The Miller Atlas is a collection of a eight beautifully embellished maps from 1519. They are attributed to Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel, and Jorge Reinel, prominent Portuguese cartographers of the time, and António de Holanda, a Dutch miniaturist. The atlas came at a time of strong cartographical presence and development in the area, especially in regards to nautical mapping. These charts cover various sections of the world, including the Atlantic Ocean, Northern Europe, Arabia, India, the Indian Ocean, Brazil, and more. One of the maps is a world map that shows about half of South America, as well as Europe, Africa, and much of Asia. While not all of the maps can be detailed here, a good representation of what they each contain can. The diagram of the Northern Indian Ocean With Arabia and India does this well. The entire map is covered with red and green lines which stem from compass roses. Much of the ocean is filled with drawings of grand ships sailing on small patches of blue water. Oceans are also marked with their names in black text. In the ocean, there are many islands of a variety of colors, some in gold, which stand out significantly. The edges of land are green with the color fading quickly as it goes inland. It appears as though countries are marked with a large red banner with gold writing. Individual city names are written much smaller in red or black. On land, there are a variety of drawings showing what is there. This ranges from castles and palaces, to trees and mountains, to animals and humans. With great attention to detail and use of color, the makers made it easy to envision the area and what one might find there. The Miller Atlas contains maps that differ from earlier maps in a few ways. This can be seen in the iconography, toponymy, and the use of legends to provide information. Additionally, the map uses design components such as red ink to bring out iconic elements and incorporate it into the design. Finally, the atlas is quite innovative in its incredible artwork and inclusion of recent discoveries. It is likely that these maps aimed to represent the Portuguese view of the world. It provides a good visualization of where land masses are in relation to one another, and how the oceans interact and play into this scene. (Josh Madigan 2027)
Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel, Jorge Reinel, and António de Holanda
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1519
Reinel, Pedro, Jorge Reinel, Lopo Homem, and António de Holanda. Atlas Miller. Barcelona: M. Moleiro Editor, 2003.
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France. Public Domain.
Atlas Miller at the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris
Special Collections (Folio) ; G1026 .A85 2006 Special Collections Map (Map, Rolled) ; G1026 .A85 2003
Similar to a modern architectural blueprint, this plan depicts both the building layout and the water pipe system of the Canterbury Cathedral and its monastery. However, unlike a blueprint, its use was most likely limited to memorialization by the monks of an important building project, rather than for use by architects or repairmen. The plan also differs from a blueprint because it is drawn from the ground perspective, which means that it shows the façades of the buildings rather structural details. The only thing visible to the viewer that would not be visible to the naked eye is the (red in the original, but gray here) labyrinth of water pipes, which snake between buildings and betray a more intimate knowledge of the workings of the building complex. Juxtaposed with the monks’ religious work (this map is an addition to a manuscript copy of the Book of Psalms), this plan reminds you of the practical aspects of their life in the monastery. (Connor Kasch '17 and Rowan Matney '16)
Canterbury Psalter (also known as Eadwine Psalter). Cambridge, Trinity College, R.17.1, f.284b-285.
The Canterbury Psalter, ed. M.R. James. London: P. Lund, Humpries & Co, 1935.
