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 geographical department of the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris is
a globe referred to in cartographical literature as the Green globe, or
the Quirini globe, the first name being given to it by Gabriel
Marcel,[167] by reason of the prominence of the color green employed in
painting the seas (Fig. 38). It is an unsigned and undated wooden
sphere, 24 cm. in diameter. Its surface appears to have been covered
with a coating of paint, originally white, and on this the world map was
drawn. There is much artistic skill displayed in the coast
configurations, with the deeply shaded seaboards making the land appear
to rise above the ocean surface, and in the representation of the
islands, most of which are made conspicuous in red or gold. The
inscriptions in dark brown, perhaps originally black, are neatly
written, clearly suggesting that the globe was constructed in the
first quarter of the sixteenth century, perhaps as early as 1513 or
1515. The equator, the tropics, and the polar circles are traced in
gold; the degrees of latitude and longitude are marked in red, and at
intervals of ten degrees. The prime meridian is made to pass through the
Cape Verde Islands, islands referred to as “Insule Portugalensium
invente anno Domini 1472.” This globe shows a striking resemblance to
those of Schöner of 1515, a fact which has led Marcel to refer it to the
Schönerian school, though not to attribute it directly to Schöner
himself. A very important and interesting feature of the globe is the
appearance of the name “America” no less than four times in the New
World; twice in what we now call North America and twice in South
America. It is, indeed, the oldest known cartographical monument on
which the name America is given both to the north and the south
continental areas. In the southern continent we read “America ab
inuentore nuncupata,” and near the Antilles “Iste insule per Columbus
genuensem almirantem et mandato regis castelle invente sunt.” “These
islands were discovered by Columbus, a Genoese admiral, by command of
the king of Castile.” Harrisse observes that it appears the cartographer
thought of Columbus as the discoverer of the West India Islands only,
and that he thought the honor of the discovery of the American
continents, north and south, belongs to Vespucius.[168] An austral land
appears, though nameless, which Schöner called “Brasilie regio” on his
globe of 1515, and “Brasilia inferior” on his globe of 1520.
[Illustration: Fig. 38. The Green Globe, 1515.]
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