a Maltese cross, with long arms, but there is no reason to suppose that
this has any significance.
BEHAIM’S GLOBE OF 1492
About the same period a Catalan map[66] of unknown authorship,
without copying details, adopted the same expedient of duplicating
the Azores by adding the new slanting series. It is quite independent
in details, however, omitting mention of “St. Brandan” in particular,
though Ateallo (Antillia?) is given in the second group but not in
the corresponding place. This may possibly indicate some confusion of
Antillia with St. Brandan’s Island, such as is more evident in the
transfer of the traditional outline of the former to the latter, little
changed, by Behaim on his globe of 1492.
As it stands, this globe undoubtedly gives an original and unique
representation of St. Brandan’s Island far west of the Cape Verde group
and emphasizes it by showing Antillia independently in a more northern
latitude and less western longitude and also of quite insignificant
size and form. But Ravenstein, who made a very thorough study of
the matter, tells us[67] that this globe has been twice retouched
or renovated and that the only way to ascertain exactly what was
originally delineated is to treat it as a palimpsest and remove the
accretions. In particular, he relates the story of an expert geographer
who found the draftsmen about to transpose St. Brandan’s Island and
Antillia; but they yielded to his protest. Of course, it is impossible
to be quite certain that these map figures are such and in such place
as Behaim intended or that they bear the names he gave. The presumption
favors the present showing, generally accepted as authentic. It gives
the saint only one island, but this a very large one, set in mid-ocean
between Africa and South America.
Possibly this location may be suggested by an undefined coast line
shown by Bianco’s map of 1448, previously mentioned, and, like Behaim’s
island, set opposite the Cape Verde group. In Venetian Italian it bears
an obscure inscription, which calls it an “authentic island” and is
variously interpreted as saying that this coast is fifteen hundred
miles long or fifteen hundred miles distant. The map of Juan de la
Cosa (1500)[68] exhibits off the coast of Brazil, and with an outline
similar to Behaim’s, “the island which the Portuguese found.” His date
is too late to have influenced Behaim, too early to have been prompted
by Cabral’s accidental discovery of that very year. It is more likely
that he and Behaim both were acquainted with Bianco’s work or that all
three drew from the same report of discovery.
LATER MAPS
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