IOO«>

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY
OF AMERICA UP TO THE YEAR 1570.

BY

DR. SOPHTJS RTJCiE.

FROM THE SMITHSONIAN REPORT FOR 1894, PAGES 281-296
(WITH ELATES XVII-XLV).

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
18 9 0.

I

1006

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY
OF AMERICA UP TO THE YEAR 1570.

BY

DR. SOPHU8 RTJGrE.

FROM THE SMITHSONIAN REPORT FOR 1894, PAGES 281-296
(WITH PLATES XVII-XLV).

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
18 9 6.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAETOGEAPHY OP AMERICA
UP TO THE YEAE 1570.1

By Dr. SOPHTJS BlTGE.

The discovery of America and the geographical researches on that
continent may be regarded as the initial period of the era of discovery.
In order to intelligently trace the gradual dawning of a new world
upon the geographical chart and, at the same time, to compare the
discoveries made by the several pilots and to estimate briefly their
value from a scientific point of view, I have selected the medium of a
collection of thirty- two maps, upon which are represented the progress
of discovery from decade to decade.
This cartographical evolution ends with the year 1570, for in that
year first appeared Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis, the earliest modern
atlas, by which, in numerous editions and in various languages, we
have an easily accessible collection of new charts. Previous to that
publication, exclusive of the rare collection of Lafreris, the maps of the
several engravers, through successive years combined, were printed
only in single sheets or introduced as such in scientific works of the
most dissimilar character.
The present maps contain four series of illustrations. The first series
(Pis. XVII-XX) exhibits, on modern charts, the coasts and inland
regions that have been discovered. The second series (Pis. XXI-
XXIV) presents to our view the results of the observations of the pilots
to whom we are indebted for the production of these maps.
Naturally, with the exception of the Cosa chart, no original survey?
could be represented, but they are, on the contrary, copies and tran
scripts of copies which are extant, a compilation gathered from different
sources, so that only the general impression of the ideas promulgated a
the time are shown to us. In details, however, and specially in local
names, numerous inaccuracies occur.
Finally, the third and fourth series (Pis. XXV-XLV) introduce to us
the scientific conclusions of geographers and the inductions of scien
tists together with established theories in regard to the positions of
'Translated from Dr. A. Petermann's Mitteilungen, 1892. Erganzungsheft Nr. 106.
281

282 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA.
the new, relatively to the known world. Here the originals are, almost
without exception, modified typographically, and they are either wood
cuts or copper engravings. Copies, however, are introduced of manu
scripts and of painted globes. Where single charts, simply marine
charts, have been struck off, which, however, but seldom occurs, they
are given uncolored and without doctrinal reasoning or scientific signifi
cance. For the information of the scholar, which it was necessary to
express in the third or fourth series, two series were requisite, partly
in order to give an indication of the abundance of the theories, that
often changed as suddenly as they arose, and partly with a view to intro
duce into this history all prominent or representative names.
In order to subjoin to the discoveries as well as to the charts the
necessary explanations, inasmuch as they could only be given curso
rily and summarily in a map, the second and special part of this paper
comprises a history of the voyages of discovery and exploration, and the
necessary material for charts, all of which is chronologically arranged.1
The important points in a history of discoveries are not alone to clearly
set forth the more prominent incidents of the earlier voyages, and espe
cially those of Colon, as also the names given to the discovered local
ities, but likewise to give the sources of evidence, and opportunely,
works of critical research. In the course of the sixteenth century the
more real discoveries cease, and the more brief, generally speaking, are
communications and critical observations. The chronological series ol
charts that are accessible, in so far as they are geographical, possess a
certain value and are given with the utmost completeness possible.
Among them the principal works of Harrisse offer the most valid claims
to our recognition. I confidently believe that although this series is far
from being exhaustive, it will nevertheless be acceptable to those who
are interested in the too-little-cultivated history of cartography. The
works, too, are cited, as far as known to me, in which the respective
charts are to be found, either in facsimile or imitation.
For a critical analysis and appreciation of the charts themselves, and
an understanding of their relation one to another, synoptical tables of
all the names and legends were requisite, the laborious preparation of
which may not appear in a brief statement, but the value of which
may be recognized from the few critical observations upon them.
In the third series, charts 1 and 2 revert to a period anterior even to
the discovery of America by Columbus, in 1492. These are shown for
the purpose of giving expression to ideas and theories on the lines of
demarcation of countries which have had decided influence on poster
ity, such, for example as the Zamoiski codex of 1468 for Northern, and
Behaim's Globus of 1492, for Eastern Asia. The questionable Zeno

