the library of Mercator we find several scientific publications from the Plantin press: Year 1565 1566 1569 1580 1582 1585 1596
No 122 7b 41 52 98 89 39
Author De Lens Landinus Sextus Empericus Ransonius Pomponius Mela Vegetius Ortelius
Format 8° f° f° 4° 4° 4° f°
Title Elementa Geometrica De vita activa Adversus Mathematicos Catalogus Imperatorum de situ Orbis de rei militari Thesaurus geographicus
It is useful to mention the books which entered the library after Gerard Mercator’s death in 1594: Year 1596 1597
1598
1599
No 26 132 39 44 83 120 84 146 119 145 82
Author Gallucci Gallucci Ortelius Ptolemy Romanus Barozzi Kepler Zee-Buch Casmann Oppenbach (1588)? Poliorcaeticum
All together: 11 books of 202. The questions remain: Why, and by whom, have they been added? Had these books been ordered by Gerard Mercator or by his son? Or had some books been ordered previously and delivered only posthumously? Or was the previous edition sold out and its
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delivery postponed till the new impression was issued, knowing that most books in the 16th century were printed only in a small number? Gerard Mercator had in his library Quaestionum camaldulensium, Christophori Landini Florentini libri quatuor scilicet de vita activa et contemplativa liber primus; de summo bono liber secundus; in P. Maronis allegorias liber tertius Landini in P. Virgilium Marinonis allegorias liber quartus Antwerpiae, Christoph. Plantinus, 1567 [1566 supra], No. 7b, which I did not find in the éditions Plantiniennes by Léon Voet (1981).
Euclid There are very few incunabula in the auction, so I cannot presume that Gerard Mercator would have bought the first printed edition of 1482, which is what an actual collector should do today. We know from the literature and from Ghim’s biography that Gerard Mercator was very much influenced by the study of Vögelin’s edition of Euclid, Elementale geometricum, ex Euclidis geometria, à Joanne Voegelin . . . decerptum (Strasbourg, C. Egenolff, 1529) in- 8°; except that this book has not been found in the catalogue. We can presume that while Mercator studied at Louvain University he had few resources and did not buy books as he was inscribed as “paupers in castro”. Under No. 36 we find a comment[ary] on Euclid by Jacques Peletier and, under No. 10, the 1572 edition with commentary by F[r]ederico Commandino, bought at Plantin 13 May 1571.
The Chronologia, hoc est Temporum demonstratio (1569), first edition A second edition appeared in 1575 and is also mentioned in the facsimile of the transcript, but is wrongly dated to 1557. The book had been put on the index (i.e. the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, first printed in Cologne, 1547) by the Inquisition: one single mention as ‘destroyed’ for the year 1517 where Martin Luther is mentioned. In my personal copy a paper strip is glued, but in the copy of Sint Niklaas the strip has been removed. At least the books have not been destroyed or burned. The book was very much appreciated by learned men in the 16th century for they considered this work as Gerard Mercator’s most important scientific contribution. It was the corner stone of his opus maior he intended to publish. This should embrace a Cosmology, a Chronology and the Geography. The latter part has been studied by historians of cartography; the first part was never published, although we see in
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Mercator’s library many books on astronomy and cosmology, and he was up to date with the new ideas of Rheticus and Copernicus. In the Chronologia Gerard Mercator refers to many books in his library, from which he extracts the dates of astronomic events like eclipses of the sun and of the moon, and the appearance of “new” stars (novae), volcanic eruptions, etc.: these he combines with dates he found in the books on history, kings’ coronations or deaths, wars, peace treatises, invasions, etc. In the first edition I found references to his scientific books from his library: all are present in the auction catalogue of 1604: No 65 74 155a 72b 70 102c 22 152a 89 12 157 65
Title Alfonsi Tabulae Albategnus Astronomia Bede de ratione temporum Calendarium Hebraicum (Sebastian Münster) Joh. Regiomontanus de torqueto [Frontinus de aquaductibus] (Pasquier Duhamel) Copernic de revolutionibus Plinius Polybius Ptolemaeus, Almageste Strabo Tabulae Alfonsi
Place Paris Nuremberg
Year 1545 1537 [1529 or 1537 (?)] 1527
Nuremberg
1544 1557
Nuremberg Venice Antwerp Basel Basel Paris
1543 1502 1589 1541 1549 1545
It would be interesting to compare the references in the 1575 edition of the Chronologia to those in the first of 1569, in order to find out which scientific books Mercator acquired in the period between both editions. Of Ptolemy’s ‘Geography’ in Mercator’s library we find not all books: No 25 38 101 12 129 80
Edition 1511 1522 1540 1541 1548 1562
Format folio folio 8° folio 8° 4°
Place Venice Strasburg Köln Basel Venice Venice
annotated by Mercator comments by Noviomagus annotated by Mercator comments by Münster comments by Moletus
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No. 22: Copernicus de Revolutionibus orbium coelestium Libri VI Professor Owen Gingerich identified the annotations at Glasgow University in Copernicus’ first edition of de Revolutionibus Libri VI, as being in Gerard Mercator’s hand and he confirmed this in An Annotated Census of Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus . . .1543 and . . .1566, published by Brill in 2002. After his year-long research of all the known copies of the first and second editions of this Copernicus book, he published one for the general public: The Book Nobody Read. Contrary to this title the copies I had the chance to see have been seriously annotated. This is also confirmed in the Lord Crawford copy at Edinburgh Observatory through the annotations of Rheticus, and by the Liège copy which is annotated by Erasmus Reinhold and Paul Wittich. The Gerard Mercator copy in Glasgow is annotated also by Snellius (Willebrord Snell van Royen), and at least 3 other unidentified hands. The presumed history of Mercator’s copy may be as follows. Mercator bought, studied and annotated his copy. Snellius probably bought this copy at the 1604 auction, studied and annotated it with his remarks; we find, too, the ownership marks of Colbert. The book was sold on May 24, 1728 for 12fl 10 to William Hunter (1718-83), who offered the book to the museum he created; this museum was incorporated later to the University of Glasgow, where the book is found in the Library under shelf-mark CZ.1.13. Curiously there are neither maps nor atlases of Mercator in this auction. We know that his copperplates were sold to his grandson Gerard Mercator II on March 18th 1604 and that they were acquired by Cornelis Claesz, who published them in the Mercator-Hondius atlas. After examining many reference works, bibliographies, lots of catalogues from public auctions or from antique book dealers; I prepared a first draft of this study of the 1604 transcript. Thanks to Professor Carmelia Opsomer, who encouraged me to continue my research, Mrs Patricia Radelet gave access to some of her specialised research motors, which made it possible to complete many lacking entries. Dirk Imhof and Christof Selleback gave me access to the Plantin Moretus Archives and account books. Mr Alfred van der Gucht gave permission to photograph the front page and colophon of the transcript of the catalogue; David Weston, Librarian of Glasgow University, gave me access to both copies of the first edition of Copernicus held by the Library, and prepared the selected photographs of the Mercator copy; Aagje Van Cauwelaert shared
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her experience with the Vegetius copy for which she is responsible on behalf of the Cultura Fonds and gave permission to photograph the front page. Baudouin Van den Abeele gave me valuable information about Bartolomaeus Anglicus (Bartholomew de Glanville). I would like to thank each and every person who helped me during this period. The aim of this work is to give an appropriate tool to research colleagues to find and relocate the books of Mercator’s library in public and private libraries. It would be a great success if some of the annotated books by Mercator could be identified and studied. Binders have often bound together books of different authors, origins or dates and even of different subjects; this could be an opportunity to identify some of Mercator’s books, as they have neither an ex-libris nor ownership marks.
Conclusion Not only the bibliophilic interest would be served, but also Mercators’ intellectual evolution could be studied and the books identified, which could have given him the inspiration for his main inventions. In 2012 we celebrated the five hundredth anniversary of the birth of Gerard Mercator. In 1994 no book was known to have belonged to Gerard Mercator. Today two items of his original library have been identified and located. I hope this study can contribute to the recreation of Mercator’s scientific library.
Bibliography De Graeve Jan, How did Gerard Cremer, Gerard Mercator design his grid with increasing latitudes, called the Mercator projection? In: Journal of the International Map Collectors’ Society 59 (1994), pp. 25-29. —. Gérard Mercator: la bibliothèque mathématique d’un génie. Le livre & l’estampe: revue semestrielle de la Société royale des Bibliophiles et Iconophiles de Belgique (Bruxelles 2012). Gingerich, Owen, An annotated census of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus (Nuremberg, 1543 and Basel, 1566) (Leiden / Boston MA: Brill, 2002). Penneman Theo, “Mercators Bibliotheek”. In Gerardus Mercator Rupelmundanus, ed. Marcel Watelet (Antwerp: Mercatorfonds Paribas, 1994).
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Notes 1 An Annotated Census of the Copernicus De Revolutionibus 1543, 1566, edited by Brill [i.e.: Gingerich, Owen, An annotated census of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus (Nuremberg, 1543 and Basel, 1566) (Leiden / Boston MA: Brill, 2002)]. 2 Jan De Graeve published the full study of Gerard Mercators’ library: The mathematical library of a genius. In n°177 du Livre et L’Estampe in 2012: 202p with a bilingual catalogue in French and English [i.e.: De Graeve, Jan, ‘Gérard Mercator: la bibliothèque mathématique d’un génie = Gerard Mercator: the mathematical library of a genius’, in Le livre & l’estampe: revue semestrielle de la Société royale des Bibliophiles et Iconophiles de Belgique (Bruxelles 2012), 58 (177), 202p. ill.; bilingual (French & English)].
CHAPTER ELEVEN A ROYAL SOURCE FOR MERCATOR: THE “ATLAS BRUXELLENSIS” BY CHRISTIAAN SGROOTEN (MS 21.596) WOUTER BRACKE
Christiaan Sgrooten, royal cartographer to King Philip II, is especially well known for two manuscript atlases, ie. the atlas Bruxellensis and the atlas Madritensis, and for some regional maps of the Lower Rhine area. The atlas Bruxellensis will be discussed here in its relationship to some maps of Mercator’s Atlas.
Gerard Mercator and Christiaan Sgrooten The Atlas by Gerard Mercator was, as we know, the work of a lifetime.1 Not only did he dedicate the last thirty years of his life to the writing and publishing of parts of his book, he conceived the project and started working on it well before 1569, the year in which he published his Chronologia, which was supposed to become one of the five constituent parts of the Atlas.2 In the introductory part to one of the fasciculi for his chapter on modern cartography, the Tabulae geographicae of France, published in 1585, Mercator dedicates a chapter on the use of the maps: In usum tabularum admonitio. The chapter contains a sort of legend to the maps and after having explained how he conceived them and their orientation, Mercator briefly mentions the cartographic sources he used. Christiaan Sgrooten is the only cartographer to be mentioned here by name apart from Ortelius (the name of the others appears on the single maps to which they contributed):
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Hoc fundamento posito, optimas quasque descriptiones in delineandis regionibus sequutus sum, qua in re non parum subsidii mihi attulit insignis chorometer et solertissimus regis hispaniae geographus Christianus Sgorthenus, qui multas regiones perlustravit et prae caeteris amplius exactiusque descripsit. (This grid having been drawn, we have followed by drawing the regions the best descriptions at hand. In this Christiaan Sgrooten, an important topographer and skillful geographer to the King of Spain, has been of great support to me. He has travelled through many regions and described them more abundantly and more precisely than others.)
Sgrooten’s work as a geographer and chorometer must have been important to Mercator at that time. What this non parum subsidii consisted of is not made explicit. However, what seems clear is that the help was related to geographical descriptions of some kind; in fact these descriptions can be final products, printed maps or manuscript ones, but they can also refer to cartographic information in general, sketches as well as texts, or even (though less possible) verbal information. What Mercator appreciated in these descriptions was their precision especially compared to those of other cartographers, and the fact that they were the result of personal scrutiny by Sgrooten. And even more so, as Mercator’s words seem to imply, that he actually compared different maps of the same area and that he preferred Sgrooten for his sense of detail. What made the difference was not so much the general outline of a region on Sgrooten’s map (of whatever kind) but the geographical/chorographical information contained in the map.3 Mercator’s praise of Sgrooten in the first of his three fasciculi published in 1585 must be related to the latter’s contribution in the making of the maps covered by the three works and not only the one containing the maps of France. Indeed, if we look at what we know about Sgrooten’s cartographic activities and production, it seems rather odd that he would be mentioned in relation to France, and not to Germany or the Low Countries. Christiaan Sgrooten (1525-1603) was born in Sonsbeck in Westphalia, the region between the Weser and the Rhine, forming in the 16th century the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.4 The Circle comprised amongst others the bishopric of Munster, Osnabruck, the duchies of Cleves and Burg, the principality of Minden and the counties of Mark and Oldenburg. By 1585, the date of publication of the series of maps by Mercator related to France, Germany and the Netherlands, Sgrooten had published or drawn several maps of the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. They are discussed in detail by Meurer so we will limit ourselves to mentioning the
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most important ones. In 1557 he offered Philip II a manuscript map of the Veluwe in the province of Gelderland. In 1558 he had a wall map of Cleves published. These maps would then form the basis for his wall map of Gelderland and Zutphen drawn at the request of Emanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy (1528-1580), at the time Governor and Captain General of the Netherlands. When, in 1563, the Antwerp print publisher Hieronymus Cock introduced a request for a royal printing privilege for ten years, the provincial government in Arnhem was asked to check the map for its accuracy as in Brussels errors had been noticed with the map’s colouring.5 Arnhem was very critical about the map which showed too many errors and advised not to offer the ten year privilege unless the map could be thoroughly corrected. However, Sgrooten refused to follow this advice, changed only a few things and had the map published without royal privilege. From the Plantin accounts, one can deduce that the map only came on the market in 1567.6 No copy has been found so far, but a re-edition from 1601 by Paul van der Houve (c. 1575-1668), who in that year had bought the map’s copperplates from Cock’s widow Volcxken Diercx, has come to us.7 Long before this date, Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) published a reduced version of the map in his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of 1579. In the same period Sgrooten published a second wall map with Hieronymus Cock, this time of Germany. Partial copies were published by Gerard de Jode in his Speculum orbis terrarum (1578). In 1573 Sgrooten gave his so-called atlas Bruxellensis to the Duke of Alba, Governor of the Netherlands, when the latter left the country for the court in Spain. Sgrooten had started working on it five years earlier. From the same period there are three manuscript maps now in the d’Anville collection of the Biblitohèque Nationale de France, covering Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Slovenia, Friuli and Croatia. They are closely related to the respective maps in the atlas Bruxellensis.
The atlantes Bruxellensis and Madritensis The atlas Bruxellensis in its modern composition comprises 37 maps. Originally, though, there were probably 38 of them, one of which is said to have been lost.8 The maps, which cover the whole of the German Empire including present Slovenia and the north of Italy, are made on several scales but three main groups can be distinguished: for the Low Countries and neighbouring regions, a scale of ca 1:250 000 is used for general overviews and one of ca 1:100 000 is used for more detailed pictures. Central Europe is represented on maps on scales running from 1:300 000 to 1: 800 000.
