The map is oriented with the south up. Routes are represented with dashed lines that weave through cities on the way to Rome. Each dash within these routes is equivalent to one German mile (4.6 US miles).

While the focus of the map is on Germany and Rome, neighboring countries are also represented and colored. The colored regions form country boundaries that segment the map. Most of the marked cities are centered around Germany and Rome, but neighboring countries also have cities and routes to Rome marked. Large cities of importance are highlighted with small, schematized cityscapes which contrast with the small circles representing the smaller cities. Due to the Catholic context of this map, important pilgrimage sites are also represented through schematized sketches of the church. These pilgrimage sites are also clustered around Germany and Rome.

Etzlaub was originally known for his ability at compass making which he incorporates into this map at the bottom margins. A schematic drawing of a compass sits at the bottom where the reader can rest their compass. The surrounding text gives instructions on how to use the compass and map in tandem to orient the reader with respect to the map.

This scientific approach to the map is also exemplified within the distances displayed on the map. The left margin has markings to designate latitude along the map region. These latitude markings are equally spaced which follows the widely accepted projection that Ptolemy used in his calculations in the 2nd century CE. According to one scholar, Etzlaub acknowledges the inaccuracy in this approach, as distances in maps should distort as they approach the equator. This is reflected in this map as the distance markings on the routes displayed in the map become farther apart as they approach Rome. Therefore, while Etlaub may have continued the latitude markings of Ptolemy, he clearly understood the necessity for a new projection that correctly mapped distance distortions.

Future maps by Etzlaub would include latitude distortions which would later become commonplace within the Mercator projection which many modern-day maps employ. In fact, it is known that Mercator and Etzlaub were in discussion about these projections suggesting Etzlaub may have been one of the earliest adopters of the modern projection styles. (Max Kuhs '21)]]> Monumenta cartographica 1490-1525: kartographische Denkmäler, ein Triumph über die Zeit: Essener Bearbeitung von sechs Tafeln aus der Frühzeit der Kartographie mit sechs Vollfaksimilierungen, ed. Werner Kreuer. Essen: Institut für Geographie der Universität GH Essen, 1996.]]> Englisch, Brigitte. "Erhard Etzlaub's Projection and Methods of Mapping." Imago Mundi 48 (1996): 103-23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1151265.

Krüger, Herbert. "Erhard Etzlaub's "Romweg" Map and Its Dating in the Holy Year of 1500." Imago Mundi 8 (1951): 17-26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1150044. (contains translation of text on page 6)

Meurer, Peter H.  Cartography in the German Lands 1450-1650.  In History of Cartography, vol. 3, edited by David Woodward, 1172-1245.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

]]> Carleton Library Special Collections (Flat Files) GA873.5 .K73 1996]]> https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/381436]]> Special Collections (Flat Files) (G6714.R7 .A57 1645)]]> When you look at the circle in God’s left hand, what do you see? To medieval cartographers, this three-part circle represented the earth. If you imagine the west facing up, the three sections represent continents: Asia on the bottom, Europe on the top right, and Africa on the top left. Categorized by historians as a T-O map, this minimalist portrayal of the earth is quite common in medieval manuscripts. The maps would vary between complete simplicity – like the one you see – and striking complexity where the T-O design only provides skeletal structure. But in this case, the T-O map is a simple symbol in a larger image. An adjacent Latin inscription informs us that this is an image of God on the first day, creating the heavens and the earth. The T-O map in his left hand symbolizes the newly created earth. (Taylor Gee '16, Sarah Trachtenberg '17)