1 This history in detail of the several voyages and of the charts is too voluminous
for translation here, covering about eighty pages of Petermann's Mitteilungen.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 283
chart of 1380 (?) is included in the appended list,1 for the reason that
after its publication in the year 1558, not merely did the Italian Ptole-
maus editions, but even Mercator, as well, follow its delineation of the
northern regions. THE MABINE CHARTS.
The art of designing marine charts originated with the Italians.
When the Portuguese Prince Henry began his discoveries he sought
to obtain Italians for his enterprises. So likewise in chart design, or
drafts, Italians became the instructors of the Portuguese, and with the
latter the Basques appeared as skillful mariners and cartographers.
Not until toward the middle of the sixteenth century did nautical car
tography find its entrance into France. It did not reach either Eng
land or Germany at the epoch of "the great discoveries. But in Spain,
to which is due the most ancient cartography of the most important
regions in America, guidance and enlightenment were derived from
Italians, Basques, and Portuguese. And thus the material for Ameri
can cartography consists of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and more
recently of French charts, or coast pilots. The language of these charts
is exclusively Eomanish.
But, unfortunately, original drafts are hardly accessible. Unfortu
nately, also, most of the track charts no longer exist. "What, in the
lapse of time, has been preserved from shipwreck, or the hands of the
gold-beaters, is as yet not fully ascertained, and very little indeed has
been described" (Harrisse, Cabot, p. 139). As often as pictures of the
uprising New World vary in the first decades, just so often do the charts
become antiquated and dangerous as guides. It therefore became
necessary from considerations of prudence or utility to discard or
destroy the more ancient. Thus it happens that neither in Spain nor
in Portugal is there to be found a chart of America for the first fifteen
years of the sixteenth century, with the exception of that oldest map
of che world, which was recovered from France, and on which the New
World is represented — the noted chart of the Basque pilot Juan de
la Cosa. The earliest charts that have been preserved, next to that of
Cosa, the marine charts of Canario and Cantero, and that of Kunst-
mann in his atlas of published sheets, Nos. 2 and 3, are to be found in
the collections of Italy, France, and Germany. And even these, col
lectively, are no longer original, but imitations and compilations
collected from various State archives. And although Cosa, in the
delineation of America, has pronounced his work as original, his chart
upon the whole is merely a compilation.
The elaborate, and in many respects incisive criticism which Har
risse2 above all others, has devoted to the subject, has enabled us, in
'List not translated.
2 '•'Names, when methodically interrogated, yield very useful results, which reach
even diBtant questions." (Harrisse, Disc, of N. America, p. 325.)

284 DEVELOPMENT OP THE CARTOGRAPHY OP AMERICA.
special instances to determine what originals were used in drawing
some of the chart copies, but it is impossible to say how far original
and copy agree with each other. So, also, the oldest manuscripts for
a cartographic history of America are not originals, but merely arbi
trary combinations of various copies, not drawn from originals of
equivalent value, for the value of a first impression on the mind is
always dependent upon the intelligence of the pilot. Every copyist
is subjected to the risk of committing errors, through a misappre
hension, or perhaps through careless haste. And here no connected
text is employed, as in the transcript of a literary composition, but
individual names without connection or correlation are strung along,
like beads, upon the water line of a seacoast. Cosmographers, too,
avail themselves in numerous instances of abbreviations in favor at
the time, and employed in manuscripts. The points designated along
the coast are in some localities so crowded together that errors may
readily occur in their repetition, not alone through the misinterpreta
tion of a name badly or illegibly written, but in some cases from its
entire omission. And thus the correct reduplication of a series of
appellations, so closely written, would be rendered almost impracti
cable. Besides, if copperplates or woodcuts were designed for charts
written upon parchment, the brittle character of the material on which
it must be printed would doubtless make necessary a reduction in the
number of the local names. It could not be assumed, moreover, that
due .discrimination had been exercised in the topography of these
sheets, and only the less unimportant particulars omitted.
The principal share in the explorations made along the American
seacoast unquestionably belongs to the Spanish pilots, or to those
employed in the service of Spain. But it must in no wise be supposed
from this that Spanish influence in the development of the cartography
of America has been very considerable. The reverse, indeed, is the
case. Spanish cartography, it is true, begins immediately after the
first voyage of Colon, and innumerable traces in the literature of the
country, and the manuscripts contained in their archives, afford ample
evidence of the rapid development among them of the art of sketching
and designing marine charts. But despite this fact, the dissemination
of this art throughout Spain, and its progress toward northern regions,
and consequent influence upon the cartographic conceptions of middle
Europe during the first quarter of the sixteenth century, can not be
established. Columbus had promised to draw up a chart of the dis
coveries of his first voyage, and he had held out to their majesties an
assurance of its execution on his return home. On the 5th of Septem
ber, 1493, he was again reminded of his engagement by Queen Isabella
(Navarr. II., p. 122., 2d edition, 1859). Meanwhile the court records
communicate nothing to us, in respect either to the dispatch of the
chart or its receipt. It is proved in several ways that a chart of his
third voyage was in existence. Hojeda saw it first at Bishop Fon-

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 285
seca's, and obtained a copy of the chart for his own first voyage (Navarr.
Ill, pp. 539, 586). But of all his charts, not one has been preserved.
The restored chart of Juan de la Cosa, 1500, is, then, the earliest car
tographic memorial handed down to us; and in this map the skillful
Basque mariner has combined in one exhibit the various Spanish dis
coveries, and, possibly also, the discoveries of John Cabot in North
America. The incidents of the fourth voyage of the Admiral in 1502-1504 were
rapidly disseminated throughout Europe, for not only Columbus him
self and his brother Bartholomew, but likewise the other mariners had
each designed charts. It might therefore be readily inferred that not
merely facts but names themselves might vary in many important par
ticulars. Charts were no mystery, and they might be indiscriminately
reproduced, or even acquired by purchase. In Portugal there was a
chart industry, and there was an open traffic in them under the restric
tion, however, that it was forbidden, under a heavy penalty, to draw
plans of the route by sea to the Molucca Islands. We thus find rhat
later on an Italian draftsman, Baptista Agnese, contributed, as a sup
plement to his finely executed collection of maps, a chart of the world,
upon which the Molucca route was clearly traced, and it was recognized
as such.
When, in 1500, the Portuguese Indian fleet under Cabral discovered
Brazil, and when in succeeding years Portuguese vessels had coasted
along a considerable portion of the eastern coast of South America, it
appears that in Portugal they encouraged the publication of these
facts. This was naturally in the highest degree obnoxious to the
Spaniards, for at Lisbon copies of the charts were willingly accorded
to Italians. It appears further that charts of Cabot's voyages were
brought to Lisbon earlier than to Spain. At all events, the explora
tions of Cortoreal and the earliest received charts of Cantino and
Canario had their origin in Portugal. To a wide diffusion of the
incidents of his own voyages in Portuguese ships, Vespucci himself
contributed, as they were accustomed to say, through picture and nar
rative; and thus the influence of Portuguese charts, copied by Italians,
upon the ideas of Middle Europe was already inaugurated before
Spanish cartography was directed into- regular channels. The first
foundation for the system was laid in the establishment of the Indian
office at Seville in 1503. The lead in all transmarine enterprises
emanated from the Casa de Contratacion for the Indies. Here were
necessarily collected charts of all recent discoveries. But it would
necessarily soon become evident that such charts, based upon charts
often widely deviating from each other and giving imperfect or errone
ous delineations of the coasts in the new hemisphere, would rather
expose mariners to danger than afford them security. It became nec
essary, therefore, to exercise a many-sided critique and careful investi
gation of the charts accessible, and care be taken that seamen were