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Fig. 11-1a: Christiaan Sgrooten, Rhine-Maas delta (KBR, Map Room, MS 21.596, map 9)
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Fig. 11-1b: Hieronymus Cock, 16 sea vessels (KBR, Print Room, S I 56231)
The large scale maps offer the possibility to put several maps together and virtually create one general map such as the maps of Namur and Liège (12), Berg and Mark (19) and finally Gelderland and Cleves (13), which all put together give a good idea of the Lower Rhine area.9 As such they can be considered a later (revised) edition of his printed map published by Hieronymus Cock in the 1560s. Contrary to what one may think, not all are manuscript: the larger boats on the maps have often been cut out of printed maps. The boats on map 10 (the mouth of the river Scheldt) come from his printed map of Germany; the boats on maps 3, 9, 14 and 25 come from a print published by Hieronymus Cock the drawing of which was for a long time attributed to Pieter Brueghel (Fig. 11-1a, 11-1b).10 The atlas Bruxellensis was given its title to distinguish it from the other atlas made by Christiaan Sgrooten now kept in the National library in Madrid. This is called the atlas Madritensis. The second atlas was only discovered at the end of the 19th century. The relationship between both atlases has been unclear for decades and one had to wait for Peter Meurer’s study to clarify this matter.11 One theory stated that both atlases are part of a two volume product ordered by King Philip II, another explains the unfinished state of the atlas Bruxellensis as a proof, a draft or
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minute version of the Madrid copy which in turn is then considered to be the final product destined to the king. But both atlases are in fact separate products and the chronology of their production can be reconstructed as follows. Around 1568 Christiaan Sgrooten was charged with the mapping of the Holy Roman Empire. At that time he was living in Kalkar, north of Duisburg, where Mercator had lived since 1552. In 1573, the Duke of Alba (1507-1582) took the unfinished atlas with him to Spain to show to the king. Pleased with the result, Philip II asked Sgrooten to continue his cartographic work. But the atlas does not return to Germany and we lose track of it until the second half of the 19th century when, during a study trip in Spain, the Belgian archivist Louis Prosper Gachard (1800-1885) buys the atlas from a stranger who pretends to have received the object as a present from King Ferdinand VII of Spain (1784-1833). In 1859 the Belgian state became owner. In 1862, the atlas was still attributed to Jacob van Deventer (c. 1500-1575) and it is only in 1894 that Félix Hachez identifies its real author.12 By 1577 at the latest Sgrooten is working on his second atlas for King Philip II. He finishes it in 1595 (although the dedication is dated 1592). This is composed of two parts: a first part containing 28 maps: a world map, maps of the northern and southern hemispheres, the Near East, the Holy land, North and East of Europe, maps of the Holy Roman Empire, of France, of the British isles; and a second part of 10 maps which in essence is a revision of the maps of the Low Countries contained in the first atlas. For these maps Sgrooten drew heavily on Mercator’s atlas. Between 1597/8 and 1614 the atlas was moved to Spain where it is still kept today.
Christiaan Sgrooten and Gerard Mercator, two cartographers of the Lower Rhine area Except for Mercator mentioning Sgrooten’s name among his sources for the maps published in 1585, there is little or no documentary proof that Christiaan Sgrooten and Gerard Mercator have used each other’s cartographical material. There exists no correspondence, and not a single archival document has come to us so far to prove that both cartographers were actually in contact. On the contrary, in 1570 Mercator asks Ortelius to send him the map of the Holy land by Peter Laicksteen which Sgrooten had prepared for the press.13 If they had known each other well, one would expect Mercator to address Sgrooten directly.
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The only testimonies are the maps themselves. Meurer’s comparative study of the maps from Mercator’s atlas and the cartographic work of Sgrooten has demonstrated mutual influences. This in itself is not at all surprising. It is indeed common practice in cartography to use existing maps in order to facilitate and accelerate one’s proper cartographic work. Texts in maps’ cartouches abound of statements by the author that his map is much better than the preceding ones and that it corrects the many errors one can find in the older maps, thus implying that he made good use of them. In this regard it seems obvious that Sgrooten had a look at Mercator’s map of Flanders (1540) in a revised edition by Gerard de Jode of 1565 and that for his atlas Madritensis he relied heavily on Mercator’s maps published in 1585.14 In the same way, one is not surprised to read that Mercator used Sgrooten’s map of the Lower Rhine area for his map of Gelderland.15 Things become more complicated in the case of manuscript maps, as they are usually less diffused and less accessible than printed ones, which makes it more difficult to prove a direct link between a cartographic product and a manuscript source. In the case of the atlas Bruxellensis, the comparative method is even less conclusive as the atlas was destined for the royal court and had already left the Netherlands by 1573, without leaving any trace in contemporary cartography except for some of Mercator’s maps. Therefore, one cannot state with certainty that the atlas was a direct source of Mercator’s maps, but similarities of content in both Sgrooten’s and Mercator’s maps indicate at least an exchange of cartographic information. From Meurer’s study and our closer inspection of some of the maps based on recent cartobibliographic publications of some areas covered by Sgrooten in his atlas, it has become clear that Mercator used information from Sgrooten especially when it comes to describing the area of the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle, in short the area where Sgrooten was born and spent most of his adult life – the area he knew best.16 To this territory the Burgundian Circle can be added. Until 1512 it had been part of the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. It originally comprised the territories west of Utrecht and Gelderland and west and south of the river Maas, but in 1543 Gelderland was added. Five years later, in 1548, a new Burgundian Circle was created, including Gelderland, Neder- and Oversticht as well as Groningen, when with the Transaction of Augsburg the Spanish Netherlands gained independence from the imperial Diet.17
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Fig. 11-2: Gerard Mercator, Zealand (KBR, Rare books, VH 14.348 (a) F, map 5)
If Mercator consulted Sgrooten’s maps of the Low Countries, it was probably for the updates the latter had made to a common source wellknown at the time, as is testified by its many reprints and copies, even outside the Netherlands: the regional maps by Jacob van Deventer (c. 1500-1575). Just like Sgrooten, van Deventer was royal cartographer to the Spanish court under Philip II. From the 1530s van Deventer, who had studied with Gemma Frisius at the University of Louvain, had been mapping the territories of the Burgundian Circle using the newly developed technique of triangulation. In 1536 he received compensation from the Council of Brabant for making a map of the Duchy. A year later he finished the regional map of Holland. This was followed by the maps of Gelderland (1543), Frisia (1545) and Zeeland (1549).18 By then, van Deventer had been made Imperial Cartographer to Charles V. During this work, he must have made plans of most of the cities in these territories, although the official order to draw them would come much later, in 1558, when Philip II asked him „te visiteren, meten ende bescryven alle de steden van onsen landen van herwartsovere“ (to visit, measure and describe all the cities of our territories of herwartsover [ie the Netherlands]). It resulted in the unique collection of city maps we all know.19 One of these, the city map of Dordrecht, is dated 1545 and was
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made at the request of the local city council. In 1572 we find van Deventer in Cologne.
Fig. 11-3: Christiaan Sgrooten, Zealand (KBR, Map Room, MS 21.596, map 8)
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Fig. 11-4: Christiaan Sgrooten, mouth of the Scheldt (KBR, Map Room, MS 21.596, map 10)
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The map of Zealand by Mercator is a good example in respect. It shows Zealand and the surrounding territories (parts of Holland, Brabant and Flanders; Fig. 11-2). Sgrooten depicts the area on several maps among which two general maps (scale 1:220 000 to 1:240 000; maps 5 and 8; Fig. 11-3) and two maps on scale 1:80 000 (maps 9 and 10 of the Rhine-Maas delta and of the mouth of the Scheldt resp.; Fig. 11-1a, 11-4). They have both used the map of Zealand Jacob van Deventer had drawn between 1545 and 1549. His map was without any doubt the best representation of the province at that time. Still, we notice some differences in the representation of Zealand as well as the surrounding territories, which are clearly updates. So, the eastern part of the Wolphaartsdijk with the Hongersdijk is still an island on Deventer’s maps; with Sgrooten, on maps 8 and 10, that part is completely drowned by the sea (Wolfersdijck). The Sea Beggars had in their fight against the Spanish occupied the island and pierced several sea walls. In October 1572, the island was to be the headquarters for the siege of the city of Goes, and the church of Sabbinge, the island’s most important village, was completely destroyed, but here on the map it is still standing. In the representation of Wolphaartsdijk Mercator seems to follow van Deventer. But on the other hand, he took from Sgrooten the images of the villages of the Biesbosch near Dordrecht and of the original course of the Old Maas through the area. He also followed his colleague in the representation of the mouth of the Noord (Merwe), which was then still considered to be the lower course of the Merwede, and of the drowned villages of Merwe and Herderwerd. The niew vaert (the new canal) from Brussels to the Scheldt and the citadel of Antwerp in Brabant are again Sgrooten’s personal additions. The Willebroek canal was finished in 1561 and was of great strategic importance because it connected Brussels to Antwerp. The canal will be often subject to heavy fights in the Eighty Years War (1566/68-1648), opposing the protestant North to the Catholic South of the Netherlands. In 1576 a stronghold was built at the Rupel, called the Rupelschans. It is not yet mentioned here, also absent is the sluice at Klein-Willebroek built in 1573. The citadel of Antwerp (‘tcasteel) in the south of the city dates from 1567.20
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Fig. 11-5a: Christiaan Sgrooten, Austria (KBR, Map Room, MS 21.596, map 34)
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Fig. 11-5b: Gerard Mercator, Austria (KBR, Rare books, VH 14.348 (a) F, map 23)
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Mercator’s other sources Sgrooten is not Mercator’s only source but for the Netherlands and the western part of present Germany, Sgrooten has been one of his major sources and if not, he used the cartographic information from Sgrooten to enrich his maps or to correct his main sources such as the maps by Jacob van Deventer. For other parts of the Holy Roman Empire, Sgrooten’s maps, particularly the maps made on a much smaller scale, do not seem to have been used. If we look at the map of Austria (Fig. 11-5a, 11-5b), we can tell for sure that both Sgrooten and Mercator departed from Lazius’ maps, adding or changing cartographic information they took from other sources.21 But if you look for example at the correct course of the Danube between Enns and Grein (going south and then north to Grein), at the very pictorial representation of the Vienna woods and of the Leitha mountains on the Sgrooten map, this information does not appear on Mercator’s map of Austria. Here, Mercator decided to stick to Lazius’ maps. What does this tell us about Mercator’s working methods? While compiling his sources, Mercator may have considered the work of Sgrooten worthwhile for the larger area of the Lower Rhine, but he preferred other sources as far as the other parts of Germany were concerned. It was indeed Sgrooten’s first map of the region of Veluwe in Gelderland that secured him a position at the royal court. It looks then as if Mercator’s choice for specific maps was based on the maps’ reputation or rather their author’s reputation: Jacob van Deventer for the Low Countries, Christiaan Sgrooten for the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle, Wolfgang Lazius for Austria. Also, all three were closely related to the Habsburgs and had been working for them.
Conclusion: The Habsburgs and Cartography The Habsburgs showed a great interest in maps particularly in mapping their territories. They used maps for local administration, for travel, for military strategy, for political propaganda or as a tool for humanist scholarship, which in turn could be used to celebrate the glories of the dynasty.22 Some remarkable cartographic ventures were fostered by Charles V and his son Philip II: the city maps by Jacob van Deventer and their Spanish parallel, the Wyngaerde series of Spanish city views, the Escorial atlas (MS K.I.1), and the atlases made by Christiaan Sgrooten.23 To these can be added the maps published by Hieronymus Cock in the 1550’s and
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early 1560’s, the production of which is in some way related to the Spanish court.24 Charles’ brother Ferdinand had the map of Hungary drawn by Lazarus Secretarius (Vienna, 1528), shortly after his coronation as King of Bohemia and Hungary, and much later, in 1558, he commissioned Wolfgang Lazius to design the maps of Austria when he had succeeded Charles as Holy Roman Emperor.25 The fragmentation of the maps’ production, for example the lack of a centralized mapping agency and of a map covering the whole of the governed lands, may reflect the highly personalized and local character of the Habsburg rule over these territories: the lands are not represented as part of a greater entity, but stand on their own; their union is only hinted at by the presence of the imperial or royal emblems on the map, or by its dedication. In the case of the German lands, it has been argued, the maps produced for the emperor and his court are an illustration of the way the Habsburgs governed their empire in the sixteenth to seventeenth century.26 For the Spanish kingdom this is less obvious as its constituent parts are geographically dispersed. The maps, particularly the one of Spain, seem to illustrate their striving for unification in a confederal structure. Indeed, the stemmata of the different kingdoms, duchies, counties, principalities present on the maps indicate that the Spanish Habsburgs are not just rulers of the whole but rather king, duke, count etc. of its constituent parts. On the other hand, we should not forget that the Habsburgs have always promoted a clear policy of centralization, among other things by reforming existing institutions or creating new ones. In this sense, Ferdinand’s politics were very clear from the very start of his reign, but they clashed with the ideas of the local nobility, and eventually Ferdinand had to give in and recognize the local governmental bodies’ independence from Vienna (1559). Ferdinand’s nephew, Philip II, also strove for centralization in his kingdom, but he was as unsuccessful as his uncle (if not more so), at least in the Netherlands where from 1568 onwards (or even earlier) a revolt broke out under the direction of Willem of Nassau, which would become known as the Eighty Years War or the Dutch war of Independence. It may be interesting to have a closer look at the role the atlas Bruxellensis may have played in this context. Destined for the King of Spain only, this manuscript atlas shows the Holy Roman Empire (including the Low Countries). Philip II was not king of the Romans but his uncle Ferdinand was. What practical use could a Spanish king possibly have for this document (except for the 10 maps of the Low countries)? Of course, in 1568, the year in which he ordered the atlas, or shortly before that date the Revolt of the Netherlands broke out and Philip II led a bitter
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campaign against Dutch heresy and secession. The war involved the English and the French and expanded into the German Rhineland. But that accounts for about two thirds of the maps in the atlas. Why did he order an atlas of his uncle’s empire as a whole? Charles V wished that his son Philip would succeed him as emperor but his brother Ferdinand, nor his son Maximilian, agreed. The compromise that the Imperial crown would first go to Ferdinand, then to Philip and that Maximilian would succeed Philip as emperor, although accepted by all, would never be respected. We also know that the German lands harshly criticized the repression by the Spanish in the Netherlands in the 1560’s, which seriously disturbed the harmonious relations which had hitherto existed between the two branches of the Habsburg family. But at the end of the 1560’s the relations between Maximilian and Philip of Spain had improved. The emperor became more moderate in religious affairs, probably because of the death of Philipތs son, Don Carlos, in 1568. The lack of an heir on the Spanish side opened the way for the German branch of the Habsburgs to succeed Philip as king of Spain.27 Evidence of this friendly feeling was given in 1570, when the emperor's daughter, Anna, became Philip’s fourth wife. At the end of 1571 the couple would have a first son, Ferdinand, who would die at an early age in 1578. But between 1568 and 1571 Maximilian’s son Rudolf (1552-1612), who would succeed his father on the imperial throne, was a serious candidate to Philip’s succession. He was educated at Philip’s court in Madrid from 1563 to 1571 and Philip was very fond of the boy. Was the atlas Bruxellensis perhaps meant for him as future emperor and king of the Netherlands while the atlas Madritensis reflects the king’s far more ambitious personal project (effective from the early 1580s) of dominating the entire world?28
Bibliography Alvin Louis, Rapport triennal sur la situation de la Bibliothèque Royale pendant les années 1858-1859, 1859-1860 et 1860-1861 présenté à M. Alp. Vandenpeereboom, Ministre de l’Intérieur (Bruxelles: Imprimerie de Deltombe, 1862). Blonk-van der Wijst Dick and Joan, Zelandia comitatus. Geschiedenis en Cartobibliografie van de provincie Zeeland tot 1860 (Houten: Hes & de Graaf, 2010). Bracke Wouter, Jacob van Deventer e l'atlante di città dei Paesi Bassi. In: de Seta Cesare, Marin Brigitte, Iuliano Marco, Le città dei cartografi. Studi e ricerche di storia urbana (Napoli: Electa, 2008), p. 38-48.