Rights for map held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
Carleton Library, Special Collections (Books, Quarto) BX2033.C3 J3 1935
De Natura Rerum, which translates to “On the Nature of Things,” was created between 612 and 615 CE. The manuscript discusses a range of topics including geography, astronomy, meteorology, and the measurement of time. It is also called the Liber rotarum because of the six circular illustrations that accompany the text. The six illustrations (“rotarum”) are illuminated in red, yellow, and blue ink. They include a 12-month calendar, a depiction of the cosmos, and diagrams of the seasons and climate zones. In the cosmological diagram, the Earth– a flat circle labeled “Terra”-- is shown to be at the center of the universe, surrounded by the Sun, Moon, and various planets, which move around the earth in circular orbits of increasing size. In the seasonal diagram, a circle representing the year is divided into labeled sections by a series of overlapping arcs. The five climate zones are represented by five circles within the larger circle of the earth. The earth is oriented northeast and labeled with the cardinal directions. The zones, labeled “first” to “fifth", begin in the north and continue clockwise around the world: the first and fifth zones are cold and uninhabitable, the second and fourth zones are habitable, and the third zone is hot and uninhabitable. These climate zones touch at the edges, but do not overlap. The space in the center of the diagram is left blank. De natura rerum was created by Saint Isidore of Seville, an author from Visigothic Spain. Isidore is most famous for his Etymologies, an encyclopedia of knowledge from the ancient world. He is also known for popularizing the circular representation of the world that is shown in De natura rerum. Isidore dedicated De natura rerum to Sisebut, a Visigothic king who ruled from 612 to 620 and is thought to have commissioned the book from Isidore. A poem about astronomy composed by Sisebut is included at the end of the manuscript. (Clara Fields 2027)
Planas, Josefina, and Constantino Robles García. Liber astrologicus. Madrid: Millennium Liber, 2013.
Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
Different manuscript of De natura rerum (digitized) Museu d'Espicopal de Vic De natura rerum facsimile
Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) ; QB41 .L52 2013 https://bridge.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01BRC_INST/1tn7c8c/alma991016494788602971
At twenty feet long and only one foot tall, the Peutinger Table provides an intriguing view of the Roman world. Stretching over eleven segments (the eighth of which appears in the thumbnail, showing Constantinople and the mouth of the Nile), from Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula on the left to India on the right, the Mediterranean world features prominently with Rome close to the center of the map. The Mediterranean Sea itself has been flattened to allow the mapmaker to fit the land of Europe and North Africa into such a narrow space. Its strange proportions, coupled with its meticulous labeling of land masses, roads, rivers and towns, leads to a map that is both fascinating and difficult to categorize. Although all that exists now are medieval copies, the original Roman map (possibly dating to the fifth century) likely was mounted on a wall, showcasing the extent of the Empire. (Jordan Cahn '16 and Carrie Hanson '16)
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 324.
Tabula Peutingeriana: Codex Vindobonensis 324. Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1976.
Rights for maps help by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
http://www.cambridge.org/us/talbert/index.html http://www.euratlas.net/cartogra/peutinger/
Carleton Library, Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) G1026.P4 W4 1976
The Pfinzing Atlas is a bound collection (47 x 70 cm) of twenty-eight maps and descriptions that was created in 1594 by Nuremberg merchant Paul Pfinzing. Pfinzing was one of the earliest cartographers to utilize and describe in writing a measuring table for surveying land (1589). This same method was used in the Pfinzing Atlas. The maps vary greatly in scope and size, with city maps (Nuremberg, see thumbnail) and regional maps that show a late-1500s view of the landscape surrounding Nuremberg. The maps show cities, bodies of water, different regions and the ownership that is associated with them, and the natural landscape. Pfinzing uses several different mapping styles, and the reader is shown the German landscape at varying scales; detailed scenes of farmer life are found right next to a map that shows the regional divisions of a forest. (Joe White '21)
Pfinzing, Paul. Der Pfinzing-Atlas von 1594 : Faksimile. Nürnberg: Staatsarchiv Nürnberg, 1994.
Carleton Gould Library Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) GA875.N85 P47 1994
A beautiful example of a portolan chart atlas from the 14th century by Pietro Vesconte highlights the importance of coastal cities in the exploration of the Mediterranean basins. The intricate rhumb lines create a geometric pattern that makes it easy to pinpoint location. The coastlines of northern Africa and Spain are lovingly detailed with great precision. There is also a comprehensive list of the coastal cities one might encounter sailing around the Spanish basin of the Mediterranean, which were likely referenced by merchants traveling from port to port on trade routes. The folio pictured above depicts the Spanish coast. Other sections of the atlas include the eastern Mediterranean and Africa.
Vienna, Österrichische Nationalbibliotek, MS 594.
Pietro Visconte Da Genova, Carte Nautiche. Todi: ET&B, 1975.