286 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA.
furnished with the most accurate maps obtainable and designed upon
uniform principles.
The progress here indicated was associated with the nomination of
Amerigo Vespucci in 1508 to be chief pilot in Spain. The plan was
then first conceived of drawing under his supervision an official gen
eral map of the regions discovered (Navarr. Ill, p. 300). Juan Diaz
de Solis and Vincencio Yafiez Pinzon were associated with him. Of all
the charts then in existence that of Andres de Morales was declared
to be the best, and it was raised to the grade of an official chart, or
royal padron. No mariner was permitted to have on board his ship,
under a penalty of 50 doubloons ($240), any other chart. But it was
more easy to issue than to enforce such an order.
When Amerigo Vespucci died, on the 22d of February, 1512, Diaz
de Solis succeeded him as chief pilot. In the same year, the latter,
together with the nephew of Amerigo, Juan Vespucci, received a com
mission to draw up an official chart. In consideration of this they
were each to receive the privilege of copying and selling the royal
padron. But other cartographers did not trouble themselves about
this privilege. During subsequent years, and up to the period of Diaz
de Solis's death, we are informed of several convocations of a junta
through which the preparation of an official chart might be expedited,
but it seems that many impediments were encountered in its execution.
And, in fact, no trace has been preserved of any similarly authorized
charts. The question here was an exact determination of the longitude
of Cape St. Augustine, in Brazil, according to which it was hoped that
the line of demarcation of the Portuguese claims in South America
might be definitely adjusted, for the Portuguese were determined to
imprison every Spaniard who overstep ped the boundary. Incorrect
charts, moreover, exposed seamen to imminent peril in that locality.
It has been supposed that Sheets IV and V in Kunstmann's Atlas
were promulgated as results of the junta of 1515 (Kohl, Generalkar-
ten, p. 30), for these charts must have appeared subsequent to 1513,
inasmuch as Balboa's South Sea is indicated upon them. But these
two charts represent two different standpoints. No. IV represents
the Portuguese claim in Brazil as proved by the line of demarcation
through that country and the long legend upon the Portuguese side,
while No. V defends Spanish pretensions, according to which the
boundary line recognizes as valid, in behalf of the claims of Portugal,
only the extreme projection of Brazil. The first chart employs the
medium of the Portuguese tongue: the second of the Italian. The
uncertainty as to a comprehensive idea of the new regions lasted only
a few years; that is to say, until the shores of the Mexican Gulf were
taken up by Pinedo or until Sebastian d'Elcano, of Magellan's squad
ron, brought home the earliest charts of the southern extremity of
South America. Moreover, not until about 1522 or 1523 was the Span
ish coast line in America fully determined in the west, through their

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 287
researches on the broad ocean, as furnished by the surveys of Cortez
and Pizarro. And now the idea of a universal official map or "padron"
was once more reverted to.
In the year 1526 Ferdinand Columbus received an order to prepare
an accurate chart, and this, by a later imperial decree, was to be
entitled the "general padron." But when, after the lapse of nine
years, a reiterated command was dispatched to the son of the Admiral
to complete the work, it must not be concluded that up to that period
he had not executed the commission or supplied any map whatever.
Nor does this entirely justify the assumption that the Weimaraner
general chart of 1527, the first general map, originated with him. The
second, designed by Eibero, and the general map of 1527, and that of
1529, essentially altered, have both likewise been preserved. The
approved type exhibited in each of these charts was henceforth as a
general rule steadily adhered to.
Though the Portuguese occupy a subordinate rank as regards the
extent of their contributions to the cartography of America, the dis
tinction is assuredly due them of having first conceived aud portrayed
the continent of North America in its correct and proper contour,
exclusive, of course, of the polar regions. They were able pilots and
expert draftsmen, and not only by their labors, but by their methods,
they have exercised a vast influence, especially upon geographical
works in Germany. Many of their pilots and draftsmen emigrated
secretly from Portugal into Spain and entered into the service of
Charles V. Such, for example, were Francisco and Euy Faliero, Jorge
and Pedro Eeinel, and Simon de Alcazaba de Sotomayor. Along with
these, and even to a greater extent than the latter, Italians emigrated
to Spain. Only Columbus, however, with Amerigo and Juan Vespucci,
are here mentioned (Harrisse, Cabot, p. 219). Two of the earliest and
most important cartographic records, the charts of Cantino and Cane-
rio, although supplied or drawn by Italians, are copies of Portuguese
originals. Both of these, as also the surveys of the coasts of the New
World sent to the Duke E6ne" of Lothringen, had a far-reaching influ
ence upon scientific cosmography.
This influence, however, emanates from Italians residing abroad.
Harrisse calls attention to the fact (Discovery of North America,
p. 270) that cartographers living in Italy only recently, comparatively,
took notice of the discoveries of Spaniards and Portuguese in the New
World, and with the exception of Johann Euysch, a German,who copied
in its essential details a Portuguese map of the New World for the
Eoman Ptolemaus of 1508, the Viscount di Maggiolo was the first who
brought to Naples a representation of the newly discovered regions, in
1511. Cartographic activity in Italy, up to the year 1527, remained
dependent upon Portuguese exemplars. Spanish influence is first
detected in Maggiolo's chart of 1527. The French took part in these
nautical and cartographic enterprises much later than the three south-

