The Story of Geographical Discovery: How the World Became KnownJacobs, Joseph
History
The Story of Geographical Discovery: How the World Became Known
Jacobs, Joseph
Discoveries in geography
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO IBN HAUKAL (from Lelewel, _Géographie du
mon age_).--This map, like most of the Arabian maps, has the south
at the top. It is practically only a diagram, and is thus similar
to the Hereford Map in general form.--Misr=Egypt, Fars=Persia,
Andalus=Spain.
COAST-LINE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN (from the _Portulano_ of Dulcert,
1339, given in Nordenskiold's _Facsimile Atlas_).--To illustrate
the accuracy with which mariners' charts gave the coast-lines as
contrasted with the merely symbolical representation of other mediæval
maps.
FRA MAURO MAP, 1457 (from Lelewel, _loc. Cit._).--Here, as usual,
the south is placed at the top of the map. Besides the ordinary
mediæval conceptions, Fra Mauro included the Portuguese discoveries
along the coast of Africa up to his time, 1457.
PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA (from E. J. Payne, _European Colonies_,
1877).--Giving the successive points reached by the Portuguese
navigators during the fifteenth century.
PORTUGUESE INDIES (from Payne, _loc. Cit._).--All the ports mentioned
in ordinary type were held by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century.
THE TOSCANELLI MAP (from Kretschmer, _Entdeckung Amerikas_, 1892).--This
is a reconstruction of the map which Columbus got from the Italian
astronomer and cartographer Toscanelli and used to guide him in
his voyage across the Atlantic. Its general resemblance to the
Behaim Globe will be remarked.
THE BEHAIM GLOBE.--This gives the information about the world possessed
in 1492, just as Columbus was starting, and is mainly based upon the
map of Toscanelli, which served as his guide. It will be observed
that there is no other continent between Spain and Zipangu or Japan,
while the fabled islands of St. Brandan and Antilia are represented
bridging the expanse between the Azores and Japan.
AMERIGO VESPUCCI (from Fiske's _School History of the United States_,
by kind permission of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.)
FERDINAND MAGELLAN (from Fiske's _School History of the United
States_, by kind permission of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.)
MAP OF THE WORLD, from the Ptolemy Edition of 1548 (after Kretschmer's
_Entdeckungsgeschichte Amerikas_).--It will be observed that Mexico
is supposed to be joined on to Asia, and that the North Pacific
was not even known to exist.
RUSSIAN ASIA (after the Atlas published by the Russian Academy of
Sciences in 1737, by kind permission of Messrs. Hachette). Japan
is represented as a peninsula.
AUSTRALIA AS KNOWN IN 1745 (from D'Anville's _Atlas_, by kind permission
of Messrs. Hachette).--It will be seen that the Northern and Western
coasts were even by this time tolerably well mapped out, leaving
only the eastern coast to be explored by Cook.
AUSTRALIA, showing routes of explorations (prepared specially for
the present volume). The names of the chief explorers are given
at the top of the map.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account