Carleton Library, Special Collections (Books) GA221 .V48 1975
This portolan chart of the Mediterranean, drawn in 1508 by Andrea Benincacsa, is illustrated on a complete piece of parchment. Benincasa, the son of prolific map maker Grazioso Benincasa, was both a chart maker and public servant at the turn of the 15th Century in Ancona, Italy. In the city, he was in charge of harbor fortifications for a number of years, though he continued to make charts as a part-time occupation. Portolan charts were a form of nautical maps utilized in the medieval Mediterranean Sea. This emphasis on navigation is evidenced by the highly detailed depiction of the coastline, including both harbors and hazards to ships. Though it is likely that portolan charts were used on board vessels, this map is among a contingent of high-quality works that were meant for display by merchants, captains, and other individuals interested in or tied to the maritime world in the Mediterranean. Upon first glance, the Rhumb lines that form a dense array across the parchment signal the navigational utility of the chart. The patterning represents wind lines which extend from illustrated wind roses at various points. These lines are drawn with alternating colors, with black ink representing the four cardinal winds and red ink representing the quarter winds. These wind lines aided in the execution and planning of maritime journeys as sailors plotted routes along known winds to reach the final destination efficiently. Though this map centers the Mediterranean Sea, it also includes Northern Africa, the British Isles in the Eastern Atlantic, the Black Sea, the Levant, and Northern Europe. Given that this map is meant for maritime use, coastal cities and ports are the main focus of the chart. Finely written place-names run perpendicularly along the detailed coast lines in both red and black ink. Red ink is utilized to denote cities and ports of importance. Through the writing of these place-names, the reader can see the expansive knowledge of the greater Mediterranean held by chart makers and navigators as well as the region's interconnectedness through sea travel. In addition to place-names, flags and city vignettes are used to denote places of importance and political possession. The city-scapes range in size, thus giving emphasis to locations such as Genoa, Babylon, and Venice, while cities such as Rome and Jerusalem are smaller in stature. It is important to note that Benincasa has included a vignette of Acona on the map. While this depiction is uncommon for portolan charts, it is an intentional move by the cartographer to confer importance upon his home city in relation to the larger Mediterranean. While this map centers on maritime travel, it includes significant inland detail. The most pronounced includes a number of mountain ranges. These depictions appear in every geographic region of the map, the most prominent being the Atlas Mountains which span horizontally across Northern Africa and form a three-pronged shape on the eastern end of the range. Upon closer examination of these mountain ranges, Benincasa has depicted them as sets of tan hills dotted with small trees. In places, there are small buildings protruding from the hillsides. Interestingly, on Mt. Sinai, which sits slightly south of Jerusalem, Benincasa has drawn St. Catherine's Monastery on its summit. Additionally, there are a few human and animal figures on the chart. In Northern Africa, there are two large and regally dressed rulers, with the easterly one being the Sultan of Babylon. In the northeastern corner of the map, there is another finely dressed ruler under a canopy. Next to the Red Sea, which is aptly shaded red, there is a large elephant with a structure on its back. In sum, these details not only depict a map concerned with coastal locations and travel across the larger Mediterranean, but also with the inland topography and its inhabitants, thus giving the reader a considerably more contextual understanding of the region. (Jesse Cogan, 2027)
Benincasa, Andrea. Portolan Chart; Borgiano VIII. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1508.
Seekarte des Andrea Benincasa (Borgiano VIII). Ancona, Italy, 1508. Facsimile with introduction and commentaries by Arthur Dürst. Vatican City : Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1984.
