Cosmographiae introductio : cum quibusdam geometriae ac astronomiae principiis ad eam rem necessariis

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Designed to accompany Waldseemüller's globe and wall map of the world, on which the New World is called America.

"America" is suggested as name for the New World on sig. C1 recto and C3 verso.

Originally published earlier in the same year.

Signatures: A-B⁶ C-D⁴ ²A⁸ b-c⁴ d⁸ e-f⁴.

Library of Congress. Lessing J. Rosenwald collection, 934

Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.

Sabin 101019

Rosenwald 934

Thacher, II, p. 53 (Americana)

Kislak accession no.: 1985.003.00.0003.

More: Maps XVI Century

The geography discoveries and the new printing techniques resulted in maps that can be cheaply produced. Since a globe remains the only accurate way of representing the spherical earth, and any flat representation resulted in distorted projection. In 1569, Mercator published a map of the world specifically intended as an aid to navigation. It used a projection now known by Mercator's name, though it has been used by few others before him, based on a system of latitude and longitude that dated back to Hipparchus. Mercator's projection greatly enlarged territories as they recede from the equator. The distortion of Mercator's projection is a benefit to navigators since Mercator achieves a matching scale for longitude and latitude in every section of the map. A compass course can be plotted at the same angle on any part of Mercator's map. As a result marine charts still use this projection. By the time of his death in 1595, Mercator has either published or prepared large engraved maps, designed for binding into volume form, of France, Germany, Italy, the Balkans, and the British Isles. Mercator's son issues the entire series under the title "Atlas": "Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes." The name becomes the word for a volume of maps.

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america discovery and exploration name geography early maps vespucci amerigo saint dié latin cosmographiae introductio cosmographiae introductio geometriae astronomiae principiis eam rem necessariis early works to 1600 amerigo vespucci 1507 high resolution early works to 1800 early accounts to 1600 lessing j rosenwald collection rare book selections rare book and special collections division jay i kislak collection library of congress john boyd thacher collection library of congress riviere and son josé maría rodríguez martin waldseemüller geometriae ac astronomiae principiis ad eam rem necessariis insuper quattuor americi vespucij nauigationes eis etiam insertis quae ptholom vniuersalis cosmographiae descriptio ultra high resolution vintage illustration book illustrations vintage books mapamundi map of the world world maps

01/01/1507

Waldseemüller, Martin, 1470-1519.

Maps XVI Century

16th Century Maps from various collections

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

Public Domain

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