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Bracke Wouter, Debroux Mathias, Une source royale pour Mercator. L’atlas de Christian Sgrooten (ms. 21.596) (Bruxelles: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, 2012). Bracke Wouter, Martens Pieter, “A New View on the World. The Cartographic and Chorographic Publications of Hieronymus Cock.” In: Van Grieken Joris, Luijten Ger, Van der Stock Jan, Hieronymus Cock. The Renaissance in Print (Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2013), p. 58-67 Beylen Jules van, “Schepen op kaarten ten tijde van Gerard Merrcator.” In: Duisburger Forschungen, 6 (1962), p. 131-157. Denucé Jean, Oud-nederlandsche kaartmakers in betrekking met Plantijn (Antwerpen: Nederlandsche boekhandel, 1912-1913), I (1912). Dotzauer Winfried, Die deutschen Reichskreise (1383–1806) (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998). Durme M. van, Correspondance mercatorienne (Anvers: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1959). Hachez Félix, “Recherches sur l’auteur d’un atlas de l’Europe occidentale du XVIe siècle.” In: Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, II, 11 (1894), p. 247-258. Horst Thomas, Le monde en cartes. Gérard Mercator et le premier atlas du monde (Bruxelles: Fonds Mercator, 2011). Kagan Richard L., Schmidt Benjamin, Maps and the Early Modern State. Official Cartography. In: Woodward David, The History of Cartography, III, Cartography in the Renaissance (Chicago / London: University of Chicago Press, 2007), p. 661-679. Kamen Henry, Philip of Spain (New Haven / London: Yale University Press, 1997). Koeman Cornelis, Gewestkaarten van de Nederlanden door Jacob van Deventer, 1536-1545 (Alphen a/d Rijn: Canaletto, 1994). Krogt Peter C. J. van der, “Boek van het jaar: De Atlas (1595) van Gerard Mercator.” In: Jaarboek van het Nederlands Genootschap van Bibliofielen 1995 (Amsterdam: De Buitenkant, 1996), p. 19-46. Meurer Peter, Die Manuskriptatlanten Christian Sgrootens (Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto, 2007). Nuti Lucia, “The Perspective Plan in the Sixteenth Century. The Invention of a Representational Language.” In: The Art Bulletin, 76/1 (1994), pp. 105-128. Parker Geoffrey, “Maps and Ministers. The Spanish Habsburgs.” In: Buisseret David (ed.), Monarchs, Ministers and Maps. The Emergence of Cartography as a Tool of Government in Early Modern Europe (Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 124152.
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Ramaix Isabelle, “Paul de la Houve. Contribution à sa vie et à son œuvre d’éditeur.” In: Le livre et l’estampe. Revue trimestrielle de la société royale des bibliophiles et iconophiles de Belgique, 26 (1980), pp. 7-69. Schneider Andreas, Der Niederrheinisch-Westfälische Kreis im 16. Jahrhundert. Geschichte, Struktur und Funktion eines Verfassungsorganes des alten Reiches (Düsseldorf: Schwann, 1985). Unger Richard W., Ships on Maps. Pictures of Power in Renaissance Europe (New York / Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Van Grieken Joris, Luijten Ger, Van der Stock Jan, Hieronymus Cock. The Renaissance in Print (Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2013). Vann James, “Mapping under the Austrian Habsburgs.” In: Buisseret David (ed.), Monarchs, Ministers and Maps. The Emergence of Cartography as a Tool of Government in Early Modern Europe (Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 153167.
Notes 1
On Gerard Mercator and his Atlas see most recently Horst Thomas, Le monde en cartes. Gérard Mercator et le premier atlas du monde (Bruxelles: Fonds Mercator, 2011). 2 In the final edition, posthumously published by Mercator’s heirs in 1595, the Chronologia was not included. On the book’s concept see Krogt, Peter C. J. van der, “Boek van het jaar: De Atlas (1595) van Gerard Mercator.” In: Jaarboek van het Nederlands Genootschap van Bibliofielen 1995 (Amsterdam: De Buitenkant, 1996), pp. 19-46. 3 In the 16th c., following Ptolemaeus’ division in his Geographia, chorographia meant the pictorial description of part of the whole world, the latter’s mathematical representation being the subject of geographia. Cfr. Nuti Lucia, “The Perspective Plan in the Sixteenth Century. The Invention of a Representational Language.” In: The Art Bulletin, 76/1 (1994), pp. 105-128; eadem, Ritratti di città. Visione e memoria tra Medioevo e Settecento (Venezia: Marsilio, 1996), pp. 23 and following. 4 For Christiaan Sgrooten and his maps see Meurer Peter, Die Manuskriptatlanten Christian Sgrootens (Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto, 2007), to whom we refer for an extensive bibliography on the subject. Unfortunately, the illustrations and reproductions in the book date from before the restoration of the atlas in 20072008 thanks to private funding by the foundation Inbev-Baillet Latour. 5 For Hieronymus Cock (ca. 1510-1570) see Van Grieken Joris, Luijten Ger, Van der Stock Jan, Hieronymus Cock. The Renaissance in Print (Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2013). 6 Denucé Jean, Oud-nederlandsche kaartmakers in betrekking met Plantijn (Antwerpen: Nederlandsche boekhandel, 1912-1913), I (1912), pp. 136-137.
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For de la Houve, see de Ramaix Isabelle, “Paul de la Houve. Contribution à sa vie et à son œuvre d’éditeur.” In: Le livre et l’estampe. Revue trimestrielle de la société royale des bibliophiles et iconophiles de Belgique, 26 (1980), pp. 7-69. 8 Meurer, Die Manuskriptatlanten Christian Sgrootens (see note 4), p. 93. 9 Numbers between parentheses refer to the map numbers in Meurer, Die Manuskriptatlanten Christian Sgrootens (see note 4). 10 Cfr. Beylen Jules van, “Schepen op kaarten ten tijde van Gerard Merrcator.” In: Duisburger Forschungen, 6 (1962), pp. 131-157, pp. 146-150. For a general treatise of ships on maps see Unger Richard W., Ships on Maps. Pictures of Power in Renaissance Europe (New York / Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). For the print once attributed to Brueghel see Van Grieken, Hieronymus Cock (see note 5), p. 368, n. 4. 11 Meurer, Die Manuskriptatlanten Christian Sgrootens (see note 4). 12 Alvin Louis, Rapport triennal sur la situation de la Bibliothèque Royale pendant les années 1858-1859, 1859-1860 et 1860-1861 présenté à M. Alp. Vandenpeereboom, Ministre de l’Intérieur (Bruxelles: Imprimerie de Deltombe, 1862); Hachez Félix, “Recherches sur l’auteur d’un atlas de l’Europe occidentale du XVIe siècle.” In: Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, II, 11 (1894), pp. 247-258 ( = Acta Cartographica, 8 (1970), pp. 343354). 13 Van Durme M., Correspondance mercatorienne (Anvers: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1959), p. 101. 14 Meurer, Die Manuskriptatlanten Christian Sgrootens (see note 4), pp. 111 and 190 15 Ibidem, p. 69. 16 Ibidem, pp. 69-72 and Bracke Wouter, Debroux Mathias, Une source royale pour Mercator. L’atlas de Christian Sgrooten (ms. 21.596) (Bruxelles: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, 2012). 17 Cfr. Schneider Andreas, Der Niederrheinisch-Westfälische Kreis im 16. Jahrhundert. Geschichte, Struktur und Funktion eines Verfassungsorganes des alten Reiches (Düsseldorf: Schwann, 1985). For the imperial circles in general see Dotzauer Winfried, Die deutschen Reichskreise (1383–1806) (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998). 18 For Deventer and the regional maps see Koeman Cornelis, Gewestkaarten van de Nederlanden door Jacob van Deventer, 1536-1545 (Alphen a/d Rijn: Canaletto, 1994). The date of 1549 for the map of Zealand is based on Blonk-van der Wijst Dick and Joan, Zelandia comitatus. Geschiedenis en Cartobibliografie van de provincie Zeeland tot 1860 (Houten: Hes & de Graaf, 2010), p. 52. 19 Cfr. Bracke Wouter, Jacob van Deventer e l'atlante di città dei Paesi Bassi. In: de Seta Cesare, Marin Brigitte, Iuliano Marco, Le città dei cartografi. Studi e ricerche di storia urbana (Napoli: Electa, 2008), p. 38-48. 20 Cfr. Blonk-van der Wijst, Zelandia comitatus (see note 18), pp. 56-57. On the Eighty Years War see Parker Geoffrey, The Dutch Revolt (London: Penguin, 2002).
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On Lazius see the contribution by Petra Svatek in this volume. For Sgrooten’s map see Meurer, Die Manuskriptatlanten Christian Sgrootens (see note 4), p. 163. 22 Cfr. Kagan Richard L., Schmidt Benjamin, Maps and the Early Modern State. Official Cartography. In: Woodward David, The History of Cartography, III, Cartography in the Renaissance (Chicago / London: University of Chicago Press, 2007), pp. 661-679. 23 Cfr. Buisseret David, “Spanish Peninsular Cartography, 1500-1700.” In: Woodward (see note 22), pp. 1069-1094, pp. 1081-1085; Parker Geoffrey, “Maps and Ministers. The Spanish Habsburgs.” In: Buisseret David (ed.), Monarchs, Ministers and Maps. The Emergence of Cartography as a Tool of Government in Early Modern Europe (Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 124-152. 24 Bracke Wouter, Martens Pieter, “A New View on the World. The Cartographic and Chorographic Publications of Hieronymus Cock.” In: Van Grieken, Hieronymus Cock (see note 5), pp. 58-67. 25 See Svatek Petra in this volume. 26 Vann James, “Mapping under the Austrian Habsburgs.” In: Buisseret, Monarchs, Ministers and Maps (see note 23), pp. 153-167. 27 Cfr. Kamen Henry, Philip of Spain (New Haven / London: Yale University Press, 1997), p. 97. 28 In March 1574, the new governor of the Netherlands, Luis de Requesens, in a letter to the king suggested that he would appoint his daughter Isabella governor of the independent Netherlands and marry her to one of the emperor’s sons. The idea would be adopted by Philip II more than twenty years later (cfr. Kamen, Philip of Spain (see note 27), p. 155).
PART 4: GLOBES AND CELESTIAL MAPS IN THE TIME OF MERCATOR
CHAPTER TWELVE CELESTIAL MAPS AND FRONTISPIECES IN THE TIME OF MERCATOR NICK KANAS
Gerard Mercator was born on March 5, 1512, and he died on December 2, 1594. Although his interests included philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and instrument-making, he is best remembered as an engraver and cartographer, publishing a number of maps and globes. His world map of 1569 featured his namesake map projection in which parallel and meridian lines were straight and spaced so that at any point, there was an accurate ratio of latitude to longitude. This projection became popular with mariners because they could steer courses over long distances by plotting straight lines without needing to readjust their compass readings. During the last twenty-five years of his life, he began to collect his maps into a book which he called his “Atlas,” named not for the Greek Titan but for a legendary king of Mauritania, who was supposed to have been a great philosopher and astronomer and who allegedly produced the first celestial globe.1 Subsequently, the word “atlas” became the generic term for book collections of terrestrial and celestial maps. Various sections of his great work appeared over the years, with the final part being published posthumously by his son in 1595. It was entitled Atlas, sive Cosmographicae Meditationes…, and its frontispiece showed Atlas in the center of a stage examining a celestial globe. Further printings and editions followed in the 1600s. Thus, Mercator’s greatest influence on terrestrial cartography essentially spanned the 16th and 17th centuries. This period was also an important time for celestial cartography. The first printed celestial maps were made in the 1500s. Celestial cartography reached its peak in beauty and quality from 1600 to 1800 with the publication in Europe of a number of breathtaking maps and atlases related to the heavens. Some of the images depicted showed lunar or planetary surfaces or diagrams of the solar system according to various cosmological world views (e.g., the Earth-centered universe of the classical Greeks, the Sun-centered system of Copernicus).2
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But the most striking images were of the stars and constellations.3 The sky was divided into a coordinate system measuring degrees of celestial latitude and longitude. An attempt was made to place the stars accurately within this grid system, allowing their relative locations to be measured. In addition, the accompanying constellations typically were pictured using images originating from classical Greek traditions, with allegorical visual representations of heroes and heroines, real and imaginary animals, and later, in the Enlightenment, scientific and artistic tools and instruments. But why the need for such accuracy and why were constellation images used in star maps?
The Importance of Constellations The ability to predict celestial events and to accurately locate heavenly bodies in the night sky had practical significance. For example, the first appearance of a star just before the rising Sun could signal the season of planting. The stars were also useful in navigation and in determining a ship’s latitude. In addition, for the classical Greeks with their skill in mathematics, spherical geometry, and model building, being able to locate a heavenly body allowed them to satisfy their urge to better understand the structure of the cosmos. Although they were able to accurately place stars in a celestial coordinate system organized in degrees of celestial latitude and longitude, using the stellar patterns that became the constellations helped them organize the heavens and create images that perpetuated the moral and historical teaching of their mythology. Actually, the Greek constellation tradition went back to the third millennium B.C. to the Sumerians, who recorded names (e.g., bull, lion, scorpion) on clay tables that suggested they envisioned some constellations that later were imported to Greece. In the 8th century B.C., Homer mentioned several constellations and asterisms, such as Ursa Major, Orion, the Pleiades and the Hyades. By the 3rd century B.C., books were written that described over 40 constellations that reflected Greek mythology and lore, and a complete system of celestial cosmology began to crystallize.
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Early Maps of the Heavens This system was summarized by the Greek geographer and astronomer Ptolemy (ca. 100-178 A.D.). Around 150 A.D., he wrote his famous book summarizing the Greek mathematical astronomy and theory that came to be known as the Almagest. It viewed the Earth as being in the center of the cosmos surrounded by the fixed stars as well as the “wandering” stars (e.g., the Sun, Moon, and planets) that orbited around it in the region of the sky called the ecliptic. To mathematically predict the locations of these heavenly bodies, a system of eccentric orbits or epicycles spinning on geocentric orbits called deferents was developed. The Almagest also included a catalog of 1,022 stars in 48 classical Greek constellations that were named for mythological figures. Stellar positions were given according to their celestial latitude and longitude, oriented to the ecliptic, as well as to their location in the figure representing each constellation. In addition, stellar magnitudes were listed and categorized. The system described in the Almagest was preserved by the Arabs and the Byzantines and was brought back to Europe in the Middle Ages. It was to last until 1543 A.D., when Copernicus placed the Sun in the center of the universe and the early 1600s, when Kepler developed a system of elliptical planetary orbits that did away with the need for eccentrics and epicycles. The earliest existing celestial maps from the classical Greek period are actually celestial globes. An example is the Farnese Atlas, which once belonged to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and is now in the National Museum in Naples. This marble statue dates back to the 2nd Century A.D. but is likely a copy of a Greek original from the time of the famous Greek astronomer Hipparchus (ca. 190-120 B.C.). It depicts the classical Atlas holding a celestial globe on his back on which are carved 43 of the classical 48 Greek constellations (Fig. 12-1 and also Fig. 6-3)4. The images are shown left to right reversed from the way we see them when looking up at the sky from the Earth (which is the “geocentric” orientation). This mirror-reversed “external” orientation became the norm for many centuries, not only with globes but also with flat maps of the sky. In the Middle Ages, constellations were hand drawn on vellum or parchment. Since the purpose of the constellation image was to illustrate the accompanying text rather than to represent an accurate star map, those stars that were drawn in were placed on the figure pretty much at random. The same situation occurred in the early Renaissance after moveable type printing developed in the 1450s. The stars in these printed images of constellations continued to be placed at random, so they did not represent true star maps.
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Celestial Cartography in the 16th Century This situation began to change in the 16th century. In 1515, the famous artist and mathematician from Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), printed two woodcuts that showed the Greek constellations in the northern and southern celestial hemispheres (Fig. 12-2). Each map was printed using a polar stereographic projection, with the ecliptic celestial pole in the center and the zodiac constellations around the periphery. What made these the first printed celestial maps was the fact that the stars in the constellations were positioned in a primitive radial coordinate system based on Ptolemy’s star catalog. The star patterns and constellation figures were depicted in a celestial globe-like external orientation, and there was no indication of stellar magnitudes.