288 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA.
ern Eomanish nations — the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Here,
too, an Italian, Giov. Verrazzano, in 1524, was the pioneer. The voy
age of the first Frenchman, Jacques Cartier, followed ten years later,
and although none of his original drawings have been preserved, the
results of his first voyages of discovery shown upon the chart of the
world by Nicolas Deslien of Dieppe, 1541, constitute the oldest French
cartographic publications known to us. The latter is preserved in the
Eoyal Library at Dresden.
But it was no longer possible for French cartography to exert a
decided influence; on the contrary, their cosmographers showed them
selves dependent, in many respects, upon Germany. The earliest
marine chart, in a modern sense, in nautical use, the celebrated map
of the world by Mercator, appeared in 1569, and consequently at the
close of the period here under discussion. The uncertainty which pre
vailed for a decade in the delineation of the newly discovered coasts
was chiefly due to inexact astronomical calculations. Calculations of
latitude were naturally more easily determined than those of longi
tude. And when it is remarked that in the middle of the New World
and in West Indian waters, where alone the Spaniard was enterpris
ing, vacillation prevailed longest, while north and south, in New
foundland and Brazil, whither in the same year, 1500, came Portuguese
vessels, long before the geographical latitude was clearly determined,
we necessarily reach the conclusion that the Portuguese were greatly
in advance of the Spaniards in their nautical skill and ability.
Columbus himself did not rise above the companions of his voyages
in knowledge and address. Information which comes to us, second
hand, of his observations of latitude betrays a vacillation and hesi
tancy between his own tendencies and the chart of Toscanelli, which
he blindly followed. H. Harrisse in his latest work (Discovery of
North America, p. 401), adopts, however, the conclusion of Humboldt,
that Columbus did not have on board a chart of Toscanelli, for he
would otherwise have crossed the ocean under the parallel of Lisbon.
I consider, however, this assumption as untenable, for the rich terri
tories of Eastern Asia, the goal of his western voyages, must first be
sought in the torrid zone, or in the vicinity of that zone; and it is ques
tionable whether it would not have been more advisable to navigate
seas that were known, those for example, from Spain to the Canaries,
on the borders of the Tropics, than to seek a fresh route thither on the
unknown waters of Eastern Asia. In the second place, according to
the chart, as may be seen on Behaim's copy, two very desirable anchor
ages were to be anticipated at Antilia and Zipangu, on the western
route, from the Canaries to Zayton, under rather similar conditions,
whereby a sea voyage of indefinite length was broken in a very Avel-
come manner. In the third place, it is manifest from the daybook of
the Admiral that he hoped to reach these points. Antilia he desired to
visit upon his return voyage, since he did not find it precisely where he

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 289
supposed from his chart he ought to have found it, and Zipangu he
believed he had discovered on reaching Haiti. All the observations
of the discoverer respecting his ideas of the division of land and water
are intelligible through this chart. And lastly, due weight should be
given to the highly important testimony of Bishop Las Casas, which,
in view of its manifold repetitions, should not be treated as a common
error, as is sometimes the case with his statements.
Las Casas (Lib. I, chap. 12, Bd. I, p. 96) having referred to the geo
graphical error of Toscanelli, through which, in a western voyage, the
territories of the " Grosschans" were first touched upon (remarks which,
in an abbreviated form and in part also verbally, are again met with
in the histories, Chap. VIII1) the Bishop adds some significant para
graphs to this, which are omitted in the histories, being somewhat
equivocal as affecting the reputation of the Genoese: "La carta de
marear (Toscanelli) que le invi6, yo, que esta historia escribo, tengo en
mi poder, y della se hara mas mention abajo." (The marine chart which
I sent to him, I, who am writing this history, hold in my custody, and
about which further mention will be made below.) And a few lines
farther on he adds: "Y ansi creo que todo su viaje sobre esta carta
fundo." (I believe also that his [Columbus's] entire voyage was based
upon this chart.) Then Las Casas again returns to the chart in his
narrative of the first passage across the ocean, when Columbus, on Sep
tember 25, 1492, withheld the marine chart of Martin Alfonso Pinzon,
while borne onward upon the ocean waters which they were then navi
gating. It was a question of the precise situation of Antilia. Here
Las Casas remarks, in chapter 38 (p. 279) : " Esta carta es la, que envio
Paulo, fisico, el Flor entin, la cual tengo en mi poder." (This is the chart
which the Florentine physician [Toscanelli] sent, whom I hold iu my
power.) Toscanelli's chart was held in high estimation by Columbus.
Of this there can exist no doubt, for no other chart was obtainable that
exhibited the entire ocean as far as the coast of Asia. He must have
had the Toscanelli chart on board, for he could have guided himself by
none other, and he piloted his course solely by this chart.
The uncertainty of the latitudes, which I ascribe to the influence of
Toscanelli, can even be recognized in a chart handed down from very
early times. It is Table II in Kunstmann's Atlas. Here the shores
of the Greater Antilles extend from Puerto Eico to Cuba, and directly
onward to the northwest, so that the northwestern extremity of Cuba
reaches the fiftieth parallel of latitude. Such errors disappear grad
ually, and not until after the death of Colon, and by degrees only,
does the tropical circle assume its proper position relatively to the
Greater Antilles. The correct delineation of the chart does not come
to us until it is first exhibited iu the general map of 1527. On the
other hand, the mouth of the Amazon was correctly placed, from the
'I say designedly "again met with," for I consider here Las Casas as the original
and the one upon which the historians have drawn.
SM 94:  19

