globes, as before stated, necessarily give us to understand that Christopher Columbus was a globe maker. Certain it is that none is now known attributed to him or to his son.
Fig. 24. Lorenzo Lotto Portrait of Columbus.
The explorer, John Cabot (1450–1498) (Fig. 25), is likewise reputed to have been interested in the construction of globes. In a dispatch sent from London, December 18, 1497, by the envoy Raimondi di Soncino to the Duke of Milan, we read that “this Master John has a description of the world on a map, and also on a solid sphere, which he has made, and it shows where he landed, and that sailing toward the east (west) he had passed far beyond the region of the Tanais.”116
Fig. 25. Portrait of Sebastian Cabot, Son of John Cabot.
That terrestrial globes were constructed toward the close of the fifteenth century is of significance, not only as a response to a new desire for more nearly accurate representation of the earth’s surface than could be set forth on a plane map, but it is likewise significant by reason of the fact that such globes as were constructed served to demonstrate the value of globe maps, and this value once demonstrated, they served to awaken a still further interest in globe making, which bears abundant fruitage in the following century.
There is a very remarkable celestial globe of the fifteenth century now belonging to the Lyceum Library of Constance, Switzerland. It is the work of Johannes Stöffler (1452–1531),117 at one time a pastor in the town of Justingen, later a professor of mathematics in the University of Tübingen, where he achieved renown as mathematician, astronomer, cosmographer, and mechanic. It appears from the title of a publication attributed to Stöffler, ‘De artificiosa globi terrestris compositione,’118 that he was a maker of terrestrial globes, though no such globe of his is now known, and from his letters to Reuchlin we learn that he made no less than three celestial globes.119 One of the latter he sent to his friend, Probst Peter Wolf of Denkendorf, which represented the movements of the sun and of the moon. A second was constructed for Bishop von Dalberg of Worms, on which the stars were represented in gold.120 Nothing further is definitely known of these two globes. A third was constructed for Bishop Daniel of Constance, which is the one now to be found in that city’s library.121 This sphere has a diameter of 48 cm., rests upon a wooden base, and is furnished with a meridian and with a horizon circle. The forty-eight constellations of Ptolemy are represented on a dark background and are outlined in accord with recognized traditions. To a few of the constellations double names are given, as “Hercules” and “Genuflexus,” “Auriga” and “Agitator”. Stars of the first magnitude are especially distinguished by name, the majority of which are of Arabic origin, and more than one thousand stars are clearly indicated.
To the globe makers themselves, who were active agents in creating a demand for globes, there should here be added the name of Conrad Celtes (1459–1508),122 the distinguished German humanist, as that of one who contributed most in the first years of modern times toward arousing an interest in the use of globes in the schools. Aschbach, in his History of the Vienna University,123 tells us of the school founded in Vienna in the year 1510 by the Emperor Maximilian I, and of the instruction given in this school by Celtes. We are informed that in his lectures on mathematical geography he introduced a good text of Ptolemy in the original Greek; this he translated into Latin, interpreting the same in German, explaining the several sentences by reference to a terrestrial and to a celestial globe. Having no record that such a method had been earlier employed we may therefore conclude that this distinguished teacher was the first to proceed in the manner designated, that is, he was the first in modern times to make use of globes in geographical and astronomical instruction.
NOTES
97 Major, R. H. Life of Prince Henry the Navigator. London, 1868. This is one of the first, and, at the same time, one of the most satisfactory biographies of Prince Henry; Beazley, C. R. Prince Henry the Navigator. New York, 1895; Azurara, Gomez Eannes de. Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Tr. and ed. by Charles Raymond Beazley and Edward Prestage. (Hakluyt Society Publications. London, 1896. 2 vols.)
98 D’Avezac, M. A. P. Description et histoire des îles de l’Afrique. Paris, 1848; same author, Notice des découvertes faites au moyen âge dans l’Océan Atlantique. Paris, 1845; same author, Les îles fantastiques de l’Océan occidental au moyen âge. Paris, 1845; Margry, P. La conquête des îles Canaries. Paris, 1896; Beazley. Dawn of Modern Geography. Vol. III, chap. iv.
The Canary Islands, and perhaps others in the eastern Atlantic, were known to the Romans, but appear to have been lost to the knowledge of the Europeans during the greater part of the middle ages, to be rediscovered in the period in which modern geographical exploration was being entered upon.
99 Ravenstein, E. G. The voyages of Diogo Cão and Bartholomew Diaz. (In: Geographical Journal. London, 1900. Vol. XVI, pp. 625–655.)
100 Beazley. Dawn of Modern Geography. Vol. II, chap. v; Vol. III, chap. ii; Yule, H. The Book of Sir Marco Polo, the Venetian, concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East. London, 1903. 2 vols.
101 Nordenskiöld, A. E. Facsimile Atlas. Stockholm, 1889; same author, Periplus. Stockholm, 1897; Stevenson, E. L. Portolan Charts, their origin and characteristics. New York, 1911; same author, Genoese World Map, 1457. New York, 1912; same author, Facsimiles of Portolan Charts. New York, 1916.
From the above-named list of works, to which numerous additions might be made, a general notion of the beginnings of modern cartography can be obtained.
102 Doppelmayr, J. S. Historische Nachricht von den Nürnbergischen Mathematicis und Künstlern. Nürnberg, 1730. pp. 27 ff. Murr, C. G. v. Diplomatische Geschichte des portuguisischen berühmten Ritters Martin Behaim aus Originalurkunden. Nürnberg, 1778; Ghillany, F. W. Der Erdglobus des Martin Behaim von 1492, und der des Johann Schöner 1520. Nürnberg, 1842; same author, Geschichte des Seefahrers Ritter Martin Behaim, nach den ältesten vorhandenen Urkunden bearbeitet. Nürnberg, 1853; Ziegler, A. Martin Behaim, der Geistige Entdecker Amerikas. Dresden, 1859; Günther, S. Martin Behaim. Bamberg, 1890; Wieser, F. v. Magalhâes-Strasse und Australkontinent auf den Globen des Johannes Schöner. Innsbruck, 1881; Gallois, L. Les Géographes allemands de la renaissance. Paris, 1890. Chap. iii; Ravenstein, E. G. Martin Behaim, His Life and His Globe. London, 1908; Harrisse, H. The Discovery of North America. London, 1892. pp. 391.
Of the above-named works, that by Ravenstein is the most satisfactory, being a most scholarly and scientific treatment of his subject.