Fig. 12-1: “Orbis Coelestis…” The first published chart of two celestial hemispheres centered on the equinoxes that were taken from the Farnese Atlas (Fig. 6-3). This paper transcription was drawn in stereographic projection by Martin Folkes. It appeared in the 1739 edition of Manilius’ work: Astronomicon ex Recensione et cum Notis Richardi Bentleii and was edited by the English classicist Richard Bentley. Note the classical Greek constellations, the gaps representing areas of damage or places where Atlas is holding the globe, and a picture of the statue in the lower center.
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Fig. 12-2: The northern celestial hemisphere produced by Albrecht Dürer in 1515. Note the radial lines that were an early coordinate system since they allowed the stars to be located in the heavens. This woodcut is the first printed star map. Courtesy of the Collection of Robert Gordon.
Further progress in star mapping occurred in 1540, when the Italian cleric and polymath Alessandro Piccolomini (1508-1578) published the first star atlas, De Le Stelle Fisse (“On the Fixed Stars”). Although he did not include constellation figures in his illustrations, he showed the star patterns geocentrically in the woodcut plates, each of which corresponded to a Ptolemaic constellation (Fig. 12-3). Star magnitudes were indicated by the size and shape of the stellar symbols and by their Roman letter labels (with “a” being brightest, “b” next, etc.). A degree scale at the bottom
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gave a sense of the constellation’s size. Star locations were indicated through statements on each plate identifying the direction to the celestial pole.
Fig. 12-3: The constellations of Ursa Minor (left) and Ursa Major (right), from the 1579 edition of Piccolomini’s De le Stelle Fisse. Note the geocentric orientation, the different symbols representing the stars’ magnitudes, and the accuracy of the star patterns in the absence of constellation figures.
Celestial Cartography in the 17th Century The 1600s ushered in the Golden Age of celestial cartography in Europe with the publication of Bayer’s great star atlas Uranometria in 1603. Johann Bayer (1572-1625) was a Bavarian lawyer and amateur astronomer who lived in Augsburg. His atlas contained a chart for each of the 48 classical Greek constellations (Fig. 12-4). The geocentric images were engraved in copper, which allowed for finer precision of the lines of the beautifully illustrated constellation figures. This represented a great improvement over earlier woodcut prints. Each plate used a trapezoidal projection and included a celestial latitude/longitude coordinate system that was oriented to the ecliptic. The margins were calibrated to allow star positions to be determined to a fraction of a degree. Over 2,000 stars were plotted and labeled in order of magnitude using Greek letters (with “alpha”
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being usually the brightest in the constellation, “beta” being second, etc.). In addition, 12 new constellations were included that were created from stars catalogued by explorers sailing into the southern hemisphere. Bayer’s atlas set the standard for future celestial atlases due to its beauty and accuracy.
Fig. 12-4: An image of the constellation Bootes, from a mid-1600 edition of Bayer’s Uranometria. Note the geocentric orientation and the use of an accurate grid system. Part of the handle of the Big Dipper is shown at the upper right.
The next star atlas to rival Bayer’s in terms of innovation and accuracy was produced by Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687). The son of a wealthy brewer in Poland, Hevelius developed an interest in astronomy. Using profits from the family business, he converted the roofs of three adjacent houses in Danzig into an observatory, complete with a variety of astronomical instruments, a machine shop, a library and museum, and a printing press. In addition to an influential lunar atlas published in 1647 (discussed below), Hevelius’ work led to his famous celestial atlas, Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia, published in 1687 (Fig. 12-5). The stars were precisely plotted using a trapezoidal projection oriented to the ecliptic. Their positions were based on Hevelius’ own accurate star catalog of over 1,500 stars. Included were 11 new
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constellations and charted stars located in the southern hemisphere. Harkening back to Dürer and the celestial globe tradition, the star patterns and constellations were shown in an external orientation. This bow to the past was typical of the traditional Hevelius, who insisted that the eye was more accurate than the telescope in plotting stellar positions. Nevertheless, like Bayer, Hevelius influenced the celestial maps of many contemporary celestial cartographers, particularly those living in Central Europe.
Fig. 12-5: “Fig. F.” constellations from Hevelius’ Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, first published in 1687. Note the external orientation and Bootes (shown from the back), with the Big Dipper now to the left. Compare with Fig. 12-4.
Celestial Illustrated Title Pages and Frontispieces during the Time of Mercator Images related to the text were not the only ones present in celestial books and atlases. Less well-known were those included in the title pages or appearing in the decorative plate usually facing the title page, the so-
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called frontispiece. These were very popular in the Renaissance, and in terms of quality, wealth of detail, and complexity of ideas and allegories, they reached their zenith in the 1600s and early 1700s. Thereafter, they became simpler and more narrowly related to the subject matter, perhaps reflecting the growing empiricism as astronomical science advanced with the growing use of the telescope. There have been a number of surveys conducted of illustrated title pages and frontispieces. Soderlund examined 291 illustrations that introduced the front of 17th century books on astronomy. She found that 65% comprised an entire page, whereas in the remaining 35% the images were less prominent and were somewhat subordinate to the text.5 The larger and more expensive the book, the more likely it was to have an elaborate frontispiece or illustrated title page. Soderlund pointed out that many of these images had a commercial purpose. By piquing the reader’s interest in the mysteries of astronomy and helping him to identify with the intellectual aspects of the subsequent text, he was stimulated to buy the book. Shirley reviewed a number of “decorative cartographic title pages” from about 1470 to 1870. From his sample, he identified six major themes: classical mythology; Christian theology; Renaissance art forms; allegories, images and emblems; symbols of power; and science, discovery and exploration.6 In many cases, one of these themes predominated, but in other cases there was a mix. In an unpublished review of European celestial books and atlases going back from the present to the beginning years of printing, Kanas classified the images appearing in illustrated title pages and frontispieces into four types: printer’s marks; allegorical images using classical mythology and important astronomers from antiquity; pictures of instruments and people contemporary with the time of publication; and images and schematics that were extensions of the content. Some frontispieces were combinations of these categories.7 Since the last two categories were more typical in books written after the wide-spread use of the telescope and the scientific advances of the Enlightenment, only the first two will be discussed below as being more typically found during the time of Mercator.
Printer’s Marks During the early days of printing in Europe, title pages were more elaborate than today’s versions and sometimes included images that were either highly decorative in nature (especially where there was no frontispiece) or were identifying symbols of the printer. These printer’s
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marks (or logotypes) were popular in the Renaissance, varying from elaborate allegorical designs, to alchemical symbols of elements used in the printing process, to simple and identifiable pictures (such as the famous dolphin and anchor of the Aldine Press).
Fig. 12-6: Title page from the 1579 edition of Piccolomini’s La Sfera del Mondo. Note the nautical theme of the printer’s mark, reflecting its publication in Venice.
A beautiful Renaissance example of a printer’s mark can be found in Alessandro Piccolomini’s La Sfera del Mondo (“The Sphere of the World”), which was originally published in 1540 as a companion book to De Le Stelle Fisse, mentioned above. The title page from the 1579 edition of La Sfera del Mondo is shown in Fig. 12-6. The title of the book appears at the top, followed by Piccolomini’s name, a brief description of the book, the printer’s mark, and the location (“Vinegia”, or Venice), name,
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and date of the book’s publisher. Elaborately Baroque in style, the printer’s mark depicts an image of a sea god in the middle with two tails.
Allegorical Images At the start of the Golden Age of celestial cartography, allegory and elaborate Baroque and Classical images were prominent. Individuals were usually shown standing on pedestals or within elaborate theatrical stages. Frequently present were soothing images of ancient temples, monuments, and gardens. Other Baroque and Classical images were present as well, such as flowers, shells, cornucopias, garlands, fantastic animals, and Greek columns. In terms of the individuals shown, a common female image was that of a beautiful woman holding an astronomical instrument, such as a telescope, astrolabe or armillary sphere. Representing the discipline of astronomy, she often could be identified as Urania, a muse in Apollo’s circle, or Astronomia, one of the seven liberal arts. Astronomers were also shown and depicted as older scholarly men holding an astronomical instrument. Many of these male figures were actual scientists and philosophers noted for their work in astronomy. Other figures represented astronomicallyrelated concepts, such as Eternity. Deities also were shown, such as Apollo, representing the Sun, and Diana, representing the Moon. There were commonly themes reflecting world views. The 16th and th 17 centuries were a transition period, in that traditionalists clung to the geocentric Ptolemaic universe, whereas those advocating the new Copernican heliocentric system were growing in influence. Consequently, both world views were depicted in illustrated title pages and frontispieces. Conflicting spiritual references also were present, and both pagan and Christian images were shown, frequently together. Both categories served to convey the notion that the astronomical content of the book represented timeless and universal ideas linking past and present. Child-like angelic putti often were depicted holding up banners or astronomical instruments, as if they were toys. This gave the image a playful quality that suggested the book would be fun as well as educational. An example of a frontispiece from a book of the period is shown in Fig. 12-7. This book is entitled Mythographi Latini and is composed of several books on Greco-Roman mythology bound together in 1681 by Thomas Munckerus, the Rector at the Gymnasium in Delft. At the top in the heavens one can find Zeus and his retinue and Helios crossing in a chariot. Near the water, Poseidon stands holding a trident. In the center of the image, a Minotaur joins a group pouring wine or water from a vase,
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while an eagle picks at the liver of a reclining Prometheus in the left foreground. In the underworld below, the three-headed dog Cerberus howls as Charon ferries an unfortunate couple across the river Styx.
Fig. 12-7: Frontispiece from the 1681 edition of Munckerus’ Mythographi Latini. Note that it also includes the book’s title, some publishing information, and an image that depicts a number of mythological characters engaged in activities related to their histories.
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Fig. 12-8: Illustrated title page from the 1661 edition of Bayer’s Uranometria, first published in 1603. Note that the names of various owners of the atlas are handwritten in the margins, including a monastery entry at the bottom.
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Fig. 12-8 depicts the illustrated title page from the 1661 edition of Johann Bayer’s Uranometria. At the top are three figures (from left to right): Apollo, personifying the Sun/Day; Eternity, holding back two lionlike beasts that represented ignorance; and Diana, personifying the Moon/Night. At their feet is written the Greek and Latin for “Let no one unlearned in geometry enter eternity!”8 Prominent in the center is a banner that is the only title page. It states that the atlas contains charts engraved on copper plates that depict all the constellations according to a “new method.” To the left of the banner is an old man representing Atlas. He is pointing to an astrolabe and standing on a pedestal that reads: “To Atlas, master of the most ancient astronomers”. To the right is Hercules, holding a celestial globe on his shoulders. He is standing on a pedestal that reads: “To Hercules, disciple of the most ancient astronomers.” To explain this, Soderlund refers to one of the myths of Atlas that describe him as being knowledgeable in astronomy, the discoverer of the nature of the sphere, and the teacher of this knowledge to Hercules.9 Given the way Atlas is dressed, the euhemerist view suggests that this is indeed the King of Mauritania, as described above in the discussion of the Mercator Atlas frontispiece. It is not clear if Bayer ever met Mercator, but he likely knew about his famous atlas and perhaps had seen its accompanying frontispiece. Fig. 12-9 shows the frontispiece from the first true lunar atlas, Selenographia, produced in 1647 by Johannes Hevelius. The atlas included three large plates of the full Moon plus a series of smaller maps showing the lunar phases day by day. Hevelius’ system of nomenclature was widely used in Europe for decades before being replaced by a simpler system similar to that we use today. At the top left of the frontispiece is an image of the Moon, and to the extreme right the Sun. In between is the allegorical figure Contemplation, who ascends aloft on the back of an eagle. She is carrying a telescope, with which to view and contemplate the heavens. Below her are two putti holding a banner referencing “Isiah 40” (verse 26): “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things.” At the bottom are two scientists from the past. Alhazen (a.k.a. Ibn al-Haytham) is on the left. He holds a geometric diagram and stands on the pedestal of reason, so-labeled and adorned with a skull cap. On the right is Galileo, holding a telescope. An eye is depicted on his pedestal, which is labeled for the senses. Together they hold a banner with a shortened version of the title page, suggesting that the subsequent text unites reasoning and sensation. At the bottom is a picture of the skyline of Gdansk (Danzig), home of Hevelius’ observatory, where the book was published.
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Fig. 12-9: Frontispiece from the first true lunar atlas, Selenographia, by Hevelius, which was published in 1647. Note that two scientists from the past are depicted: on the left, Ibn al-Haytham, holding a geometric diagram and standing on the pedestal of reason, and on the right Galileo, holding a telescope and standing on the pedestal of the senses. This suggests that the book brings together the union of the mind and the senses.
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Fig. 12-10. An illustrated title page from volume 1 of the 1659 Spanish edition of Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu’s famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Atlas Novus, first published in 1635. Note that the title section in Spanish and the publisher’s imprint in Latin were pasted onto a standard image engraving for this atlas.
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Stunning celestial images also were found in the frontispieces from general atlases. An example is shown in Fig. 12-10. This is taken from Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu’s famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive Atlas Novus, first published in 1635, with later expansions by Joan Blaeu. It is the illustrated title page of volume 1 from a 1659 Spanish edition of this atlas. The image depicts an elaborate theater stage. On either side of the title section are four people and two animals representing the continents: from left to right, Asia, Europe, America, and Africa.10 At the top are several astronomical referents. On the left margin is located a celestial globe, over which an astronomer instructs his scribe. In the center is a large armillary sphere. To its right is Apollo with his lyre, and to its left Juno, whose four lactating breasts represent the Milky Way or perhaps the bounty of Mother Earth. Other images represent the four elements and various terrestrial themes. The intent was to show the reader that all things in heaven and earth were to be found in this stunning atlas.
Conclusions The time of Mercator was an exciting period for celestial cartography. Influenced by progressive Renaissance ideas and the growth of printing due to the invention of moveable type in the 1450s, true star maps and celestial atlases were produced in the 16th Century. More sophisticated and accurate star maps began to be published in the 17th Century, likely influenced in part by Mercator’s great Atlas. Following developments in terrestrial cartography, the beauty and accuracy of celestial map images were improved by the transition to copper engravings from the more primitive and rougher woodcuts. In addition, the exploration of the southern hemisphere led to the cataloguing of new stars and the addition of new constellations from this region. Finally, the widespread use of the telescope beginning in the early 1600s opened up the heavens and allowed for more stars and detailed images of the Moon and planets to be seen and pictured. It was an exciting time for cartography in general, and the mapping of the heavens was especially influenced by these developments. This Golden Age continued into the 1700s as additional stars were visualized and plotted and as ever more beautiful constellations were included to enhance the usability and artistry of the new celestial atlases that were produced.
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Bibliography Crane Nicolas, Mercator: The Man who Mapped the Planet (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2002). Kanas Nick, Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography, 2nd ed. (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2012). —. Solar System Maps: From Antiquity to the Space Age (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2013). Shirley Rodney, Courtiers and Cannibals, Angels and Amazon (Houten, The Netherlands: Hes & De Graaf Publishers BV, 2009). Soderlund I. Elmqvist, Taking Possession of Astronomy: Frontispieces and Illustrated Title Pages in 17th Century Books on Astronomy (Stockholm: Center for History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 2010).
Notes 1
Some of the elements of the complicated Atlas myth are mentioned in Crane Nicholas, Mercator: The Man who Mapped the Planet (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2002), pp. 275-276, and the image of Atlas in the frontispiece of Mercator’s book is shown in the plate facing p. 242. 2 For more information on such maps, see Kanas Nick, Solar System Maps: From Antiquity to the Space Age (New York: Springer, 2014). 3 For more information on such maps, see Kanas Nick, Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography, 2nd ed (New York: Springer, 2012). 4 All images in this chapter except for Fig. 12-2 were taken with permission from the Nick and Carolynn Kanas collection. 5 Soderlund I. Elmqvist. Taking Possession of Astronomy: Frontispieces and Illustrated Title Pages in 17th Century Books on Astronomy (Stockholm: Center for History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 2010), p. 19. 6 Shirley Rodney, Courtiers and Cannibals, Angels and Amazons (Houten, The Netherlands: Hes & De Graaf Publishers BV, 2009), pp. 17-24. 7 This categorization is thoroughly discussed in section “8.7. Frontispieces and Title Pages,” from Kanas, Star Maps (see note 3), pp. 287-311. 8 I am grateful to Professor Christopher Ocker at the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California, for his translation assistance with this piece. 9 Soderlund, Taking Possession of Astronomy (see note 5), pp. 299-300. 10 Shirley states that these are four women, although it is difficult to visualize the image of the person personifying the Americas as a female (Shirley, Courtiers and Cannibals, see note 6, pp. 130-131).