290 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA.
first, under the equator. The eastern projection of Brazil, Cape St.
Augustine, appears early in its proper situation. Far more difficult
than the latitude was the determination of the longitude. They could
not then reckon astronomically. It was much easier to ascertain the
dangerous character of the coast through an estimate of the rapidity
of the passage. But that even here opinions differed may be per
ceived from the varying estimates of pilots on the occasion of the first
voyage of Colon. His own observations or calculations of latitude are
no better than those of his contemporaries. Nor do I believe that the
few astronomical efforts that were made to determine the longitude on
American soil have had any influence upon the maps. It is therefore
not to be wondered at that the eastern shores of the New World,
namely, South and Central America, should be removed 3 to 5 degrees
too far toward the east. Things were even in a worse state in the
beginning in the case of North America. The insular-like appearance
of the shores of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Greenland ( ?) scarcely
permit us, at first, to devine their actual character. The eastern coast
of the present United States was quite delusive, extending horizontally
from west to east, as if the ocean were quite dammed off on the north.
As a necessary sequence, Newfoundland lay about 40 degrees too far
to the east. These errors had undergone hardly any correction during
the sixteenth century.
The line of demarcation, decided upon since 1494, frequently served
on the general charts as an initial meridian. We first meet with it on
Sheet IV, in Kunstmann's Atlas, and consequently somewhere about
the year 1518. It here lies 21 to 22 degrees westward from the Cape
Verde Island Santo Antonio, and hence 370 leagues remote from it, as
was settled in the convention of Tordesillas in 1494. But Spanish
cosmographers wished to remove it as far as possible to the east, in
order to lessen the domains of Portugal. They were unable to come
to a full settlement of this point. The old charts, whether of land or
sea, track charts, or maps multiplied by typography, could alone supply
a scientific desideratum where the date of restoration is clearly indi
cated by the compiler, and when, moreover, an exact computation of
the time is made, or where this date may be ascertained with reasonable
probability from the text. The greater portion of the old cartographic
records that have been preserved are without date.
Of the twelve oldest sheets that we possess from the year 1500 to
1509, four are dated and eight are without date. We may regard it as
a great piece of good fortune that the oldest chart of Juan de la Cosa
that has been preserved bears a precise date, and that to the so-called
Cantino chart a definite year may be ascribed with confidence through
the letter that accompanies it. In other cases a determination of the
time of a chart without date is always au extremely difficult problem.
It is true that iu many instances it is possible to verify which are the
most recent discoveries recorded, but it follows necessarily from this

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 291
that the chart could not have been delineated previous to the fact of
its discovery. On the other hand, it can not be perceived after how
long a space of time later on the cartographer executed the draft. If
no one of the cartographers who were residing in Italy prior to 1508,
or, more correctly speaking, anterior to 1511, take any note of America,
such a fact should only counsel the exercise of extreme caution.
Inasmuch as with but few exceptions none of the original drafts
have descended to us from remote times, and since the labors of suc
cessive pilots have been collected, for various years, into one general
map, the difficulty of ascertaining the exact dates has been greatly
increased. And yet, iu the case of the port entry records, which were
made up in the seaport towns, it is more easily established than through
the sheets subsequently printed. The execution or engraving of the
sheets required considerable time, the printing was often retarded a
year or more, and all this must be weighed with the possibility that
the latest designs were not always at the disposal of the scientist from
•whom these charts emanated. It thus happens that such sheets, with
out any date, were begun too prematurely. It is well ascertained that
designs for the Ptolemaus charts (Strasburg, 1503) were six years at
least in the hands of the college authorities at St. Di6 before they were
issued. And, moreover, Duke Eenatus (deceased in 1508) had come
into possession of the new marine charts of South America and South
Africa, which, at a later period, are said to have embellished the
Ptolemaus editions, although only in woodcut; and Martin Waldsee-
miiller announced, in 1507, in a letter to Amerbach, St. Die, of the 5th
of April, that the charts would very soon appear in print.
The first known globe executed by Nordenskjold presents another
illustration of this (facsimile atlas, Table XXXVIII). The origin of
this globe, Nordenskjold thinks, may be traced to the years 1510 to
1515, while Harrisse has proven by an inscription discovered in Haiti
that we should not assign a date earlier than 1518 to the appearance of
the globe.
In the same way the date of a chart of the world, designed by Des-
calier, the so-called chart of Henry II, was antedated by a year, until
the inscription with the date itself was discovered upon the original.
If, in the catalogue ! of known charts, the figures of the year, in the
case of charts without date, are definitely or approximately given, these
figures should always be received with reserve, though I have always
endeavored to follow only the most approved authorities.
In the study of marine charts another difficulty arises, where it is a
question of identification or determination definitely of the old names
and reconciling them with the existing local appellations, for only a
portion of the names given by the discoverers themselves have been
retained up to the present time. Many of them likewise have been
modified, mutilated, or supplanted by other appellations even during

