Contarini-Rosselli card
The Contarini-Rosselli map from 1506 is the first printed map showing the “ New World ”. It was drawn by Giovanni Matteo Contarini and engraved by Francesco Rosselli .
Data
The card has the dimensions 420 × 630 mm. According to the watermark , the paper was made in Florence. A Latin inscription indicates the date of the card (1506) and the names of the designer and printer east of the Cape of Good Hope .
history
The map was made using the copperplate engraving process and printed in Florence or Venice , which is marked on the map in contrast to Florence.
The only surviving copy was rediscovered in 1922 and is now in the British Library . In 1924, the British Museum Trust published a facsimile version of the map.
description
The maps reproduced and sold by Roselli already take into account the curvature of the earth by means of stereographic projection .
Greenland is understood as part of Asia, which presents itself as the extension of a broad band that at some point joins the main mass of Asia.
Southern Europe and the Mediterranean as far as the Black Sea are drawn quite accurately.
Africa is also detailed and accurate.
The Indian and Indonesian coastlines are drawn as ending in several peninsulas. India is not as good as in Ruysch's map . Instead of letting Asia run out in a “ dragon's tail ” in the area of today's Indonesia , smaller islands are drawn in here. This is closer to reality than many other comparable maps of the time.
The Caribbean-North American region is drawn as Cuba , Zipangu and the coasts of Asia and stands in clear contrast to Waldseemüller's work .
They also show a southern continent stretching from what is now known as South America to Antarctica . In this respect there is a vague correspondence with the map of Piri Reis from 1513, the Lopo Homem map from 1519, the Juan Vespucci map from 1524 and other maps. The Antarctic was not discovered until the early 19th century. However, Terra Australis Incognita is shown on many maps from the 15th to 18th centuries because, according to the Greek philosophers (starting with Pythagoras ), a continent should be located there. They had already come to the conclusion in the 3rd century before our time that the earth had to be spherical and calculated its diameter with a reasonably good accuracy. Since land was in the northern hemisphere, it was thought that there must be land in the south too; otherwise the earth would be out of balance.
See also
literature
- A Map of the World. Designed by Gio. Matteo Contarini. Engraved by Fran. Rosselli 1506. British Museum et al., London 1924.
- Roberto Almagià: On the Cartographic Work of Francesco Rosselli. In: Imago Mundi. Vol. 8, 1951, pp. 27-34, doi : 10.1080 / 03085695108591976 .
Web links
- The New World in Maps: The First Hundred Years , John T. Day (St. Olaf College), The Newberry Library, 1988.
- Contarini / Roselli World Map
Individual evidence
- ^ Edward Heawood: Review: Florentine world-maps of Francesco Rosselli. I Planisferi di Francesco Rosselli Dell 'Epoca Delle grandi scoperte geografiche by S. Crinò. In: Geographical Journal. Vol. 95, No. 6, 1940, pp. 452-454, doi : 10.2307 / 1788430 .
- ^ Contarini / Roselli World Map.
- ↑ Roberto Almagia: On the Cartographic Work of Francesco Rosselli. In: Imago Mundi. Vol. 8, 1951, pp. 27-34.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