CHAPTER THIRTEEN MERCATOR AS COSMOGRAPHER: HIS GLOBES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO ASTROLOGY THOMAS HORST
The famous cosmographer Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594)1 has revolutionised early modern cartography. Geerd Kremer was born more than 500 years ago in Rupelmonde, Flanders, but his parents, Hubert Kremer and his wife Emerentia, came originally from Gangelt, a small city 25 kilometres to the north of Aachen in the dukedom of Jülich, Germany. This is where Gerhard perhaps spent his childhood, but not later than 1518 the Kremer family moved to Rupelmonde permanently. After the death of his parents, the talented boy was sent by his grand uncle Gisbert († around 1544) to study at a college in s’-Hertogenbosch in the dukedom of Brabant, where he discovered his enthusiasm for illumination. At the age of 18 he began his academic career at the University of Leuven, where he latinized his name (Kremer) like other Humanists of this time, adopting the surname (Mercator). As a mathematician, Mercator was interested in practical aspects of cosmography and the Flemish city of Leuven was a good base for his operations. It was here that a new scientific community was established (outside of the academic lectures), a community guided by the natural scientist Gemma Frisius (1508-1555), who named himself after his homeland Friesland.2 In this intellectual environment Mercator learned the theory and practical skills of geometry and astronomy, as well as the making of maps and scientific instruments.3 The goldsmith Gaspard van der Heyden (around 1496-after 1549)4, taught Mercator the technique and theory of copper engraving.
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Fig. 13-1: The map shows the sphere of action of the cosmographer Gerhard Mercator (designed by Uwe G. F. Kleim, Bundeswehr University Munich).
First cosmographical works: The Orbis Imago and the globe of Gemma Frisius The first cartographic maps of Mercator arose in this context. Beneath them, a small map in a double heart-shaped projection with the title Orbis Imago (“Image of the world”)5 stands out. This map (54,5 x 35,5 cm) was printed in 1538 and is dedicated – it is written at the bottom of the cartouche – to his fellow student Jan Drosius (Droeshout) from Brussels. The prosperous times in Leuven allowed Mercator to procure a good position as a maker of practical instruments.6 In 1536 he had already accepted a bid to help his mentor Gemma Frisius with the copperplate engraving of a second edition of a pair of globes, which was dedicated to the advisor of Charles V., Maximilianus Transylvanus (ca. 1490ca. 1538)7. Only one copy of this printed terrestrial globe with a diameter of 37 cm is preserved in the globe museum at Vienna and belongs to the remarkable collection of globes of Prof. Rudolf Schmidt.8
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Fig. 13-2: In a cartouche on the artistically engraved terrestrial globe of Gemma Frisius the name of Mercator appears beside his mentor Gaspard van der Heyden (“Gaspar a Myrica”).
After engraving this terrestrial globe, Mercator started making numerous astronomical instruments like sundials, compasses, astronomical rings9, astrolabes10 and armillary spheres. Around 1539 he wrote to his former friend from the university, Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (15171586), who was Bishop of Arras from 1538 to 1559, that it was very important to produce such practical instruments.11
Mercator’s terrestrial globe (1541) This explains why Mercator started to construct his own terrestrial globe, which depicts the exact location of recently discovered regions in the New World. After 18 months of work, his terrestrial globe, with a diameter of 41 cm was published in 1541.12 It was dedicated to the father of Antoine, as can be seen on the coat of arms with the Latin motto “Sic visum supervis” (So you will look at the view [of the world]”) on a cartouche.13 Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle (1484-1550), a jurist of Burgundy, was the expert adviser of the imperial policy in the empire. This dedication is not surprising because we know that Mercator also produced other globes (among them a celestial globe in the form of a crystal ball, maybe for a clock by the clock-maker Juanello Turriano14,
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which was made for the emperor Charles V.) and other mathematical instruments. Unfortunately, none of these objects have survived.
Fig. 13-3: The horizontal ring of Mercator’s globe shows the twelve signs of the Zodiac with astrological information, the wind directions in Dutch and Latin language and a detailed calendar, which also names the Saints days. (Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, II 19.527 D – after De Smet, Les Sphères Terrestre et Céleste [see note 15]).
The terrestrial globe was made by twelve copperplate gores, which accurately fitted on the sphere. In this way, it was not a problem to publish the globe as a series. Only one copy of unmounted gores has been preserved in the Royal Library of Brussels.15 They give a great overview of the geographical knowledge of the time. Four copperplates each contain three gores, which together give a map of the world. The New World is characterized by an opossum designed in South America.16 The fifth copperplate however shows the Polar caps and the horizontal ring with its twelve signs of the Zodiac, the wind directions in Dutch and Latin, as well as a detailed calendar, which also names the Saints days.
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The cartographic picture, which was based on several accounts about discoveries in the New World, was accurately engraved17 – even if there are some discrepancies. But it is important to know that Mercator’s globe was not a copy of the terrestrial globe of Gemma Frisius; in fact it shows rather a revision of this globe. All in all one can say that Mercator’s terrestrial globe was excellent for its time. This also explains why it was sold until the end of the 16th century (inter alia at the Frankfurt Book Fair). With his globe, Mercator effectively improved the cartographic picture of Central Europe and the North Polar Region. Furthermore, besides parallels, meridians and compass roses, Mercator’s globe also depicts rhumb lines, which were first described by the Portuguese mathematician Pedro Nuñes, in 1537.18 A rhumb line is the line on the surface of the Earth which cuts all meridian with the same angle.19 Rhumb lines are important for navigation because they describe the path of a ship following a constant course, as measured by the marine compass.20 Mercator’s globe of 1541 is the earliest extant globe depicting rhumb lines. The method for drawing them is unknown but it is likely that he used a set of small brass squares, one for each of the seven classical rhumbs.
Mercator’s celestial globe (1551) It took nearly ten years for Mercator to construct a companion piece to his terrestrial globe. This was a celestial globe which he published in 1551 in Leuven.21 The sphere is dedicated to a very important church dignitary, George of Austria (1504-1557), an illegitimate son of Emperor Maximilian I. and Margareta of Edelsheim, who was prince-bishop in Liège since 1544. For this globe, Mercator possibly used the Astronomicum Caesareum of the Bavarian Humanist Peter Apian (14951552) from 154022, and different information which he might have found in his excellent private library.23 His globe shows the Equator and the ecliptic, the tropic and polar circle, as well as the fixed stars with the constellations and configurations in the sky.24 Moreover, on its horizontal ring, in addition to the calendar, we find important astrological information – the twelve fields in the astrological house system and short comments. With this data it was easy to generate a horoscope.25 Mercator himself gave the emperor an explanation of the most important use of his globe pair and the astronomical ring, the Declaratio insigniorum utilitatem quae sunt in globo terrestri, coelesti, et annulo astronomico, which is preserved as a manuscript in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy.26
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Fig. 13-4: Celestial Globe by Gerhard Mercator with the astronomical disc at the base (Berlin State Library, Map Department, Kart. A. 147).
The astrological disc (May 1551) By chance I found out that since 1876 the Historical Museum in Basel, Switzerland, conserves another scientific instrument by Mercator. This is an astrological disc, which was published at Leuven in May 1551.27 It consists of an instrument made of paper, pasted onto both sides of a wooden disc. The front of the instrument has nine rules: seven refer to the planets and two belong to the Lunar nodes; this is the intersection between
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the ecliptic (the path of the Sun in the Zodiac) and the orbit of the moon. On a smaller disc, rotating over a plate giving instructions, the astrological aspects are printed. The back of the instrument bears a printed instruction sheet (“Candido Lectore“).28
Fig. 13-5: Front of the astronomical disc of Gerhard Mercator (Basel, Historical Museum, Inv. 1876.20; after Van den Broecke, “Dee, Mercator, and the Louvain Instrument Making: An Undescribed Astrological Disc by Gerard Mercator (1551)” [see note 27], p. 220).
So, the instrument has a didactic function: While it was possible to see the constellations of the sky on the celestial globe, the astrological disc shows the exact position of the planets. Interestingly, an astrolabe attributed to Thomas Gemini at the same time (ca. 1552), which is now preserved in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, shows material on the back side which is almost identical to that of the front plate of Mercator’s astrological disc.29
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In the course of my own studies I have found another example of this disc, which confirmed my assumption. At the bottom of the mounting of a copy of Mercator’s celestial globe, which is preserved in the State Library of Berlin30, I discovered exactly the same disc, but without the seven rules, the astrological discs of the aspects and the printed explanation text of the instrument. Nevertheless, I think that it was originally planned as combination. But only here can we see this remarkable combination of a celestial globe and an astronomical disc. Maybe other copies will be found in the future.31
Fig. 13-6: The astrological disc on the base of Mercator’s celestial globe, together with the horizontal ring (Berlin State Library, Map Department, Kart. A. 147).
Mercator’s globes were constructed in serial production over decades. This can be seen on the commercial invoices of the Antwerp publishing house of Plantin32 and proves that Mercator’s globes were the best one you could get in the second half of the 16th century, even if the cartographic picture was not up to date. Moreover his globes were used as astronomical instruments for lectures at this time. This can be seen in a copy of his terrestrial globe, which is damaged.33 The cartographic cimelium derives
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from the first Bavarian university in Ingolstadt, where the astronomer and mathematician Peter Apian has probably used it to show his students the constellation of the sky.34
Mercator’s monumental world map (1569) and its reception on contemporary globes An incisive experience in the life of Gerhard Mercator was the denunciation of heresy in 1544, which led to him being imprisoned for several months in Gravensteen. This was one reason why he emigrated back to the dukedom of Jülich in March 1552. So he swapped the glance of Brabant for the city of Duisburg, where he worked for over 40 years.35 He taught his sons to be cartographers and published several cartographic products there. It was his monumental epoch-making world map in the socalled Mercator-Projection36, which he edited in August 1569.37 This printed map (136 x 213 cm) with the increasing parallel spacing of latitude made him really famous. It also influenced contemporary globemakers as can be seen on two very large manuscript globes which were produced only a few years after the map: These are the terrestrial globe made by the Bavarian cartographer Philipp Apian (1531-1589) in 157638 and the socalled St. Gall globe39, probably produced in Augsburg by an anonymous cartographer between 1571 and 1584. This sphere of the same decade is both terrestrial and celestial – together as one object! For both of these globes the Mercator World map was used as a master copy for the drawings. This can be seen on the terrestrial globe by Philipp Apian, which was dedicated to the Bavarian duke.40 This manuscript globe gives a detailed geographical picture. Some of the inscriptions refer to the expeditions in the New World. With the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, the world was divided into Spanish and Portuguese fields of interest.41 This territorial agreement can be seen on Mercator’s world map – as well as on the manuscript globe of Apian (with more text). Also, the text of another cartouche refers to the circumnavigation of Africa by Vasco da Gama († 1524), which appears on Mercator’s world map and can be seen below the African Continent on the globe too. The South-American landmass on the globe also features the same clumsy form of a potato which is depicted on Mercator’s map.42 Furthermore, the depiction of the river course, the chain of mountains and figurative drawings like the bodies of giants (“gigantes”) and the cannibals (“Anthropophagi”), can be found on both cartographic documents. At this time, the perception of a big, hypothetical Southern Continent43, which is described besides the Old and New World
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by Mercator as a third Continent, is typical. So it is no wonder that it also appears on Apian’s terrestrial globe. Even if we can recognise the North American Continent, we can see that the landmass is recessed too much to the West and also the coasts (as can be seen here on the Indian subcontinent) are relatively identical. So, both documents bear a striking similarity, but there are also notable discrepancies: Firstly, Apian’s globe does not adopt all the cartouches of the Mercator map. The Bavarian cartographer also fails to depict allegorical figures like the “Zolotaia Baba”, which is visualised on Mercator’s map in the lower course of the river Ob in Siberia. This woman with her two children can be interpreted as the fertility goddess. In contrast to this, Apian depicts on his globe other allegorical figures, which cannot be found on Mercator’s map – for example, more to the East, the tent of the Great Khan.44 Both authors combine medieval legends with contemporary topographical material and there seems to be evidence that Apian knew Mercator’s monumental world map, which sold more than 300 copies. This map was probably also in the possession of Apian. But the greatest work by Gerhard Mercator, which can still be used today, is his Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes (Atlas or Cosmographical Meditations on the Fabric of the World). The collection of 107 maps, bound in book form and called ‘Atlas’ for the first time, was published in three parts in 1585 with the maps of France, the Netherlands and Germany. Maps of Italy were published in 1589 and in 1594 along with maps of the British Isles and of Northern and Eastern Europe. Mercator’s opus was unfinished. The atlas with the different parts was edited by his son Rumold (1541-1599) and sold after Mercator’s death in 1595. It was a real masterpiece of the Renaissance. Over 30 complete copies of this printed atlas with its unique maps (mostly illuminated in magnificent colours) are known today. Among them, a beautiful coloured copy of the Atlas in the Berlin State Library has to be emphasised.45
Conclusion: Mercator as Cosmographer and Astrologer We have seen that Mercator’s pair of globes (dated 1541/1551) show a remarkable relationship to astrology. The cartographic genius was not only familiar with cosmography, but also with astrological concepts. In 1575 he wrote his advice to his friend Abraham Ortelius in the Album Amicorum (See Fig. 9–7): His words “Suprema mundi optima” (“The highest, most excellent things of the world”) express the spirit of a visionary whose influence is still felt today.
