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Waldseemller Map

Mark printing of Saint-Die-des-Vosges

Waldseemller Map, edited by the cartographer Martin Waldseemller in Saint-Die in 1507 , contains the first mention of the word "America" on a map. Entitled "Universalis Cosmographia", it comes with a booklet containing a treatise on geography , Cosmographiae Introductio.

The Treaty of Geography

Title page of Cosmographiae Introductio

The little book - whose title is Cosmographiae Introductio cum quibusdam Geometriae ac ad eam rem astronomiae principiis necessariis - has fifty-two sheets.

At least four editions appeared at Saint-Die from 1507.

The specification includes two parts:

In the first, the authors ( Vautrin Lud , Lud Nicolas , Mathias Ringmann , Martin Waldseemller and Jean Basin ) due to the need for a repeat of the Geography of Ptolemy. That's where they intend to name the new continent "America" in honor of Amerigo Vespucci , "and I see nothing that reasonably prevent us from calling it a land of Americus after its great discoverer, or America simply, since both Europe and Asia have received names of women. "

The second part consists of the translation into Latin by Jean Basin of the four voyages of Amerigo Vespucci. Waldseemller it recognizes the contribution of the Florentine collection to the New World as a separate continent.

A copy of the book is set in the Treasure Room of the Media Centre Victor-Hugo of Saint-Die-des-Vosges , where you can also view the complete document in digital form.

World map

Universalis Cosmographia (1507)

Entitled Universalis Cosmographia secundum Phtolomaei traditionem and America Vespucii aliorumque lustrationes, the world map drawn by the Vosges Gymnasium (Gymnasium Vosagense) of Saint-Die in the direction of Martin Waldseemller and printed in 1507 is the first map on which appears the word "America".

It is also the first wall map of the world performed by the technique of printing.

Large format (1290 x 2320 mm), not colored, it was printed using the technique of woodcut on twelve separate plates of 430 x 590 mm each. The total represents the shape of the land through an amendment to the conical projection of Ptolemy where meridians are curved. This new type of representation profound impact on cartography. The planisphere is cordate (heart shaped), surmounted by two medallions. The left represents Ptolemy , the right Amerigo Vespucci.

According to the tradition of the time, Europe, Africa and Asia are placed in the center. But the novelty lies on the left side of the document: the two parts of the new continent are separated by a strait, surrounded by water and obviously not attached to Asia as previously thought Christopher Columbus. The word "America", which appeared for the first time, is placed fairly low, rather to the south of Latin America today.

Detail with the name "AMERICA"

Work on the route of the American continents is rather approximate. Indeed, Waldseemller only uses charts to draw the map (mostly Caverio planisphere or a common source), missing baseline data. These charts do not represent the west coasts of the Americas since only the Atlantic had been explored. Waldseemller was therefore obliged to draw itself to the western boundaries of the new continents. For South America, it connects the north and south by two almost straight lines and transforms the island continent. For North America, he evades the issue by placing the latitude scale at the location of the west coast. Waldseemller Map is thus two separate continents, errors that other geographers breed in their own cards. Note however that in the frontispiece map next to the bust of Amerigo Vespucci, the two Americas are met. In addition, the west coast of South America is remarkably stylized by two straight lines.

The only copy of the map that still exists (there would have been a thousand at the origin) has long belonged to Johann Schner , an astronomer manufacturer of globes of Nuremberg and is almost forgotten before being rediscovered in the collections of Prince Waldburg-Wolfegg early ^twentieth century by Joseph Fischer , a Jesuit priest.

The Library of Congress of the United States quickly expressed interest in this piece and was acquired in 2001. It is now visible in Washington since 2007.

A fresco also reproduced on a wall map of Saint-Die-des-Vosges , the city where it was published.

The Andes and the Rockies represented

Representation in the Andes and Rocky Mountains.

The Waldseemller Map is distinctly mountainous corresponding to the Andes and Rocky Mountains.

It is unclear what information was based on Waldseemller to reproduce this information officially unknown in 1507 and may be a happy intuition from him. Indeed, neither Columbus nor Amerigo Vespucci did went too far towards the interior. None of them have bypassed the South American continent to revel in the Pacific Ocean.

It was not until the official travel Magellan in 1520 to reach the vicinity of these mountainous regions.

Bibliography

(En) AMERICA: America was born in Saint Die des Vosges in 1507, catalog of the exhibition organized by the City of Saint-Die-des-Vosges Vosges Philomathic and Society from May 9 to August 30, 1992 Museum of Saint-Die-des-Vosges.
(De) Fischer, Joseph and von Wieser, Franz. Die Karte mit dem Namen lteste Amerika aus dem Jahre 1507 an die Carta Marina aus dem Jahre 1516, Innsbruck, Wagner, 1903.
(En) Ronsin, Albert. The name of a Fortune: America, Jrme Million, 1991 (This book contains the translation and annotation of Cosmographiae Introductio, as well as letters of Amerigo Vespucci).