1 Catalogue not translated.

292 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA.
the lifetime of their sponsors. The Spaniards ignored the distinctions
of the Portuguese, and vice versa. Nay, more than this, of one and
the same marine expedition varying or widely differing charts might
be brought home by different pilots, and if upon these originals the
names were abbreviated or illegibly written not inconsiderable discrep
ancies would necessarily arise in the first copies. The interpretation
of the names, moreover, is fraught with the difficulty -that discoverers
have rarely given an exact description of the coasts in their written
reports, for only very seldom indeed, as in the case of Columbus, are the
ships' logbooks or even an epitome of them accessible. The reports,
also, are not infrequently too vaguely or generally recorded — as, for
example, in the four voyages of the two Vespucci s — to afford any medium
for their correct interpretation. The description of the localities also
often presents wide divergencies. As the signification or correct inter-
. pretation of the local names is often obscure or unintelligible, it is
natural that to fresh inquiries an elucidation of these details is often
embarrassing. According to H. A. Schumacher's communication (Kohl's American
Studies, in the German geographical sheets, Bd. XI, p. 106, Bremen,
1888), J. G. Kohl writes concerning the old charts, in which he had for
years earnestly interested himself: " One is to be cautioned against a
too indiscriminate use of these things. As a matter of course the
charts assume to give a. correct representation of the countries in their
more prominent features, as the author proposes to himself at the
moment of their execution; but the operation of delineating charts,
which should properly have been the work of only cultivated and
learned minds, was often confided to very inexperienced hands,-and was
conducted in part in an extremely negligent manner, while the draft
of a chart, correct in all its details, presupposes so extraordinary a
mass of information, that it was impossible to meet all its requirements
until in more recent times; and not until in more recent times was all
this knowledge combined and attainable in due form."
Now all this may be readily conceded, and yet we are constrained,
where it is a question of the development of cartography, as in the
case of America, to consult and investigate closely the most insignifi
cant sheet, and we must at all events endeavor to obtain a clear eluci
dation of each of the names. But unfortunately it is hardly practicable
to determine with confidence, in the case of many of the important
voyages of discovery— as, for example, those of B. Gomez, Ayllons (in
spite of the Spanish chart of a Eibero)— what points of the coast are
indicated under the old designations, or in what locality a landing, or
possibly a settlement, has been effected.
If not for the determination of the local names, at all events for that
of the dates of discovery, the saints of the Catholic Church are of
great utility. The day of the discovery is hereby conclusively estab
lished, and in accordance with this it may not infrequently be demon-

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA.

203

strated that a discovery should not be credited to a sea captain whose
voyage harmonizes with the year but not with the month to which it is
accredited. It may be profitable and useful in investigations relating to this sub
ject to annex here an alphabetical list of the saintly names most fre
quently in use.

Names".

Date.

Alexius  July 17

All Saints . . - 
Ambrosius 
Andreas 
Anna 
Annunciatio Marise 
Antonius  - 
Appolonia 
Ascensio Domini 
Ascensio Marias 
Assumptio St. Johannia 
Assumptio Marise 
Augustin 
Balthazar 
Barbara 
Bartolomeua 
Beata 
Benedictus 
Bernhard 
Blasius 
Bonaventura 
Bonifacius 
Catherina 
Christopli Cristoval 
Circumcisio Domini 
Clara 
Conceptio Marias 
Crucis 
Dionysius 
Dominica-Sanday 
Dominions 
Eleven Thousand Virgins..
Elias 
Epiphany (Three Kings'
Day).
Ferdinand 
Franciscus 
Gallus 
George 
Germanus 
Gregorius 
Holy Three Kings 
H elena 

November 1.
April 4.
November 30.
July 26.
March 25.
January 7.
February 9.
Himmelfahrt.
August 15.
December 27.
August 15.
August 28.
January 4.
December 4.
August 24.
December 22.
March 21.
May 20.
February 3.
July 14.
June 5.
November 25.
December 18.
January 1.
August 12.
December 8.
September 14.
October 9.
August 5.
October 21.
July 20.
January 6.
January 19.
October 4,
October 16.
April 23.
July 31.
March 12.
January 6.
August 18.

Names.

Hy acmthus 
Hieronymus 
Jacobus 
Januarius 
Jacinto 
Johannes Baptista 
Julian 
ExaltatiB 
Laureutius 
Lazarus  , 
Lucas 
Lucia 
Louis 
Louisa 
Magdalena 
Margaret 
Maria 
Martha 
Martin 
Martyrs  -
Matthew 
Matthias (in leap year, Feb
ruary 25).
Michael 
Nativitas Christi (Navidad
Natal).
Nicolas 
Omnium Sanctorum 
Pantaleon 
Panlns 
Peter-Paul 
Petrus 
Philippus and Jacobus 
Raphael 
Rochus 
Romanus 
Sebastian 
Severninus 
Stephanus 
Thomas 
Trinitas (Trinidad) 
Triumfo de la Cruz 
Vincentius 

Date.

September 20.
July 25.
September 19.
September 11.
July 24.
February 27, 28.
September 14.
August 10.
December 17.
October 18.
December 13.
August 25.
March 2.
July 22.
July 13.
September 8.
July 29.
November 11.
June 22.
September 21.
February 24.
September 29.
December 25.
December 6.
November 1 .
July 27.
January 25.
June 29.
August 1.
May 1.
October 24.
August 16.
August 9.
January 20.
Aug. 26-0ct. 23.
December 26.
December 21.
Sunday.
July 16.
January 22.

Besides these saintly names, which for the most part fall upon their
feast days, though occasionally on a proximate date, the nomenclature
of the old maps consists only of characteristic symbols of the coasts
visited and first taken possession of. The usual names are as follows:

294 DEVELOPMENT OP THE CARTOGRAPHY OP AMERICA.

Agnada  watering place.
Aldea  village.
Arenas  sand banks.
Anegadas ..swamps.
Ancon  bay.
Arboledas . . forest.
Arecifes ...ridges.