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Borg.Carte.naut.VIII
Carleton Library Special Collections (Flat Files) (G3200 1508 .D87 1984)
This 17th century map from Gerard Mercator’s Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes depicts the region of Prussia along the Baltic Sea (modern day northeastern Poland and parts of Lithuania and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad). The map is oriented with north at the top. An uncolored Baltic Sea labeled ‘Mare Balticum’ in italic lettering frames the region in the north, giving the land against the coast a sense of shape. There is a neatly decorated and colored cartouche over the Baltic Sea which depicts a green fruit running along its perimeter. In the middle of the cartouche is the label for the map: ‘PRVSSIA’ (Prussia). Underneath the cartouche is a scale bar with 5 segments of equal length, each of which represents the size of a German mile. On the orange framing of the map, there are lines of latitude ranging from 53 degrees to 55 degrees on the left and right as well as lines of longitude ranging from 40 degrees to 46 degrees on the bottom and top. The territory on the map is divided politically by the use of color. The colors are most prevalent along the borders between regions, forming thick lines in order to distinguish between said regions. The interior of each region is a much lighter shade of the color that appears on its borders. The most prominent color that appears is yellow, with it serving to delineate the political territory of the Duchy of Prussia as it existed in the late 16th to early 17th century. Along with color, larger regions of the map are separated through italic labels, which are consistent in size and type across the map. In the top right of the map, for instance, the region in green is labeled ‘Samogitiæ Pars.’ On the eastern edge of the map, with pink borders in the larger region labeled ‘Lituaniae Pars.’ This corresponds with the location of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a kingdom which Prussia was a vassal of at the time. Zooming in on some of the smaller pictorial details of the map, some cities are depicted as small hollow circles each with a label naming the cities. Other cities are depicted with small illustrations of towers and castles. It is unclear from any description whether the cities illustrated with towers and castles are more important than the cities with hollow circles. There is also natural geography on the map that fills much of the actual space: mountains are brown and mostly triangular shaped, rivers are blue and squiggly lines varying in degrees of thickness, forests are in green with small illustrations of trees, and lakes are circular shaped and a richer shade of blue than the ocean. This map of Prussia was created by Gerard Mercator (1512-1594) and published posthumously by Jodocus Hondius in the 1611 version of Mercator’s Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes. Mercator was a 16th century cosmographer who introduced the Mercator projection, a way of mapping the world that we still use today. Mercator also worked extensively on collecting and compiling maps for books, such as his Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura, which was first published in 1595. Notably, this would be the first book of maps to have the word ‘atlas’ in its title, and would serve as the inspiration and model for many future atlases going forward. Gerard Mercator died in 1594 and his son Rumold Mercator took over the publishing of his father’s works until his own death in 1599. At this point, there were no members of Mercator’s family left who wanted to continue his work, and they sold his collection to other cartographers. The collection eventually found its way into the hands of Jodocus Hondius, a Dutch and Flemish engraver and cartographer, who updated the atlas in 1611 and added new maps previously in Mercator’s collection, such as this one of Prussia. Many of the atlases that were published during this period at the end of the 16th to 17th centuries were unique from previous medieval maps in the fact that they emphasized political boundaries and a division of territory. Previously, maps had mainly focused on natural geography, with mountains and rivers taking up much of the space instead of arbitrary borders. This map of Prussia is interesting, then, with how it includes both natural geography and political borders. Given that this was still relatively early in the tradition of depicting political borders in color (some of the first maps we see with colored political borders are in the 1570 Ortelius atlas), the map can be interpreted as being representative of a transitional period in mapping between a medieval world where borders were less important and the early modern era where they were far more important in the European psyche. In addition, it is important to note in any study and usage of this map that it is making a political statement in where it draws the borders and how it labels the regions. Looking at other maps of Prussia and the area around Brandenburg in our “Mapping the World Before Mercator (2023)” collection will reveal that there are differences in how the borders are being represented. Further analysis of why the borders are drawn where they are is only possible if we ask questions like who the mapmaker is and what perspective they are coming from. (Nicholas Spezia-Shwiff '24) (Hali'a Buchal '25)
Dvisbvrgi Clivorvm: Gerardi Mercatoris - Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura. Jodocus Hondius, Amsterdam: 1619.
