Planisphere of Waldseemüller

The planisphere of Waldseemüller , published under the direction of the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller with Saint-Dié in 1507, contains the first mention of the word “America” on a chart. Heading Universalis Cosmographia , it is accompanied by a booklet containing a treaty of Géographie, Cosmographiae Introductio .

The treaty of geography

The little book - whose complete title is Cosmographiae introductio cum quibusdam geometriae ac astronomiae principiis AD eam rem necessariis - comprises fifty-two layers.

At least four editions appeared with Saint-Dié as of 1507.

It includes/understands two parts:

In the first, the authors (Vautrin Lud, Nicolas Lud, Mathias Ringmann, Martin Waldseemüller and Jean Basin) is explained on the need for proceeding to a republication of the Géographie of Ptolémée. It is there that they propose to baptize the new continent “America” in homage to Amerigo Vespucci: “and I do not see anything which, reasonably, would prevent us to call it ground of Améric of the name of its brilliant discoverer, or simply América, since as well Europe and Asia received names of women”.

the second part is made up of the translation in Latin by Jean Basin of the four voyages of Amerigo Vespucci. Waldseemüller recognizes the contribution of the Florentin there to a perception of the New World like a distinct continent.

A specimen of the work is exposed in the room of the Treasury of the Médiathèque Victor-Hugo of the Saint-Dié-of-Vosges, where one can also consult the totality of the document in digitized form.

The chart of the world

Entitled Universalis cosmographia secundum Phtolomaei traditionem and aliorumque Americi Vespucii lustrationes , the map of the world established by the Vosgean Gymnase ( Gymnasium Vosagense ) of Saint-Dié under the direction of Martin Waldseemüller and printed in 1507 is the first chart on which the word “America appears”.

It is moreover the first mural chart of the world carried out by the technique of printing works.

Of large size (1290 X 2320 mm), not colored, it was printed according to the technique of the Xylographie on twelve separate boards of 430 X 590 mm each one. The unit represents the shape of the ground thanks to a modification of the conical projection of Ptolémée where the Méridien S are curved. This new type of representation marked the Cartographie deeply. The planisphere is cordiforme (in the shape of heart), surmounted by two medallions. That of left represents Ptolémée, that of right-hand side Amerigo Vespucci.

According to the tradition of the time, Europe, Africa and Asia are placed in the center. But the innovation is on the left side of the document: the two parts of the new continent are separated by a strait, are surrounded by water and obviously not attached to Asia as Christophe Colomb believed it. The word " America" , which appears for the first time, is placed rather low, rather towards the South of the current Latin America. Work on the layout of the American continents is rather approximate. Indeed, Waldseemüller uses only the sea charts to draw the chart (mainly the Planisphère of Caverio or a common source), bench-mark datum lack. These sea charts did not represent yet the west coasts of Americas since only the part Atlantique had been explored. Waldseemüller was thus obliged to trace itself the western limits of the new continents. For South America, it connects north and the south by 2 almost rectilinear features and thus transforms the continent into island. For North America, it eludes the problem while placing the scale of the latitudes to the site of the west coast. The planisphere of Waldseemüller represents two separated continents thus, fault that other geographers will reproduce in their own charts.

The single specimen of the chart which still remains (it there of would have had a thousand in the beginning) belonged a long time to Johann Schöner, an astronomer manufacturer of terrestrial spheres of Nuremberg, then practically fell into the lapse of memory before being redécouvert in the collections of the prince Waldburg-Wolfegg at the beginning of the 20th century by Joseph Fischer, a priest Jesuit.

The Bibliothèque of the Congress of the the United States quickly expressed its interest for this part and in 2001 acquired it.

the Andes and Rocky Mountains represented

The planisphere of Waldseemüller distinctly represents the mountainous reliefs of the the Andes and the Rocky Mountains.

How can one explain the representation of these long assembly lines, nonvisible since the east coast of the continent?

Neither Christophe Colomb, nor Vespucci went also far towards the interior of the grounds. None them sailed round the South American continent to spring on the Pacific Ocean.

It will be necessary to officially await the voyage of Magellan in 1520 to reach trimmings of these mountainous regions.

On which unknown information and which portulans Waldseemüller to officially reproduce this still unknown information in 1507 based?

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