Bahia  bay.
Fondura  deeps.
Furna  creek.
Mar baxa  shallows.
Medanos  h ills.
Plaia  flat coast.
Pracel  slioals.

Riodolce  sweet river.
Rio salado  salt river.
Rio es c on- concealed
dido. river.
Rio verde  green river.
Salinas  salt beds.
Tierra liana., .plains.

Similar general distinctions in reference to the character of the
coast, singularly enough, maybe found upon charts, engraved or wood
cut; that is to say, where they are true copies of marine charts.
The woodcut is the most brittle of all the substances employed, but
it came in use in all German charts. And here distortions of names
most readily occur, as well as limitations in the manner of representing
the prominent local features. The woodcuts fronting the marine
charts are inferior and rough, and reflect only imperfectly the informa
tion obtained. Yet such a merely general index as bahia has become
a symbol of recognition for a whole collection of maps. The well-
known Bay of All Saints, on the coast of Brazil, was converted into
Abatia of the Saints, through the general distortion of names, and
afterwards into Abbey of all the Saints. It was in the German cos
mography, beginning with the Waldseemiiller charts of 1513, that the
remarkable error first appeared, which was more widely spread by
Schoner (Harrisse, Discovery of North America, p. 275).
THE TERRESTRIAL CHARTS AND GLOBES.
It deserves to be particularly emphasized that in those countries to
which we are chiefly indebted for discoveries in the New World, no
cosmographic science existed; that in Spain and Portugal no globe has
been produced, and only very rarely has a woodcut come to light.
What position the newly discovered islands— for of such the North
American regions apparently consisted— and also what situation the
great continent occupied on both sides of the equator .relatively to all
other parts of the known world; whether the new country was to be
included with Asia in a broad signification, or whether connected with
Asia at all; whether what is now called North and South America
stand in any correlation to each other— all these questions were dis
cussed in Germany and Italy, and more recently in France, but neither
in Spain nor Portugal. Various opinions and doctrines in reference to
these points arose and environed the gradual evolution of the new
hemisphere. This first geographical development of scientific inquiry had gone
forth from Italy with the resuscitation of the " Ptolemaus." German
astronomers and mathematicians were once more seated at the feet of
the ancient Alexandrine geographers. For this reason the charts first
printed are, almost without exception, closely allied with the rapidly
succeeding editions of the Ptolemaus. In accuracy of drawing and
copiousness of nomenclature, the Italian editions far exceeded the Ger
man, for here we find the copperplate. In Germany, ou the other

DEVELOPMENT OP THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 295
hand, the woodcut predominated in the restoration of the charts. It
was indeed a unique apparition that in the Romish edition of the
Ptolemaus of 1508 a map of the New World by Johann Euysch should
present itself. Five years later on appeared the Strasburg Ptolemaus,
that being the earliest chart of the new coutinent executed beyond the
Alps. In the interim, however, globes carved in wood had made their
first appearance.
Notwithstanding the inferiority and brittle nature of the materials
used in the reduplication of charts, Germany won from the first an
acknowledged supremacy in the delineation of the contours of trans
atlantic regions, and it continued to exercise this influence, uncon
tested, for a full half century. The reason for this is a very remarkable
one. A small Vosges town, St. Die, the seat of the Lothringen Duke
Eenatus, who died in 1508, acquired the foremost prominence in the
development of the cartography of America. Portuguese marine charts
and the reports of the four sea voyages of Amerigo Vespucci possibly
gave the first impulse to this art in 1506. The news brought to the
Duke was quickly appreciated in the halls of the Gymnasium College,
to which Walther Lud, Ringmann, and Waldseemiiller were attached.
The four marine voyages, in a Latin version, soon appeared, accom
panied by a " Cosmographise introductio," or preliminary initiation in
the principles of cosmographic science, by Waldseemiiller, in wbich
the author, as is well known, in 1507 proposed the name America for
the new continent. At the same time it was decided to convert the
marine charts, which had just reached the Duke, into a fresh edition of
the Ptolemaus. The restoration of the charts was placed in the hands
of Waldseemiiller, but after many delays the work at length appeared
in 1513. How well this edition succeeded may Be recognized from the
fact that in 1520 a second impression became necessary, and the
editions of 1522 and 1525, imitations of the charts of the same locality,
and even the Ptolemaus editions of Lyons in 1535, and of Vienna in
1541, were reproductions of the charts of Waldseemiiller.
St. Die, however, soon lost its prominence after the departure of
Waldseemiiller. His Ptolemaus certainly appeared in Strasburg.
Nuremberg succeeded Strasburg with the globe of Schoner, and thus
an interest in cosmographic works extended more and more over Ger
man territory until its acme was reached at the close of the era in the
Netherlands and on the Lower Rhine in the writings of Mercator.
If we now take a retrospective glance at the period when German
cosmographers dominated in cartographic designs, from 1508 to 1569,
several types, partly contemporary and partly subsequent, reveal
themselves, and acquire prominence in the representation of the
newly discovered regions of the globe.
In the interval of time here indicated seven different types may be
distinguished :
(1) Johann Ruysch, 1508. In North America the well-known coun
tries of Greenland, Labrador, and Baccalaos (Newfoundland) are