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Bibliography Apian Petrus, Astronomicum Caesareum (Ingolstadt 1540). Averdunk Heinrich, Müller-Reinhard J., Gerhard Mercator und die Geographen unter seinen Nachkommen. Petermanns Mitteilungen, Ergänzungsheft, 182 (Gotha: Perthes, 1914). Banz Claudia, Höfisches Mäzenatentum in Brüssel. Kardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-1586) und die Erzherzöge Albrecht (1559-1621) und Isabella (1566-1633). Berliner Schriften zur Kunst, 12 (Berlin: Mann, 2000). Beineke Dieter, “Die Loxodromen auf Gerhard Mercators Erdglobus von 1541 – Eine Genauigkeitsanalyse.“ In: Beineke Dieter, Heuneke Otto, Horst Thomas, Kleim Uwe G. F. (Ed.), Festschrift für Univ.-Prof. Dr.Ing. Kurt Brunner anlässlich des Ausscheidens aus dem aktiven Dienst. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Geodäsie, 87 (Neubiberg: Institut für Geodäsie der Universität der Bundeswehr München, 2012), pp. 15-29. Bernleithner Ernst, “Die Erdgloben von Gemma Frisius und Gerhard Mercator – ein Vergleich“. In: Der Globusfreund, 11 (1962), pp. 113121. Bown Stephen R., 1494: How a family feud in medieval Spain divided the world in half (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2012). Crane Nicholas, Mercator. The Man who mapped the planet (London: Weidenfels & Nicolson, 2002). De Graeve Jan, Gérard Mercator. La bibliothèque mathématique d’un génie. The mathematical library of a genius. Le Livre & l’estampe. Revue Semestrielle de la Société Royale des Bibliophiles et Iconophiles de Belgique, 58/177 (Brussels: Société des bibliophiles et iconophiles de Belgique, 2012). De Jonge Krista, Gustaaf Janssens (Eds.), Les Granvelle et les anciens Pays-Bas. Liber doctori Mauricio Van Durme dedicatus. Symbolae Facultatis Litterarum Lovaniensis, Series B, 17 (Leuven: Universitaire Pers, 2000). De Meer Sjoerd, Atlas of the World. Gerard Mercator’s map of the world 1569 (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 2012). De Smet Antoine, “Gaspar a Mirica“. In: Der Globusfreund, 13 (1964), pp. 32-37. —. “Bericht über den Erdglobus von Gemma Frisius, 1536, in Wien“. In: Der Globusfreund, 14 (1965), pp. 44-46. —. Les Sphères Terrestre et Céleste de Gerard Mercator 1541 et 1551. Reproduction anastatiques des fuseaux originaux gravés par Gérard
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Mercator et conservés à la Bibliothèque royale à Bruxelles (Brussels: Éditions Culture et Civilisation, 1968). Dörflinger Johannes, “Der Gemma Frisius-Erdglobus von 1536 in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien.“ In: Der Globusfreund, 21-23 (1973), pp. 81-99. Fauser Alois, Ältere Erd- und Himmelsgloben in Bayern (Stuttgart: Schuler, 1964). García-Diego José A., Juanelo Turriano. Charles V’s clockmaker – The man and his legend. Antiquarian Horological Society, Monograph, 26. (Wadhurst, Sussex: Soc. et al., 1986). Gaspar Joaquim Alves, Leitão Henrique, “Squaring the circle: How Mercator did it in 1569.” In: Imago Mundi, 66 (2014), pp. 1-24. Grenacher Franz, “Der sog. St.-Galler Globus im Schweiz. Landesmuseum. Vermutungen über seine Herkunft und Feststellungen zu seiner Konstruktion.“ In: Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, 21, 2 (1961), pp. 66-78. Haardt Robert, “The Globe of Gemma Frisius.“ In: Imago Mundi, 9 (1952), pp. 109-110. Hallyn Fernand, Gemma Frisius, arpenteur de la terre et du ciel (Paris: Champion, 2008). Hessler John W, Van Duzer Chet, Seeing the World Anew: The Radical Vision of Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 & 1516 World Maps (Delray Beach/FL and Washington, DC: Levenger Pres, and: Library of Congress, 2012). Hinze G., “Drei Globen des 16. Jahrhunderts“. In: Bericht des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Zerbst (Zerbst: Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein, 1927), pp. 10-20. Hollander Raymond d’, Loxodromie et projection de Mercator (Paris et al., Inst. Océanographique Éd., 2005). Horst Thomas, “Traces of Voyages of Dicovery on Early 16th Century Globes“. In: Globe Studies, 55/56 (2009), pp. 23-38. —. “The Manuscript Globes of Heinrich Arboreus and Philip Apian: The History of their creation.” In: Globe Studies, 57/58 (2011), pp. 107123. —. Die Welt als Buch. Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594) und der erste WeltATLAS. Bildband anlässlich der Faksimilierung des Mercatoratlas von 1595 (2°Kart. B 180/3) der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, mit allen Kartentafeln dieser Ausgabe (Gütersloh/Munich and Brussels: Faksimile Verlag/wissenmedia and Mercatorfonds, 2012). —. “Der Memminger Humanist Jakob Stopel († 1535) und sein humanistisch geprägtes Umfeld – Kulturhistorische Betrachtungen
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zum Repertorivm in Formam Alphabeticam von 1519.“ In: Beineke Dieter, Heuneke Otto, Horst Thomas, Kleim Uwe G. F. (Ed.), Festschrift für Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kurt Brunner anlässlich des Ausscheidens aus dem aktiven Dienst. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Geodäsie, 87 (Neubiberg: Institut für Geodäsie der Universität der Bundeswehr München, 2012), pp. 109-129. —. “Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594) und sein Einfluss auf die Globen des 16. Jahrhunderts.“ In: Der Globusfreund, 61/62 (in preparation). Horst Thomas, Brunner Kurt, “Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594) und sein Werk. Gerhard Mercator and his Work.“ In: Kartographische Nachrichten, 62, 4 (2012), pp. 171-178. Imhof Dirk, “Gerard Mercator and the Officina Plantiniana”. In: Iris Kockelbergh (Ed.), Mercator. Exploring New Horizons. Exhibition catalogue, Museum Plantin-Moretus/Print-Room (Löwen: BAI Publ., 2012), pp. 103-114. Krücken Friedrich Wilhelm, “Der Annulus Astronomicus des Gerhard Mercator. Versuch einer Rekonstruktion“. In: Ibid. (Ed.), Ad Maiorem Gerardi Mercatoris Gloriam. Abhandlungen zum Leben und Werk Gerhard Mercators (Münster: Monsenstein und Vannerdat, 2011), vol. 3, pp. 29-89. —. “Astrologie im Umfeld Gerhard Mercators.“ In: Ibid. (Ed.), Ad Maiorem Gerardi Mercatoris Gloriam. Abhandlungen zum Leben und Werk Gerhard Mercators (Münster: Monsenstein und Vannerdat, 2011), vol. 3, pp. 167-304. Krücken Friedrich Wilhelm, Milz, Joseph (Eds.), Weltkarte ad usum navigantium Duisburg 1569, verkleinert reproduziert nach dem Originaldruck der Universitätsbibliothek zu Basel (Duisburg: Mercator Verlag, 1994). Leitão Henrique (Ed.), Novas terras, novos mares e o que mays he: novo ceo e novas estrellas. Catálogo bibliográfico sobre Pedro Nunes (Lisboa: Biblioteca Nacional, 2002). Mercator Gerhard, Literarum latinarum, quas italicas, cursoriasque vocant, scribendarum ratio (Antwerp: Richard, 1540). Meurer Peter H., “Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594).“ In: Rheinische Lebensbilder, 14 (1994), pp. 115-134. Michel Henry, “Mercator, Constructeur d’Instruments Astronomiques.” In: Ciel et Terre. Bulletin de la Société belge d’astronomie, de meteorologie e de physique du globe, 78 (1962), pp. 191-196. Osley Arthur Sidney, Mercator: A monograph on the lettering of maps, etc. in the 16th century Netherlands with a facsimile and translation of
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his treatise on the italic hand and a translation of Ghim’s Vita Mercatoris (London 1969). Rohrbach Martina, Gnädinger Beat (Eds.), Der Zürcher Globus. Projekt Globus-Replik 2007-2009, Dokumentation (Zürich: Staatsarchiv des Kantons Zürich, 2009). Rutkin H. Darrel, “Astrology”. In: Katharina Park, Lorraine Daston (Eds.), Early Modern Science. The Cambridge History of Science, 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press 2006), pp. 541-561. Schaff Joseph, Geschichte der Physik an der Universität Ingolstadt (14721800) auf Grund archivalischer Quellen und der Originalschriften (Erlangen, 1922). Söll-Tauchert Sabine (Ed.), Die grosse Kunstkammer. Bürgerliche Sammler und Sammlungen in Basel (Basel: Merian, 2011). Stevenson Edward Luther, Terrestrial and celestial globes: Their history and construction including a consideration of their value as aids in the study of geography and astronomy, 2 vols. (London and New Haven: Publication for the Hispanic Society of America by the Yale University Press, 1921). Turner Gerald L’E., “The three astrolabes of Gerard Mercator.” In: Annals of Science, 51 (1994), pp. 329-353. Turner Gerald L’E., Dekker Elly, “An astrolabe attributed to Gerard Mercator, c. 1570.” In: Annals of Science, 50 (1993), pp. 403-443. Turner Gerald L’E., Van Cleempoel Koenraad, “A Tudor Astrolabe by Thomas Gemini and its relationship to an Astrological Disc by Gerard Mercator of 1551.” In: The Antiquarian Journal, 81 (2001), pp. 400409. Van Cleempoel Koenraad, A Catalogue Raisonné of Scientific Instruments from the Louvain School 1530 to 1600. De Diversis Artibus, 65 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002). Van den Broecke Steven, “Dee, Mercator, and the Louvain Instrument Making: An Undescribed Astrological Disc by Gerard Mercator (1551).” In: Annals of Science, 58 (2001), pp. 219-240. Van der Krogt Peter, “Seventeenth Century Dutch Globes: Navigational Instruments?” In: Der Globusfreund, 38/39 (1990), pp. 67-77. —. Globi Neerlandici: The Production of Globes in the Low Countries (Utrecht: H&S, 1993). —. “Gerhard Mercator and his cosmography: How the Atlas became an atlas” (Chapter 6 in this volume). Van Raemdonck Jan, “Declaratio insigniorum utilitatum quae sunt in globo terrestri, coelesti et annulo astronomico ad invictissimum
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Romanum Imperatorum Carolum Quintum.” In: Annales du Cercle archéologique du Pays de Waes, 5 (1868), pp. 15-30. Van Raemdonck Jan, Les sphères terrestre et céleste de Gérard Mercator (1541 et 1551). Notice publiée à l’occasion de la reproduction de ces sphères à l’aide de fac-similé de leurs fuseaux originaux, gravés par Mercator et conservé à la Bibliothèque royale à Bruxelles (SaintNicolas, 1875). Von Roden Günter (Ed.), Gerhard Mercator. Zum 450. Geburtstag. Duisburger Forschungen 6 (Duisburg: Renckhoff, 1962). Wallisch Robert, Magellans Boten. Die frühesten Berichte über die erste Weltumsegelung – Maximilianus Transylvanus, Johannes Schöner, Pietro Martire d’Anghiera. Edition Woldan, 2 (Wien: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2009). Watelet Marcel (Ed.), Gérard Mercator cosmographe, le temps et l'espace (Antwerp: Fonds Mercator, 1994). Wattenberg Dietrich, Peter Apianus und sein Astronomicum Caesareum (Leipzig: Ed. Leipzig, 1967). Wohlschläger Heide, Schmidt Rudolf, “Globen in Österreich“. In: Peter E. Allmayer-Beck (Ed.), Modelle der Welt. Erd- und Himmelsgloben. Kulturerbe aus österreichischen Sammlungen (Wien: Brandstätter, 1997), pp. 320-379.
Notes 1
For an overview about the life of Gerhard Mercator cf. eg. Averdunk Heinrich, Müller-Reinhard J., Gerhard Mercator und die Geographen unter seinen Nachkommen. Petermanns Mitteilungen, Ergänzungsheft, 182 (Gotha: Perthes, 1914); Crane Nicholas, Mercator. The Man who mapped the planet (London: Weidenfels & Nicolson, 2002); Horst Thomas, Die Welt als Buch. Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594) und der erste WeltATLAS. Bildband anlässlich der Faksimilierung des Mercatoratlas von 1595 (2°Kart. B 180/3) der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, mit allen Kartentafeln dieser Ausgabe (Gütersloh/Munich and Brussels: Faksimile Verlag/wissenmedia and Mercatorfonds, 2012), pp. 44-99; Horst Thomas, Brunner Kurt, “Gerhard Mercator (15121594) und sein Werk. Gerhard Mercator and his Work.“ In: Kartographische Nachrichten, 62, 4 (2012), pp. 171-178; Meurer Peter H., “Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594).“ In: Rheinische Lebensbilder, 14 (1994), pp. 115-134; von Roden Günter (Ed.), Gerhard Mercator. Zum 450. Geburtstag. Duisburger Forschungen 6 (Duisburg: Renckhoff, 1962); Watelet Marcel (Ed.), Gérard Mercator cosmographe, le temps et l'espace (Antwerp: Fonds Mercator, 1994). 2 Hallyn Fernand, Gemma Frisius, arpenteur de la terre et du ciel (Paris: Champion, 2008). 3 Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), pp. 49-50.
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Gasper van der Heyden also has designed a pair of globes around 1526, together with Franciscus Monachus (Frans Smunck (around 1490-1565), which is now lost. But there exists an annex to these globes, written in the Latin language (“De Orbis situ ac descriptione”), cf. De Smet Antoine, “Gaspar a Mirica.“ In: Der Globusfreund, 13 (1964), pp. 32-37; Horst Thomas, “Gerhard Mercator (15121594) und sein Einfluss auf die Globen des 16. Jahrhunderts.“ In: Der Globusfreund, 61/62 (in preparation) and Van der Krogt Peter, Globi Neerlandici: The Production of Globes in the Low Countries (Utrecht: H&S, 1993), pp. 38-39 and fig. 48. 5 Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), pp. 54-55. 6 Van Cleempoel Koenraad, A Catalogue Raisonné of Scientific Instruments from the Louvain School 1530 to 1600. De Diversis Artibus, 65 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002). 7 Maximilianus Transylvanus is well known for his story of the journey of Fernão de Magalhães (Magellan, 1480-1521), in his treatise „De Moluccis Insulis” in 1523, cf. Wallisch Robert, Magellans Boten. Die frühesten Berichte über die erste Weltumsegelung – Maximilianus Transylvanus, Johannes Schöner, Pietro Martire d’Anghiera. Edition Woldan, 2 (Wien: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2009), pp. 19-89. 8 Bernleithner Ernst, “Die Erdgloben von Gemma Frisius und Gerhard Mercator – ein Vergleich.“ In: Der Globusfreund, 11 (1962), pp. 113-121; De Smet Antoine, “Bericht über den Erdglobus von Gemma Frisius, 1536, in Wien“. In: Der Globusfreund, 14 (1965), pp. 44-46; Dorflinger Johannes, “Der Gemma Frisius-Erdglobus von 1536 in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien.“ In: Der Globusfreund, 21-23 (1973), pp. 81-99; Haardt Robert, “The Globe of Gemma Frisius“. In: Imago Mundi, 9 (1952), pp. 109-110; Hinze G., “Drei Globen des 16. Jahrhunderts.“ In: Bericht des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Zerbst (Zerbst: Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein, 1927), pp. 10-20. 9 Krücken Friedrich Wilhelm, “Der Annulus Astronomicus des Gerhard Mercator. Versuch einer Rekonstruktion.“ In: Ibid. (Ed.), Ad Maiorem Gerardi Mercatoris Gloriam. Abhandlungen zum Leben und Werk Gerhard Mercators (Münster: Monsenstein und Vannerdat, 2011), vol. 3, pp. 29-89. 10 Turner Gerald L’E., “The three astrolabes of Gerard Mercator.” In: Annals of Science, 51 (1994), pp. 329-353; Turner Gerald L’E., Dekker Elly, “An astrolabe attributed to Gerard Mercator, c. 1570.” In: Annals of Science, 50 (1993), pp. 403443. 11 Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), p. 61; Michel Henry, “Mercator, Constructeur d’Instruments Astronomiques.” In: Ciel et Terre. Bulletin de la Société belge d’astronomie, de meteorologie e de physique du globe, 78 (1962), pp. 191-196. – To Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle cf. Banz Claudia, Höfisches Mäzenatentum in Brüssel. Kardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-1586) und die Erzherzöge Albrecht (1559-1621) und Isabella (1566-1633). Berliner Schriften zur Kunst, 12 (Berlin: Mann, 2000); De Jonge Krista, Gustaaf Janssens (Eds.), Les Granvelle et les anciens Pays-Bas. Liber doctori Mauricio Van Durme
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dedicatus. Symbolae Facultatis Litterarum Lovaniensis, Series B, 17 (Leuven: Universitaire Pers, 2000). 12 Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), pp. 61-70; Stevenson Edward Luther, Terrestrial and celestial globes: Their history and construction including a consideration of their value as aids in the study of geography and astronomy, 2 vols. (London and New Haven: Publication for the Hispanic Society of America by the Yale University Press,1921), pp. 123-129. 13 The cartouche can be seen on Mercator’s globe in the Indian Ocean. There can be read: “Ilustriss(imo) D(omi)no Nicolao Perrenoto Domino a Granvelle Sac(rae) Caesareae Ma(iesta)ti a consilijs primodedicatu(m)”. 14 Stevenson Edward Luther, Terrestrial and celestial globes (see note 12), p. 133. – To Turriano cf. García-Diego José A., Juanelo Turriano. Charles V’s clockmaker – The man and his legend. Antiquarian Horological Society, Monograph, 26 (Wadhurst, Sussex: Soc. et al., 1986). 15 De Smet Antoine, Les Sphères Terrestre et Céleste de Gerard Mercator 1541 et 1551. Reproduction anastatiques des fuseaux originaux gravés par Gérard Mercator et conservés à la Bibliothèque royale à Bruxelles (Brussels: Éditions Culture et Civilisation, 1968); Van Raemdonck Jan, Les sphères terrestre et céleste de Gérard Mercator (1541 et 1551). Notice publiée à l’occasion de la reproduction de ces sphères à l’aide de fac-similé de leurs fuseaux originaux, gravés par Mercator et conservé à la Bibliothèque royale à Bruxelles (Saint-Nicolas 1875). 16 An opossum can already be found on the famous “Carta Marina”, which was made by Martin Waldseemüller in 1516, cf. Hessler John W , Van Duzer Chet, Seeing the World Anew: The Radical Vision of Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 & 1516 World Maps (Delray Beach/ FL and Washington DC: Levenger Pres, and: Library of Congress, 2012), pp. 61 and 78-79 (Sheet 5). 17 Mercator claimed for the application of a good readable scripture (italic type) for maps already in his book “Literarum latinarum, quas italicas, cursoriasque vocant, scribendarum ratio” (Antwerp: Richard, 1540), cf. Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), pp. 60-61 and the standard work by Osley Arthur Sidney, Mercator: A monograph on the lettering of maps, etc. in the 16th century Netherlands with a facsimile and translation of his treatise on the italic hand and a translation of Ghim’s Vita Mercatoris (London 1969). 18 To Pedro Nunes cf. Leitão Henrique (Ed.), Novas terras, novos mares e o que mays he: novo ceo e novas estrellas. Catálogo bibliográfico sobre Pedro Nunes (Lisboa: Biblioteca Nacional, 2002). 19 Cf. in detail: Beineke Dieter, “Die Loxodromen auf Gerhard Mercators Erdglobus von 1541 – Eine Genauigkeitsanalyse“. In: Beineke Dieter, Heuneke Otto, Horst Thomas, Kleim Uwe G. F. (Ed.), Festschrift für Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kurt Brunner anlässlich des Ausscheidens aus dem aktiven Dienst. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Geodäsie, 87 (Neubiberg: Institut für Geodäsie der Universität der Bundeswehr München, 2012), pp. 15-29; Hollander Raymond d’, Loxodromie et projection de Mercator (Paris et al., Inst. Océanographique Éd., 2005), pp. 27-41. – For several discussions to this interesting topic I like to thank my colleague Dr. Joaquim Alves Gaspar (CIUHCT, Lisbon).