Carleton Library Special Collections (Flat Files) (G5700 1400-1800 Map 03)
This map is an image of the region of Prussia with a city featured prominently in it. It is contained in a page cut from the Nuremberg Chronicle. The sheet of paper is a rectangle, forty-three centimeters tall by 29.5 centimeters long. The map itself is a square with twenty-three-centimeter-long edges. As mentioned before, the map is a city view, but it is not specified which city it depicts, in fact the buildings in the map are separated by different forms of terrain which makes it seem like the map contains four built up areas. Furthermore, the artist behind the map, simply titled the map “Prussia, now a province of Germany”. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the map represents the region of Prussia. Like many city views, the main urban area is shown as a bird’s eye view. From above the ground, we see that the city is located on a mountain, with the higher points of the mountain located on the back of the landscape. This creates the effect of going down the mountain as the eyes of the observer travel down the page. On the back of the landscape, the map has the first and smallest city, it is walled, and its only distinctive feature is a church that is also the tallest building of this city. To the right, on a slightly taller rock formation, there is another city built by a river that flows downhill all the way down to the bottom edge of the map. This city is also small in size, and it has no notable features. Downhill and to the left of the city, below the biggest rock formation of the map, there is the biggest city of the map. This city consists of a collection of towers and houses, and like the rest of the cities in the map, it seems to be walled, creating a distinction between nature and city. This city is also built by the previously mentioned river. At the bottom of the page, there is a fourth, medium-sized city, also built by the river, and also walled. To the right of this city, there is a group of trees that indicate a forest. As mentioned before, this map comes from the Nuremberg Chronicle, which was written by Hartmann Schedel. The Nuremberg Chronicle was a fifteenth century book, commissioned by Nuremberg merchants Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister. The book described the universal history of the Christian world. It was written by humanist and physician Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514) and published by Anton Koberger in 1493. It was first ordered to be published in Latin with an order for German text following about a year later. It was somewhat of a “best-seller” at the time, with over 2,500 copies printed. The chronicle is notable because of its inclusion of printed images alongside or embedded within the text, something virtually unheard of before. All images are created from woodcuts, images carved into a block of wood in negative and then covered with ink and then stamped onto the page. Woodcuts were made in the workshops of Michael Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydewurff, and Hieronymus Münzer. Some editions of the Nuremberg Chronicle had their plates hand colored by local German artists. (Louisa Grader '24), (Alejandro González A '24)
Hartman Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle,1493; plate CLXXX Nuremberg : Anton Koberger
Colored verson of the map
Image 2: lksjdflksjdflkjsdf "Frau Mauro". CC BY-NC 4.o. Wikipedia.
Carleton Library Special Collections (Flat Files) (G5700 1400-1800 Map 02)
A world map showing Europe, Africa, and Asia, with the Indian Ocean bounded on all sides by land, which shows the influence of the maps associated with Ptolemy's Geography. The map is a woodcut, and the only element of color within the map are mountains which alternate between green, yellow, and red/brown. Some river origins and confluences are indicated with a circle, but others are hidden behind mountains. In some cases, rivers flow underneath mountains. Mountains in southern Africa and eastern Asia appear larger than those elsewhere. Regions, oceans, and seas are labeled with names contemporary in the 15th century (e.g., Anglia instead of Britannica); rivers are unlabeled. The Nile and Indus show deltas with multiple divisions. The oceans and seas are filled with undulating parallel lines. The map is shaped as an upward-facing crescent with a double-lined frame enclosing heads and names of the winds. On the top-left, top-right, and bottom-right corners behind (and in the case of the bottom-right, below) the frame, the sons of Noah, Japhet, Shem, and Ham, corresponding with their continents, hold the edges of the map. The bottom-left corner is occupied by a text about the winds taken from Isidore of Seville.
Printing by Erhard Ratdolt, copied from painting by Pomponius Mela
Schedel, Hartmann. Liber Chronicarum. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1493.
Schedel, Hartmann. Chronicle of the World: the Complete and Annotated Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493. Introduction and Appendix by Stephan Füssel. Köln, London: Taschen, 2001.
Carleton Gould Library Special Collections (Folio) (D17 .S3215 2001)