Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Volume 1: Their History and Construction Including a Consideration of their Value as Aids in the Study of Geography and AstronomyStevenson, Edward Luther
History
Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Volume 1: Their History and Construction Including a Consideration of their Value as Aids in the Study of Geography and Astronomy
Stevenson, Edward Luther
Geography -- History; Globes
In the rich cartographical collection of Prince Liechtenstein there may
be found, in addition to the globe gores referred to above, an
interesting globe, usually referred to as the mounted Hauslab
globe.[166] It is of wood, having a diameter of about 37 cm. and is
covered with a preparation on which a world map has been drawn or
painted. It is furnished with a wooden base, a meridian and a horizon
circle of brass, and an axis of iron on which it turns, all of which
furnishings, however, appear to be of later date than the sphere itself.
Though neither signed nor dated, it exhibits many features which suggest
a close relationship with the globes of Johann Schöner; indeed, it is
not improbable that it is an early example of his workmanship. “I am of
the opinion,” says Luksch, “that the globe of Schöner of 1515 and the
Hauslab globe were drawn from one common original sketch,” a conclusion
based largely upon the fact that on the two globes the outlines of the
New World are almost identical. As to the date when constructed, a
comparison with other globes of the second decade of the century has led
to the conclusion that it must have been prior to the year 1515, and
perhaps as early as 1513. In its representation of the Old World, the
land is made to extend through 240 degrees, counting from the island of
Porto Santo, whose meridian has been taken as the prime meridian. The
northern section of the New World is given the name “Par(ias),” the last
letters of the word having been obliterated by age, while the southern
section is called “America.” The great austral land south of the apex of
the southern continent, appearing on the Schöner globe of 1515 as
“Brasilie regio,” is omitted on the Hauslab globe. The continents,
rivers, and mountains represented are very dark in color, and were
probably originally blue, black, or red, and the seas are a dark blue.
The equator, as drawn on the surface of the sphere, is divided into
degrees, represented alternately in white and black, and every tenth
degree is indicated by an appropriate number, beginning, as stated
above, at the island of Porto Santo. By way of decoration a border of
gold is given to the lines representing the equator, the tropics, and
the polar circles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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