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To the question if globes really were used as instruments for navigation cf. Van der Krogt Peter, “Seventeenth Century Dutch Globes: Navigational Instruments?”. In: Der Globusfreund, 38/39 (1990), pp. 67-77. 21 Stevenson, Terrestrial and celestial globes (see note 12), pp. 129-131. 22 Apian Petrus, Astronomicum Caesareum (Ingolstadt 1540), cf. the reprint after the original in the Landesbibliothek Gotha, 2 vols., by Wattenberg Dietrich with the comment “Peter Apianus und sein Astronomicum Caesareum“ (Leipzig: Ed. Leipzig, 1967). 23 Cf. De Graeve Jan, Gérard Mercator. La bibliothèque mathématique d’un génie. The mathematical library of a genius. Le Livre & l’estampe. Revue Semestrielle de la Société Royale des Bibliophiles et Iconophiles de Belgique, 58/177 (Brussels: Société des bibliophiles et iconophiles de Belgique, 2012). 24 Most of the constellations are Ptolemaic, but we can also see the modern constellations “Antinous” and “Coma Berenices” on Mercator’s Celestial Globe. 25 Krücken Friedrich Wilhelm, “Astrologie im Umfeld Gerhard Mercators.“ In: Ibid. (Ed.), Ad Maiorem Gerardi Mercatoris Gloriam. Abhandlungen zum Leben und Werk Gerhard Mercators (Münster: Monsenstein und Vannerdat, 2011), vol. 3, pp. 167-304. – For an overview to astrology in the Early Modern Times cf. Rutkin H. Darrel, „Astrology“. In: Katharina Park, Lorraine Daston (Eds.), Early Modern Science. The Cambridge History of Science, 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press 2006), pp. 541-561. 26 The Manuscript was found in 1866, cf. Van Raemdonck Jan, “Declaratio insigniorum utilitatum quae sunt in globo terrestri, coelesti et annulo astronomico ad invictissimum Romanum Imperatorum Carolum Quintum”. In: Annales du Cercle archéologique du Pays de Waes, 5 (1868), pp. 15-30. 27 Basel, Historical Museum Basel, Inv. 1876-20; cf. the description in SöllTauchert Sabine (Ed.), Die grosse Kunstkammer. Bürgerliche Sammler und Sammlungen in Basel (Basel: Merian, 2011), 193 f. (Nr. 24) by Timm Delfs; Van den Broecke Steven, “Dee, Mercator, and the Louvain Instrument Making: An Undescribed Astrological Disc by Gerard Mercator (1551)”. In: Annals of Science, 58 (2001), pp. 219-240. 28 An English translation of the complete instruction sheet can be found in Van den Broecke, “Dee, Mercator, and the Louvain Instrument Making: An Undescribed Astrological Disc by Gerard Mercator (1551)” (see note 27), pp. 234-240. 29 National Maritime Museum Greenwich, Inv. Nr. AST0567 (Fragment of an Astrolabe); cf. Turner Gerald L’E., Van Cleempoel Koenraad, “A Tudor Astrolabe by Thomas Gemini and its relationship to an Astrological Disc by Gerard Mercator of 1551.” In: The Antiquarian Journal, 81 (2001), pp. 400-409. 30 Berlin State Library, Map Department, Kart. A. 147. 31 A list of copies of Mercator’s globes preserved in Austria gives Wohlschläger Heide, Schmidt Rudolf, “Globenhersteller aus aller Welt.“ In: Allmayer-Beck Peter E. (Ed.), Modelle der Welt. Erd- und Himmelsgloben. Kulturerbe aus österreichischen Sammlungen (Wien: Brandstätter, 1997), pp. 320-379, here: p. 343.
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Imhof Dirk, “Gerard Mercator and the Officina Plantiniana.” In: Iris Kockelbergh (Ed.), Mercator. Exploring New Horizons. Exhibition catalogue, Museum Plantin-Moretus/Print-Room (Löwen: BAI Publ., 2012), pp. 103-114, here: pp. 106 and 108-109. 33 Fauser Alois, Ältere Erd- und Himmelsgloben in Bayern (Stuttgart: Schuler, 1964), p. 110, Nr. 170; Schaff Joseph, Geschichte der Physik an der Universität Ingolstadt (1472-1800) auf Grund archivalischer Quellen und der Originalschriften (Erlangen 1922), p. 210. 34 Mercator must have known the work of the astronomer Peter Apian, because it was Gemma Frisius who has edited Apian’s “Cosmographicus Liber“ (first published in Landshut, Germany, in 1524) in more than 20 print runs, so it became a bestseller in the 16th century, cf. Horst Thomas, “Der Memminger Humanist Jakob Stopel († 1535) und sein humanistisch geprägtes Umfeld – Kulturhistorische Betrachtungen zum Repertorivm in Formam Alphabeticam von 1519.“ In: Beineke Dieter, Heuneke Otto, Horst Thomas, Kleim Uwe G. F. (Ed.), Festschrift für Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kurt Brunner anlässlich des Ausscheidens aus dem aktiven Dienst. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Geodäsie, 87 (Neubiberg: Institut für Geodäsie der Universität der Bundeswehr München, 2012), pp. 109-129, here: pp. 119-120. 35 Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), pp. 70-72. 36 Gaspar Joaquim Alves, Leitão Henrique, “Squaring the circle: How Mercator did it in 1569”. In: Imago Mundi, 66 (2014), pp. 1-24. 37 Ibid., 84-89, cf. also Krücken Friedrich Wilhelm, Milz, Joseph (Eds.), Weltkarte ad usum navigantium Duisburg 1569, verkleinert reproduziert nach dem Originaldruck der Universitätsbibliothek zu Basel (Duisburg: Mercator Verlag, 1994) and De Meer Sjoerd, Atlas of the World. Gerard Mercator’s map of the world 1569 (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 2012). 38 Horst Thomas, “The Manuscript Globes of Heinrich Arboreus and Philip Apian: The History of their creation.” In: Globe Studies, 57/58 (2011), pp. 107-123. 39 Grenacher Franz, “Der sog. St.-Galler Globus im Schweiz. Landesmuseum. Vermutungen über seine Herkunft und Feststellungen zu seiner Konstruktion“. In: Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, 21, 2 (1961), pp. 66-78. A reconstruction of this globe, which is preserved in the Swiss National Museum in Zurich, was recently made and now can be seen as replica in the Abbey of St. Gall, cf. Rohrbach Martina, Gnädinger Beat (Eds.), Der Zürcher Globus. Projekt Globus-Replik 2007-2009, Dokumentation (Zürich: Staatsarchiv des Kantons Zürich, 2009). 40 Horst, “The Manuscript Globes of Heinrich Arboreus and Philip Apian” (see note 38), pp. 119 and 120, fig. 8. 41 To the treaty of Tordesillas cf. Bown Stephen R., 1494: How a family feud in medieval Spain divided the world in half (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2012). 42 Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), p. 85, fig. 58. 43 Ruge Sophus, “Das unbekannte Südland“. In: Deutsche Geographische Blätter, 17, 3 (1895), pp. 149-171 and 17, 4 (1895), pp. 323-350.
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Horst, “Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594) und sein Einfluss auf die Globen des 16. Jahrhunderts“ (see note 4). 45 Horst, Die Welt als Buch (see note 1), pp. 100-383 and Van der Krogt Peter, “Gerhard Mercator and his cosmography: How the Atlas became an atlas”.
CONTRIBUTORS
Wouter Bracke is head of the print and map room of the Royal library of Belgium and teaches Latin palaeography and Renaissance Latin literature at the Université libre de Bruxelles. He is currently the director of the Academia Belgica in Rome. In 2012 he mounted an exhibition on the subject at the Royal Library. Elmar Csaplovics: PhD in remote sensing at Technische Universität Vienna (Austria) in 1982, post-doc research fellow at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Montpellier and at the Department of Geology, Geophysics and Geoinformatics, Free University Berlin, 1988-1992; habilitation in remote sensing at Technische Universität Vienna (Austria) in 1992, professor of remote sensing at the Department of Geosciences at Technische Universität Dresden since 1993, visiting professorships at University College London in 2007 and at Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 in 2014. Jan De Graeve is a chartered land surveyor and specializes in valuation of fixed assets, in Belgium and Europe. He was president of the Brussels-, Belgian- and European Landsurveyors and later of the European valuers associations. Earlier in his career he collected scientific instruments, and later scientific books, especially of 16th century on surveying, gnomonica and mathematics. In 2012 he studied the library of Gerard Mercator and managed to find original books. He published in “Le Livre et L'estampe” a 202p contribution of Mercatorތs scientific Library. He is president of the Belgian Bibliophiles. Gerhard Holzer, born in 1958, studied history and geography at the University of Vienna and graduated 1983. From 1985-2012 he was a member of the research staff of the Department for the History of Sciences, Mathematics and Medicine at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, specialising in the history of geosciences and cartography. Since 1989 he has been organizing and managing the Woldan Collection. In 2012 he moved to the library of the Academy where he remains as the Curator of the Woldan Collection. He has published several books and articles on the history of cartography and discoveries.
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Thomas Horst is a German map historian, who is working at the “Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology“ (CIUHCT) in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2003 and 2005 he conducted ethnological field research into the descendants of the Mundurukú-Indians in the Amazon region. His research focus is on early modern science, cosmography and the study of globes. For his ground breaking book about Mercator (2012) he received the Georges Erhard Prize from the Société de Géographie in Paris. Helga Hühnel is a historian (University of Vienna) and librarian, deputy of the Austrian National Library’s Map Department and Globe Museum, who has produced several publications on the history of cartography, the age of discovery, and on travel reports. Nick Kanas is a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco, and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (London). He has collected antiquarian celestial maps and books for over 30 years. He has given over 30 presentations on celestial cartography and has published articles in Imago Mundi, the Journal of the International Map Collectors Society, and other sources. His book, Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography, is in its 2nd edition. Hans D. Kok (1940) completed the Dutch Government Flight Academy and joined KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. He completed his career in 1996 on Boeing 747-400 aircraft. He served in commercial management at home and abroad and as Deputy Director of Flight Crew training in KLM. Interested in navigation, he collects maps with emphasis on the seventeenth century. He is chairman of IMCoS, co-editor of the Dutch magazine Caert-Thresoor and co-author of “Sailing for the East”, on manuscript charts on vellum by the Dutch East India Company. Peter van der Krogt (Delft 1956), head of the Explokart Research Program for the History of Cartography at the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam, is author of the series Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici, a bibliography of atlases published in the Low Countries, and of the illustrated and annotated catalogue of the Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem of the Austrian National Library.
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Contributors
Marica Milanesi, former full professor of the history of geography at the University of Pavia / Italy, retired in 2013 as professor of the history of geography from the University of Pavia. Her field of research is the representation of the space between XV and XVIII centuries. She is mainly interested in the many ways the geographical information gathered by travellers and seamen was mixed with ancient geography and sacred geography to produce treatises, globes and maps representing a modern and changing world. Valerie Newby is currently Vice-Chairman of the International Map Collectors’ Society and Consulting Editor of their Journal. Just recently she has retired as full time editor of the Journal after six years in the post. She was educated in Nottingham, England, and started her career as a journalist on local newspapers and magazines. After her three children started school she took on the job as Editor of the cartographic journal The Map Collector which she ran for nearly 20 years. At the same time she ran a publishing company specialising in books about early maps and their history. Valerie was then one of three editors/researchers who took on the task of updating Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers (4 volumes). Ferdinand Opll was born 1950 in Mödling, then part of Vienna; studied History and Art History at the University of Vienna from 1969–1974; PhD in 1974 (medieval history); three years‘ course at the Institut für österreichische Geschichtsforschung, 1971–1974. From 1977–2010 Archivist at the Municipal and Provincial Archives of Vienna (director from 1989–2010). University Lecturer at the University of Vienna since 1985. Publications about medieval history (12th century), comparative urban history, especially history of Vienna, and history of cartography. Patricia Seed, professor of history at the University of California-Irvine, is the author of five books including two U.S. national prize-winners, To Love, Honor, and Obey in Colonial Mexico, and American Pentimento: The Invention of Indians and the Pursuit of Riches. Her other books include Ceremonies of Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World and the forthcoming two volume Oxford Map Companion to World History. Her articles have spanned a variety of fields ranging from postcolonial literary studies to electrical engineering. She created a prizewinning website on the history of navigation (Latitude: The Art and Science of Fifteenth-Century Navigation).