]]> The Morgan Crusader Bible, ed. Daniel H. Weiss. Lucerne: Faksimile Verlag, Luzern, 1998.]]> Carleton Library, Special Collections (Folio) ND3355.5.K74 K74 1998]]> Liber Floridus.  Ghent University Library, ms. 90, f. 241r.]]> Lamberti S. Audomari Canonici Liber Floridus : Codex authographus bibliothecae universitatis Gandavensis. Ed Alberto Derolez. Ghent: Story-Scientia]]> Carleton Library, Special Collections (Folio) AE2 .L36 1968]]> La Cosmographia di Claudio Tolomeo]]> The geographical markers on the maps are all in Latin, as are each of the paragraphs of information about each regional/subsectional map that can be read on the preceding page. These paragraphs are helpful for learning more about the region and can show us how Europe thought about various reaches of the world in the 1460s. Each map in the atlas displays country names in gold, region names in red, regional boundaries as dotted red lines, and cities as small golden dots accompanied by their respective names. Rivers and seas are deep royal blue and mountain ranges are swaths of light and dark brown.
Perhaps the most eye-catching and noteworthy of all the features on these maps, however, is the longitudinal and latitudinal coordinate system that borders each. This is information that Germanus took directly from Ptolemy’s Geography (which was one of many new manuscripts that had just recently been brought west from Constantinople) and plotted visually. Ptolemy had noted in his work that maps of such a large scale as the entire known world would require “curved and inclined” lines to properly mimic the form of the earth, so Germanus listened. These curved lines can be best seen on the first map in the atlas, which really shows the projected shape of Earth better than any of the smaller, regional maps in the rest of the atlas that seem to neglect Earth’s curvature altogether. The first map also shares the same shape as one of Ptolemy’s earliest graticules (drawn in his Geography), adding confusion and suspicion to understanding whether or not Germanus copied these maps from Ptolemy’s work or if he crafted them himself. Regardless of this ambiguity, this atlas is still one of the earliest examples of Ptolemy’s theory in praxis, and was quickly adopted as a “visual companion” for Ptolemy’s work and thought.]]>
Roberts, Sean E. "Printing a Mediterranean World: Florence, Constantinople, and the Renaissance of Geography" 22-25. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2013. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.32250. EPUB.]]> Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) G1005 1466 .F4 2006]]>
The Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg: which makes up part of the region of Upper Saxony, divided into its main parts

Marquisat et Eslectorat de Brandebourg, qui fait partie du cercle de la Haute Saxe, divisé en ses principales marches sçavoir Vieille, Moyenne, et Nouvelle, les Quarters de Sternberg, Uckermarck, Pregnitz, et le Comté de Rappin]]>
Guillaume Sanson (1633-1703) was the son of Nicholas Sanson, father of the Sanson mapping powerhouse. Nicholas created the first world atlas made in France and developed innovative cartographic techniques, including a map projection.

Nicolas changed the cartographic perspective to be more technical and less lavish. Paris at the time was overpowering other cultural hubs such as Antwerp, so artists and cartographers from the Netherlands and the north were venturing to Paris for work. Nicola’s influence on the French map trade greatly affected the cartographic perspective, and the precision and scientific detail that he used became a model throughout the 17th century.

He left his business to his sons, Nicholas II, Guillaume, and Adrien. They carried on his successful and prominent cartography business, though with some prominent rivalries and financial troubles. Guillaume was accused of republishing maps without updating them appropriately, and a new survey of France found that his map significantly overestimated France’s borders. In partnership with Jaillot, Guillaume published the Atlas nouveau in 1681 and the Introducion à la geographie from his father.

Alexis-Hubert Jaillot (1632-1712) published abundantly and also passed on his business to his descendants, including female relatives. He was the first to produce the then-popular style of 2 sheet double-hemisphere world map. Jaillot had long term contracts with engraver François Caumartin and letter-engraver Louis Cordier, so they are possible engravers for this map.

This map depicts Brandenburg at the time, which was the largest autonomous estate in the Holy Roman Emperor and ruled by the Calvinist Elector Friedrich III. This map was made in the period after the 30 Years War, which destroyed about 25-40 percent of Central Europe’s population, and shortly before the creation of the Kingdom of Prussia. This region today includes many states of Northeast Germany and Western Poland, which are listed in the tags.

Sophie Quinn '25 and Dane Swanser '23]]>
Campbell, Eila M. J. “THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATLAS.” Geography 34, no. 4 (1949): 187–95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40564636.

Fay, Sidney Bradshaw. The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia to 1786. New York: H. Holt and company, 1937.

Harley, J. B., David Woodward, Mark S. Monmonier, and Mary Sponberg Pedley. The History of Cartography. vol. 4, Cartography in the European Enlightenment. Edited by Matthew H. Edney and Mary Sponberg Pedley. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

New World Cartographic. “Map Maker Biography: Nicolas Sanson (1600 – 1667).” Accessed March 3, 2023. https://nwcartographic.com/blogs/essays-articles/map-maker-biography-nicolas-sanson-1600-1667.

Pedley, Mary Sponberg. “The Map Trade in Paris, 1650-1825.” Imago Mundi 33 (1981): 33–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1150782.

