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
Nordenskiöld has described a set of twelve globe gores, engraved on
wood, belonging to his own collection, which he assigns to the year
1518.[169] Of these particular gores three sets are known; one being in
the collection of Prince Liechtenstein (Fig. 39), one in the
Bibliothèque Nationale, and one, as noted, in the possession of
Nordenskiöld. On these gore maps North America bears the name “Terra
Cuba” and “Parias.” South America has the name “America” inscribed in
large letters, with an accompanying legend reading “Terra Noua Inuenta
est Anno 1497.” “The New World discovered in the year 1497.”[170] The
austral land, appearing on the Schöner globes, is wanting. By reason of
the fact that the names of but two European cities are inscribed, these
being “Ingolstadt” and “St. Jacobus,” the suggestion has been made that
the map is the work of Apianus, a celebrated geographer of Ingolstadt,
author of the important map of 1520 and a globe maker.[171] In their
general features these gores are of the Schönerian type, which we may
also characterize as Lusitano-Germanic.
[Illustration: Fig. 39. Liechtenstein Globe Gores, ca. 1518.]
In the Royal Collections of Windsor Castle may be found a set of eight
globe gores (Fig. 135), attributed by Major to Leonardo da Vinci, but
with very little more reason for the assignment than the fact that they
were found in a collection of papers in the handwriting of that famous
artist. They are drawn as equilateral triangles, each representing one
eighth of the earth’s surface, not as biangles, which is the usual form
for early globe gores.[172] Major described the map as the oldest known
on which the name America appears, giving as the probable date of
construction the year 1514, which date is thought by Harrisse to be five
or six years too early.[173] Such a distinction as was claimed for the
record of the name America by Major, being likewise assigned at various
times to other early maps, has at last been definitely fixed as
belonging to the world map of Waldseemüller of 1507.[174] The outlines
of the New World bear a resemblance to those found in the Lenox and the
Jagellonicus globes. The North American region is represented by two
islands, one of which bears the name “Bacalar,” the other “Terra
Florida.” South America, a large island, has conspicuously inscribed the
name “America,” together with a few prominent coast names. These gores
are chiefly of interest by reason of their peculiar form.
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