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Petra Svatek, born in 1976, studied history and geography at the University of Vienna (main emphasis on history of sciences and cartography); PhD: 2005. 2006-2009 research associate at the Department of History at the University of Vienna (Project: “Cartography and Spatial Research in Austria 1918-1945”). Since 2010 she is a scientific university assistant and a lecturer on the history of cartography. Areas of research: history of thematic cartography 1500-1950, history of spatial research and “research on cultural spaces” (networking, political context, spatial concepts). Zsolt GyĘzĘ Török is Chair of the International Society for the History of the Map (ISHM). He is Associate Professor of Cartography at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest and a director of Imago Mundi Ltd. His research interest lines in Renaissance cosmography, early modern cartography in East-Central Europe, the exploration and colonial cartography of the Libyan Desert. He organized the 1997 IMCoS International Symposium, co-ordinated the ICHC 2005 and the 2011 ICA Symposium in Budapest. His recent fellowships and awards: David Woodward Research Fellowship (2007-2008); Mellon Fellowship, Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Florence (2008-2009). In 2009 he was recipient of the IMCoS Helen Wallis Award. Marcel van den Broecke went to grammar school in Amsterdam, where he also studied English. He taught phonetics at Utrecht University. Later he worked in public understanding of science, humanism and statistics. In the early 80’s he started to collect and describe the works of Ortelius, about whom he wrote 5 books and about 45 articles. Georg Zotti is computer scientist. He received his degree as “Diplomingenieur” in 2001 and Dr. Techn. in 2007, both from Technical University Vienna, and a Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy from University of Vienna in 2007. His main research interest is the application of computer graphics and virtual reality technologies in the fields of cultural astronomy (archaeoand ethnoastronomy), historical aspects of astronomy and pre-telescopic astronomical instruments (esp. the astrolabe). In 2010 he developed a simple technology to create virtual globes, and in 2011 he started applying GIS software for research on Mercator’s celestial globe.
INDEX
Aginelli See Angelini Alba, Duke of 194, 197 Alfonse, Jean 132 al-Haytham, Ibn (Alhazen) 227, 228 Almeida (Portuguese Viceroy) 14 Amassöder, Elisabeth 43 Anaxiom 186 Angelini 63, 65, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 93 Natale 69, 70, 71, 78, 79, 83 Nicolaus (Niccolo) 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 79, 83, 91 Paolo 70 Anghiera, Petrus Martyr d’ 8 Angielini See Angelini Anglicus, Bartolomaeus (Bartholomew de Glanville) 190 Apian Peter (Petrus Apianus) 3, 4, 6, 16, 19, 44, 65, 75, 85, 109, 131, 183, 236, 240, 250 Philipp 240, 241 Aratus of Soli 186 Archimedes 184 Aristotle 132, 184 Arthur, King 137, 139 Atlante Farnese 116, 119, 120 Atlas (Titan) 113, 117, 118, 122, 123, 124, 216, 227 Auersberg 49 Aventin, Johannes 44 Babenberg 29, 35, 52 Frederick II (the Battlesome) 29, 52 Leopold III 29 Baedeker 163 Baldigara, Ottavio 75 Banfi, Florio 41 Bassentin, Jacques 184
Bayer, Johann 219, 220, 221, 226, 227 Benigno, Francesco 67 Bentley, Richard 217 Bernleithner, Ernst 41 Blaeu, Willem Janszoon 121, 229, 230 Bordone, Benedetto 20 Brahe, Tycho 184 Braun, Georg 30, 34, 67, 69, 88, 89 Cabral, Pedro Álvarez 8 Cadamosto, Alvise 8 Camers, Johannes 3, 4, 6, 26 Carey, Matthew 122 Castro, João de 132 Celtis, Conradus 5, 85, 86 Chaba (Avar Khagan) 90 Charles the Great (Charlemagne) 49, 52, 90 Claesz, Cornelis 120, 189 Clavus, Claudius 84, 137, 138, 144 Cles, Bernard of 105 Cnoyen, Jacob 136, 137, 139 Cochlaeus, Johannes 3 Cock, Hieronymus 194, 196, 205, 209 Colbert, Jean-Baptiste 189 Collimitius See Tannstetter Columbus, Christopher 8 Commandino, Federico 187 Compagni, Sebastiano 132 Conti, Nicolò de 136 Cools, Jacob (Colius) 179 Copernicus, Nicolaus 181, 184, 188, 189, 214, 216, 224 Cortés, Hernan 11, 12 Crawford 189 Cuspinianus, Johannes 40, 42, 75, 85, 86, 105 Dalché, Patrick Gautier 134
A World of Innovation: Cartography in the Time of Gerhard Mercator Danckerts, Justus 124 Danti, Egnazio 75 Dee, John 137, 139 Deventer, Jacob van 184, 197, 199, 200, 202, 205, 210 Diercx, Volcxken 194 Dieu, Louys (Louis) de 183, 185 Diodorus Siculus (Diodoros of Sicily) 117 Drake, Francis 169 Drosius, Jan (Droeshout) 233 Dürer, Albrecht 183, 217, 221 Edelsheim, Margareta of 236 Elcano 7 Elizabeth (Queen) 139 Emanuel Philibert (Duke of Savoy) 194 Enciso, Martin Fernandez de 132, 135, 142, 143 Erasmus, Desiderius (of Rotterdam) 51, 163 Etzlaub, Erhard 32 Euclid 187 Eugene, Prince of Savoy 2 Fabricius, Paul 46 Farnese, Alessandro 120, 216 Ferabosco, Pietro 67 Ferdinand VII (of Spain) 197 Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias 207 Fernandes, Pero 20 Filastre (Cardinal) 84 Fogolino, Marco 34 Forlani, Paolo 20, 64 Franck, Sebastian 19 Fries, Lorenz 4, 6, 12, 19 Frisius, Gemma 16, 160, 182, 183, 184, 199, 232, 233, 234, 236, 243, 250 Frobisher, Martin 169 Fugger 2, 14 Gaballo, Bernardo 67 Gachard, Louis Prosper 197 Galilei, Galileo 227, 228 Gama, Vasco da 8, 14, 240 Gastaldi, Giacomo 20, 75, 131, 133, 164
257
Gemini, Thomas 238 Gerbel, Nicolaus 20 Germanus, Nicolaus (Donnus) 84 Ghim, Walter 113, 118, 183, 184, 187 Glareanus, Henricus (Heinrich Glarean) 3, 19 Gmunden, Johann(es) von 85 Goltzius, Hubert 170 Granvelle Antoine Perrenot de 234, 247, 248 Nicolas Perrenot de 234 Grüninger, Johannes Reinhard (Hans) 6 Grynaeus, Simon 12, 13, 19, 133 Guadagnino See Vavassore Guicciardini 163 Guiterrez, Sancho 20 Gymnich, Werner von 114 Habsburg 2, 20, 27, 28, 29, 32, 34, 43, 46, 51, 53, 55, 57, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 75, 79, 80, 205, 206, 207 Anna of Austria (Queen of Spain) 207 Charles II Francis of Austria 69 Charles V 7, 12, 66, 163, 180, 199, 205, 206, 233, 235 Charles VI 2 Ferdinand I 33, 34, 42, 44, 45, 51, 55, 66, 67, 85, 88, 102, 105, 206 Ferdinand II 102 Frederick III 29 George of Austria 236 Maria Theresa 2 Maximilian I 30, 85, 236 Maximilian II 44, 45, 55, 67, 68 Philip II (of Spain) 139, 172, 192, 194, 196, 197, 199, 205, 206, 207, 211 Rudolf II 207 Rudolf IV (the Founder) 49 Hachez, Félix 197 Hadrian VI (Pope) 8
258 Hainaut 169 Harrach 49 Haselberg, Johannes 31 Heidenreich, Erasmus 51 Herberstein 49 Siegmund von 20 Herr, Michael 12 Hevelius, Johannes 220, 221, 227, 228 Heyden, Gaspard van der 232, 234, 247 Hipparchus 216 Hirschvogel, Augustin 20, 32, 33, 40, 44, 85, 86 Hoefnagel Georg (Joris) 67, 88, 89 Jacob 88, 89 Hogenberg, Frans 30, 34, 67, 69, 88, 89, 173 Homer 215 Hondius, Jodocus 120, 122, 123, 125, 189 Honter, Johannes 19, 64, 88, 106 Houve, Paul van der 194, 210 Huttich, Johann 12 Igelshofer, Franz 46 Jaillot, Alexis-Hubert 122 Janssonius van Waesbergen, Johannes 122 Janssonius, Johannes 122, 123, 125 Joachim von Watt (Vadian) 26 Jode, Gérard de 93, 102, 118, 194, 198 Johann Friedrich 118 Johannes Cochläus 3 John, Prester 135 Jordanus, Johann 46 Jülich-Kleve-Berg Johann Wilhelm von 114, 118 Wilhelm V von 118 Kepler, Johannes 186, 216 Kirchhofer, Wolfgang 89 Kollauer, Johannes 5 Kremer Emerentia 232 Geerd See Mercator, Gerardus
Index Gisbert 232 Hubert 232 Lafreri, Antonio 64, 116, 120, 121 Landinus, Christophorus 187 Lang, Matthäus 8 Lantieri, Antonio 34, 35 Lautensack, Hanns 34 Lauterbach, Hieronymus 46 Lazarus von Schwendi 32, 65, 68, 75, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 93, 96, 99, 101, 105, 108, 109, 206 Lazarus von Schwendi 68 Lazius Ferdinand 42 Gabriel 42 Katharina 42 Margareth 42 Ottilie 42 Simon 42 Wolfgang 20, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 61, 62, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 100, 102, 108, 109, 205, 206, 211 Le Testu, Guillaume 132, 133, 142 Lestringant, Frank 133 Ligorio, Pyrrho 97, 108 Lilienfeld, Ulrich of 28 Louis II (Ludwig II, of Hungary) 65, 66, 102 Magellan, Ferdinand 6, 7, 8, 135, 151, 169, 247 Maldeius, Guilelmus 169 Manuel (of Portugal) 135 Marchantius, Jacob (Jacques Marchant) 163 Martyr, Petrus See Anghiera, Petrus Martyr d’ Mary of Hungary 66 Matthias Corvinus (Hunyadi Mátyás) 85 Maultasch, Margarete 46 Medici Ferdinand de 115, 118 Lorenzo di 6
A World of Innovation: Cartography in the Time of Gerhard Mercator Melanchthon, Philipp 3 Meldeman, Niclas 30, 31, 32 Mercator Arnold 115 Barthelemy 181 Gerardus 2, 56, 57, 63, 64, 66, 84, 91, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 102, 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151, 155, 157, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 177, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 192, 193, 197, 198, 199, 202, 205, 209, 214, 222, 227, 230, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 246, 248, 249, 250 Gerardus II (Junior) 115, 189 Michael 115 Rumold (Romuald) 115, 118, 120, 129, 181, 241 Merian, Matthew, the Older 30 Meteren, Emanuel van 172 Meteren, Jacques van 161 Meyerus, Jacob 163 Montalboddo, Fracanzano 8, 9, 10, 12 Montanus, Benito Arias 138, 139 Morales, Ambrosio de 174 Moretus, Jan 182, 185, 189 Morhart, Ulrich 19 Müller, Ignaz 100 Munckerus, Thomas 224, 225 Münster, Sebastian 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 33, 44, 132, 133 Müstinger, Georg 40, 85, 104 Mylius, Andreas 160, 169, 172 Nassau, Willem of 206 Nausea, Friedrich 49 Nellius, Carolus (de Nielles, senior) 185
259
Nuñez, Pedro 132, 135, 144, 184, 236 Oberhummer, Eugen 41 Occo, Adrian 173, 179 Ortelius, Abraham 56, 63, 64, 66, 79, 86, 90, 92, 93, 96, 97, 99, 102, 109, 113, 118, 120, 121, 122, 139, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 192, 194, 197, 241 Otto I 53 Ottoman 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 43, 55, 64, 65, 66, 67, 80 Paccioli 184 Paickstein 197 Peletier, Jacques 187 Pepin the Short 49 Pereira, Duarte Pacheco 132 Peuerbach, Georg von 40, 186 Piccolomini, Alessandro 218, 219, 223 Pigafetta 7 Pitt Arthur 169 Moses 122 Plantin, Christophe (Christoffel Plantijn) 139, 166, 173, 182, 183, 185, 186, 189, 194, 239 Pliny, the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) 3, 25, 134, 135, 136, 176, 184 Polo, Marco 135, 136 Pomponius Mela 3, 6, 16, 25, 183 Poppendorf, Franz 74 Postel, Guillaume 138, 139 Pozzo, Francesco de 67 Ptolemaeus, Claudius (Ptolemy) 3, 15, 19, 20, 63, 64, 84, 85, 104, 114, 115, 118, 131, 132, 135, 136, 143, 160, 161, 164, 166, 167, 169, 172, 176, 184, 188, 209, 216, 217, 218, 224, 249 Puchler 50 Raemdonck, Jan van 162, 181
260 Ramusio, Giovanni Battista 132, 136, 142, 143 Reinhold 189 Reisch, Gregor 184 Rhenanus, Beatus 49 Rheticus, Georg Joachim 184, 188, 189 Ringmann, Matthias 6, 15, 16 Rooses, Max 185 Ruchamer, Jobst 12 Ruysch, Johannes 137 Sacrobosco, Johannes de 14, 15 Saint Luke 161 Sambucus, Johannes (Zsámboky) 68, 84, 86, 92, 93, 96, 97, 99, 100, 109, 173 Sanson, Nicolas 122 Schallauczer, Hermes 42 Schedel, Hartmann 29, 30, 32 Schilder, Günther 31 Schille, Jan van 170 Scholiers, Jérôme 169 Schöner, Johannes 8, 14, 16, 22 Schranz, Sebastian 33 Schröter, Johannes 43 Sebosus, Statius 134 Secret, François 138 Seld, Georg Sigmund 51 Sennacherib 34 Sgrooten, Christiaan 192, 193, 194, 196, 197, 198, 199, 202, 205, 209, 211 Siculus, Diodorus (Diodorus of Sicily) 115, 127 Sintra, Pedro da 8 Snellius (Willebrord Snell van Royen) 189 Soderini 6 Solinus, Gaius Julius 3, 6, 16, 26 Sonetti, Bartolomeo 64 Sophianus, Nicolaos 20, 44 Sorte, Cristoforo 75 Speede, John 96, 97, 100 Spießheimer See Cuspinianus Sprenger, Balthasar 14 Stabius, Johannes (Stöberer) 85, 86
Index Steewich, Godeschalc 185 Stevin, Simon 185 Stiborius, Andreas 42 Stier, Martin 100, 101 Stöberer See Stabius Stosch, Philippe 2 Strabo 3, 25, 44, 136, 176 Stronsdorfer, Anna 42 Stumpf, Johannes 19 Suleyman, the Magnificent 66 Sunthaym, Ladislaus 29 Swart, Steven 122 Szapolyai, John 66 Tannstetter, Georg (Collimitius) 3, 40, 42, 44, 75, 84, 85, 86, 88, 96, 105, 108, 109 Tartaglia, Niccolò 184 Thevet, André 132, 133, 142 Thomas Aquinas 133 Tramezini 97, 99, 108 Transylvanus, Maximilianus 7, 8, 233, 247 Trautson 50 Tschudi, Aegidus 19 Tunstall, Cuthbert 183 Turriano, Juanello 234 Vadianus See Watt, Joachim von Valverde, Juan de 186 Varthema, Lodovico di 13, 14, 136 Vavassore, Giovanni Andrea di 20, 32, 97 Vegetius 185, 190 Vespasian 26 Vespucci, Amerigo 5, 6, 7, 8, 16 Vischer, Georg 100 Vitello 184 Viterbo, Annius of 137 Vitruvius 74 Vivianus, Ioannes (Jean Vivien) 169, 170 Vögelin 183, 187 Waldseemüller, Martin 6, 12, 15, 16, 19, 183, 248 Wapowski, Bernard 32 Watt, Joachim von (Vadianus) 3, 6, 19, 42
A World of Innovation: Cartography in the Time of Gerhard Mercator Wechel (G.M. Agent in Paris) 183 Welser 14 Wenceslaus IV 104 Werner, Johannes 19 Weygel, Hans 86 Wieser, Franz von 41 Wit, Frederick de 124 Wittenberg 3 Wittich 189 Wolmuet, Bonifaz 33, 36, 40 Wright, Edward 185
261
Wyngaerde, Anton van den (Antonio de las Viñas) 205 Zell, Christoph 31 Zeno 137, 138 Zenoi, Domenico 64 Ziegler, Jacob 3, 20 Zimmermann, Michael 88, 106 Zsámboky See Sambucus, See Sambucus Zündt, Matthias 84, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 102, 108