296 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARTOGRAPHY OF AMERICA.
regarded as the eastern coasts of Asia, whose farther extension south
ward is given entirely in accordance with Behaim-Toscanelli. South
America has no connection with it.
(2) Waldseemiiller, 1509. The " Globustypus," or globe type, with
the designation America. The New World does not belong to Asia,
but consists of two parts or divisions intersected by the ocean. The
Central American straits are a characteristic feature. This impression
is adopted by Boulenger, Schoner, the so-called Leonardo da Vinci,
and Nordenskjold's globe (Table 37), together with Apian, Grynaus,
and Honterus.
(3) America constitutes an homologous body of land, lying at a con
venient distance from Eastern Asia and Western Africa. Stobnecza,
1512; Waldsemiiller, 1513.
(4) North America, for a considerable extent of territory, is connected
with Asia. It is, in part, a tendency toward the first type. Accord
ing to Harrisse (Discovery of North America, p. 284), the idea is to be
referred to Peter Martyr's Enchiridion (De nuper sub D. Cardo repertis
insulis, simulque incolarum inoribus. Basel, 1521). Perhaps Johann
Schoner likewise has given credit to these views in his obsolete globe of
1523, as he has doubtless done in his Opusculum Geographicum (Niirn-
berg, 1533), in which he writes, "Unde longissimo tractu occidentem
versus abHispali terra est quae Mexico etTemistitan vocatur, in superiori
India, quam priores vocavere Quinsay (thence for a considerable extent
toward the west from Hispali is a country which is called Mexico and
Temistitan, which in Upper India our predecessors named Quinsay).
Apparently before Schoner's little treatise this idea had been promul
gated by the Hollander Franciscus Monachus, 1526, upon the hemi
sphere drawn by him. This opinion was disseminated by Oronce Fin6,
and particularly in the Italian Ptolemaus editions (Venice, 1548, 1561,
1562), and for a long while it found approval in Germany also.
(5) North America is not united to Asia, but is separated from it by
a continuous sea, which becomes narrower and narrower from the north
to the east, and is almost reduced to a strait. The western coast
extends in a semicircular configuration toward the North Atlantic
Ocean. The marine route formerly traced in the middle of the New
World, is placed toward the north, and, in polar latitudes, is bounded
by Asia. This extends throughout the whole of America as far as
Greenland. (6) Type of Sebastian Miinster, in which the influence of the chart
of Verrazzano and of Maggiolo in the north, especially through the
isthmus south of Newfoundland becomes apparent. South America
assumes an uncouth, fantastic form.
(7) North America and northern Asia lie east and west, and not
north and south, relatively to each other as in (5). A marine strait in
shape and location reminding us of Bering Straits separates the two
continents and is called Fretum Anian. This view is first met with in
Zaltieri's chart of 1566. Mercator follows it in 1569 and Ortelius in 1570

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XVII.

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1492 to 1500.
{Exhibit on modern chart.)

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XVIII.

1501 - 1510

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1501 to 1510.
(Exhibit on modem chart.)

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XIX.

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1511 to 1520.
(Exhibit on modern chart.)

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XX.

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1521 to 1530.
(Exhibit on modem chart.)

Smithsonian Report, 1894

Plate XXI.

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1531 to 1540.
(Exhibit on modern chart.)

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXII.

1541 - 1550

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1541 to 1550,
(Exhibit on modern chart.)

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXIII.

ZT

1551 - 1560

V"

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1551 to 1560.
(Exhibit on modem chart. )

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXIV.

15 61 - I 570 ,

American Coasts and Inland Regions discovered from 1561 to 1570.
(Exhibit on modern chart.)

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXV.

Zamoiski Codex, 1467.

Martin Behaim Globe, 1492.

Smithsonian Report, 1 894.

PLATE XXVI.

2ij',oUl!l*ll>l«U!*lo|o!«|o|y|9|<'leUI

Ruysch (in Ptolemy), 1508.

Smithsonian Report, 1 894.

Plate XXVII

Waldseemuller (?), 1509.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXVIII.

7A.BVLA. TIB,

B.E NOVE

r~-i i i-i -i--i

TABULA OCEANl OCCIDENTALIS SEU TERRR. NOVft.
PTOLEM ft.US ^ ARGENTINA- 15 13 .

Waldseemuller, 1513.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

PLATE XXIX.

Schoner'S (?) Globe, 1515.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXX.

Fig. 1.— Franc. Monachus. I 526.

Fig. 2.— Thorne, 1527.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXXI.

Smithsonian Report, 1894

Plate XXXII.

Caspar Vopell, 1543.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXXIII.

J. Castaldi, 1546.

Smithsonian Report, 1894,

Plate XXXIV,

Demoncenet, 1 552.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXXV,

Ramusio (III), 1556.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XXXVL

MABE DEL SVB

Zaltieri, 1566.

Smithsonian Report, 1894,

Plate XXXVII

C. Mercator. 1569.

Sm'thsonian Report, 1894,

Plate XXXVIII.

Juan de la Cosa, 1500.

Smithsonian Report, 1 894.

Plate XXXIX.

Canerio, about 1502.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XL.

i^

^T^\J

jSLMtgA

DOlAVRABR

toy iiiatlptrta/

-/Azoren)

i[-*P*>V

¦G'

^Kifff *T»l

¦^J"

t£*^

K A S-DtCASTELROL-^i-f'

»ajg?Tn:d

x*-

K
fELOS
STELHMIOS

WAR-VISTO. CA.

Cf 4e_J*o-Tnta vivaria
Portuguese Marine Chart, 1520.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XLI.

^VjCTMMVWIII *RCTICV5. "V\ I?

Diego Ribero, 1529.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XLII.

Peter Martyr, 1534.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XLIII.

Nicolas Desliens, 1541.

Smithsonian Report, 1894,

Plate XLIV.

Baptista Aqnese, 1 550.

Smithsonian Report, 1894.

Plate XLV.

Diego Homem, 1 568.

3 9002 08837 1225

YALE UNIVEHSIT'

3 900