Wintle, Michael. “Emergent Nationalism in European Maps of the Eighteenth Century.” In The Roots of Nationalism: National Identity Formation in Early Modern Europe, 1600-1815, edited by Lotte Jensen, 271–88. Amsterdam University Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv8pzcpr.17.
]]> Carleton Library Special Collections (Flat Files) (G5700 1400-1800 Map 23)]]>
The Portolan Atlas of 1546 of Battista Agnese from the Russian National Library St Petersburg]]> Battista Agnese was one of the most prolific Venetian cartographers of the second half of the sixteenth century. Although he is often written off as just a copyist, he had a unique artistic style and an ability to adapt his work to accommodate new geographic discoveries. Battista Agnese’s atlases were extremely ornate and expensive. They were often commissioned by wealthy Venetian patrons and were frequently recorded in the possession of various European royals.This atlas, dated 1546, is typical of Agnese in its style and contents. Following a flyleaf with the (unknown) patron’s coat of arms, there are cosmological models and a chart of the zodiac. Three miniatures of classical scenes are included, painted by an unknown Venetian artist—notably, one is of Atlas holding up a globe, instead of the heavens.

There are 13 maps in total, most of which are drawn in the classic portolan style with wind lines, wind roses, ships, and various decorations populating the land such as figures, banners, and geographical features. On these portolan charts, coastal locations are written perpendicular to the coasts in primarily Latin, Italian, and Spanish. There are maps of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, three maps devoted to the Mediterranean, and several other regional maps, including one of Italy. The final map of the atlas is an oval world map (image attached), which depicts five continents. A line stretches across the map, marking Magellan’s voyage. In typical Agnese style, the twelve winds—drawn as cherub heads on blue clouds—frame the map. In the creation of this atlas, Agnese was inspired by Spanish and Portuguese maps, as well as other Venetian sea charts and the works of Ptolemy. Geographic features distinguish this atlas from others from Agnese. Compared to some of his earlier work, this world map features the Californian peninsula and no longer separates England and Scotland by a channel. This is a testament to emerging geographic knowledge of the sixteenth century and Agnese’s reception of these discoveries.

Despite its technical detail, this atlas was not intended for navigational use, but rather to be a documentation of knowledge and tradition.

(Piper Henderson 2027)

]]> Astengo, Corradino. “The Renaissance Chart Tradition in the Mediterranean.” In The History of Cartography, vol. 3, part 1, Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Voronova, Tamara P. The Portolan Atlas of 1546 of Battista Agnese from the Russian National Library St Petersburg: Commentary on the Facsimile Edition. Disentis, Switzerland: Desertina Verlag, 1993.

Wagner, Henry R. “The Manuscript Atlases of Battista Agnese.” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 25 (1931): 1–110. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24298267.

]]> Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) ; G1001.A4 1546 .D8 1993]]>
The manuscript begins with a circular chart used for calculating the day of Easter next to a table of solar declinations, followed by a circular map of the world showing seven “climate zones” and surrounded by intricate drawings of faces blowing winds, followed by an astrological calendar.

The maps come next, including (in order): a map of the world, Western Europe, the western Mediteranean, South America and West Africa, East Africa, Eastern Asia, and South America. The world map is centered around West Africa, oriented to the north, and includes detailed depictions of the coastlines of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Eastern edge of the Americas. The Western side of North America and Australia are not drawn. The Nile river is shown, as is common in pre-modern maps, originating in the Mountains of Moon.

The map was commissioned by Queen Mary Tudor of England in 1558, as a gift for her Spanish husband Philip II, from Diogo Homem, a mapmaker exiled from Portugal. The regional maps reflect Britain’s growing interest in the seas and increasingly powerful navy that characterized Mary’s reign.

The maps are structured around detailed, brightly colored coastlines packed with carefully written labels for ports and rivers in a style derived from Portuguese sea charts. Rhumb lines criss-cross seas populated by beautifully illustrated sea monsters and ships, sometimes shown in battle. The atlas also reflects rising colonial competition in the period; exotic illustrations of animals and indigenous people populate the world outside of Europe, and bannars with coats of arms adorn country’s homelands and regions they laid claim to elsewhere.

The combined English-Spanish arms over Britain, symbolizing Mary’s and Philip's marriage, seems to have been partially scratched out, supposedly by Queen Elizabeth, Mary’s successor, after her navy defeated the Spanish in 1588. Overall, the atlas shows how artistic depictions of world geography were prized as symbols of political power and affairs at the highest levels of society in the 16th century. (Oren Lieber-Kotz, ‘21)]]> ]]> The Queen Mary Atlas, edited by Peter Barber. London, England: The Folio Society, 2005.]]> Alegria, Maria Fernanda et al."Portuguese Cartography in the Renaissance." In History of Cartography, vol. 3, edited by David Woodward, 975-1068.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Cockburn, Calum. “An Atlas Fit for a Tudor Queen.” British Library. Medieval Manuscripts Blog (blog). May 5, 2020. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2020/05/an-atlas-fit-for-a-tudor-queen.html.

Homem, Diogo. 1558. “A Portolano, Consisting of Nine Large Charts on Vellum, Drawn on a Plane Scale, by Diego Homem, in 1558.” 1558.

Loades, David. Review of “The Queen Mary Atlas. Facsimile with Commentary by Peter Barber. Commentary: 310mm. Pp Vii + 87, II Col Ills. London: Folio Society, 2005. Limited Edition of 1,000 Numbered Copies. £750 (Hbk).” The Antiquaries Journal 86 (2006): 445–46. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003581500000603.

Pflederer, Richard, Ronald E. Grim, and Sarah Bendall. Review of “The Queen Mary Atlas.” Imago Mundi 58:2(2006): 233–34.

]]> Carleton Library Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) G1059 .H62 2005]]>
De Sphaera is a 24 by 17 cm manuscript, richly decorated with twelve different colors and gold leaf. The first couple of pages display astrological charts containing constellations and diagrams demonstrating how to utilize astrolabes. Each page has an undecorated margin on the parchment. Gold leaf outlines each painted image, centered on each page.

The pages are elaborately embellished with pictures of the zodiacs and human representations of the Sun, Moon, and the first six planets in the solar system, excluding earth. Each of these representations appears on the left page, with the right page displaying an image of daily life corresponding to the astrological significance of the planet. The representations of life include detailed depictions of all aspects of society, including images of peasants, beggars, merchants, criminals, disabled people, and the elites.

Under each painting, Predis includes a commentary that describes the painting's connection to the work of Johannes de Sacrobosco, the author of an influential astronomy textbook. De Sphaera serves as a commentary for the 13th-century De Sphaera Mundi astronomy text written by Sacrobosco.

The most striking image from the book is the image of Saturn. Saturn is centered on the page in a starry night sky and is surrounded by multiple colorful rings. Saturn is portrayed wearing only a loincloth with a star centered on his genitals and has long brown hair and a long beard. He carries a long wooden staff and a sickle. A shaggy goat and a partially nude woman dumping water from a vessel into a river appear in circles to either side of Saturn’s legs. Two faces are in the act of blowing in both top corners, and their breath is directed towards the rings. A cloudy sky serves as a background surrounding Saturn. The town below is crowded with armed figures. These figures are depicted, carrying out various actions, such as playing games, killing a person, and patrolling the town.]]> ]]> ]]> Web Gallery of Art Description of the Manuscript:

Patrimonio Ediciones description of the manuscript:]]> Historyof Cartography, vol. 3, edited by David Woodward, 55-98. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. 

Jacobsen, Michael A. "A Sforza Miniature by Cristoforo Da Preda." The Burlington Magazine 116, no. 851 (1974): 91-96.

Prosperi, Adriano, and Jeremy Carden. Crime and Forgiveness: Christianizing Execution in Medieval Europe. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Harvard University Press, 2020.]]> ]]> Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) ; ND3161.M55 2010]]>
In the top left corner of the map, there is a legend explaining common abbreviations on the map, which were used because of the constraints of the spaces on the map. Among these abbreviations is Am. (Amphiteatru) amphitheater which is drawn on the map as with the writing Am. Titi. around it signifying the Amphitheater of Titus. Some of the only other structures drawn on the map are labeled Th. Antoniana, Th. Dioclitiani and just Th. which stands for Thermae, meaning hot baths. F (Forum) forum, B (Basilica) basilica, Car (Carcer) prison and S (Sepulcrum) tomb are also marked on the map. In the lower left corner of the page there is an author's notes saying, “Io bap palatinus haec scripsit”, which loosely translates to "Io Bao Palatinus wrote these things”.

During the Renaissance there was a drastic increase in the creation of city maps. There was a new demand for topographical information and a desire to more accurately represent spatial relations. Cities in particular gained geographical interest as they became centers of political, cultural and economic life in the 16th century. Individual images of cities were often produced and dispersed by governments or commercial organizations as propaganda to show how great their city was. These were often woodcuts or engravings.

During this time period, the way people view space when drawing changed leading to artistic and architectural developments. Some of these new techniques include linear perspective, geometric land surveys, triangulation techniques and the use of theodolites when mapping spaces. The Urbis Romae Topographia was the first map to be published that represented a city orthogonally, utilizing perpendicular angles. Due to the difficulty of mapping streets, it is very rare for maps in the 16th century to be designed in this way.

(Molly Horstman Olson 2027)]]> ]]> Ballon, Hilary, and David Friedman. n.d. “27 • Portraying the City in Early Modern Europe: Measurement, Representation, and Planning.” Accessed August 13, 2024. https://press.uchicago.edu/books/hoc/HOC_V3_Pt1/HOC_VOLUME3_Part1_chapter27.pdf.

]]> Special Collections (Books, Quarto) ; DG62.5 .M3 1544]]>