The Hispanic Society of America possesses a fine example of the terrestrial globe, dated 1622 (Fig. [95]). The ball is formed of papier-mâché, having over its surface a thin coating of plaster made perfectly smooth and shellacked to receive the thirty-six engraved gores, or twice eighteen half gores, and the usual circular polar caps. It is well preserved, considering its great size and its age, though somewhat injured in the region of the western Mediterranean, in the East Indian Islands, in West Africa, in South America, and in parts of the Pacific Ocean. It is furnished with an elaborate wooden base, a considerable part of which appears to have been added subsequent to that constituting the main support, a horizon circle of wood, and a meridian circle of brass. The map is a fine example of the work done in the Netherlands by the copper engravers and printers of the period, in particular of the work which issued from the Blaeu press. Continental outlines are well drawn, lands and seas are crowded with geographical records, including individual names and legends. Very artistically designed ships sail the oceans singly or in fleets, and compass lines as well as loxodromic lines are very numerous, radiating from centers distributed over the surface of the map. Much of the original color which had been artistically applied by hand still remains, particularly on the southern hemisphere, which has been less exposed to the light and to careless handling. The author and date legend placed near the south pole in an artistic cartouch reads, “In ista quam exibimus, terreni globi descriptione omnium regionum juxta et insularum, quotquot hacetnus a nostris Argonautis, vel etiam ab aliarum gentium Naucleris visae et notatae, loca in suo secundum longitudinem et latitudinem situ, summa sedulitate et industria disposita invenies, quae res non solum Geographiae studiosis jocunda, verum etiam iis, qui terras longe dissitas et sub alio sole calentes frequentent, maxime utilis futura est. In quorum gratiam etiam rhombus nauticos (ita vocantur Helices lineae secundum ventorum plagus delineatae) quam accuratissime expressimus. Hunc igitur laborem nostrum ut tam Gratis animis accipiatis, quanta sedulitate a nobis est obitus, ex aequo omnes rogatos volo. Guiljelmus Caesius Auctor. Anno CICICCCXXII.” “In this terrestrial globe, which we here present, you will find all the regions and islands as far as they have been seen, up to the present, and marked by our navigators, or have been seen and marked by the navigators of other nations, placed in their own proper position of longitude and latitude, with the greatest care and industry, which not only will be a source of pleasure to the students of geography but also of the greatest utility to those who visit far distant shores, which are warmed by another sun. And for their benefit we have also inserted the nautical rhombs (for so are designated the lines which show the direction of the winds). This labor of ours I hope and pray you will accept with as much gratitude as we have bestowed care upon it. Willem Caesius. In the year 1622.” A citation of all legends which the author has placed on his map would indeed fill many pages, and but few of these are here quoted.
Fig. 95. Terrestrial Globe of Willem Jansz. Blaeu, 1622.
In the southern hemisphere, and particularly conspicuous by reason of the artistic cartouch in which it is placed, we find a reference to the question of the proper location of the prime meridian,[40] somewhat lengthy but quoted here in full. “Quamvis longitudinis initium arbitrarium esset, ab occasu tamen ejus auspicium facere ideo veteribus placuit quod illic aliquis terrae limen esset, qui ortum versus nullis expeditionibus deprehendi potuisset. Atque eam ob causam Ptolemaeus (cujus sedulitati et industriae Geographiae incolumitatem omnes, vel inviti, debent) ab ultimo termino occidentis cognito, quae Insulae in Atlantico Mari Fortunatae dictae sunt, auspicium fecit in eisque primum Meridianum defixit: quod theticum principium deinceps fere omnes ejus auctoritate moti retinuerunt. Interim hoc seculo nonnulli hoc principium ex ipsa natura eruendum censuere. Qua in re acus Magneti junctae indicium sequendum sibi sumpserunt, eumque primum Meridianum statuunt quo in loco ea Boream spectat Quos plane allucinari addita illa Magneti vis convincit, penes quem nullum longitudinis arbitrium sit, cum is ipse sub eodem meridiano varium habeat enclisin prout huic aut illi continenti vicinus fuerit. Sed et illi ipsi qui ita sentiunt, ob instabile magnetis indicium, in primo Meridiano, multum inter se dissentiunt. Quamobrem ut summo Geographiae commodo, certus aliquis Meridianus tamquam primum principium servari et retineri possit, Ptolemaei vestigiis insistentes, easdem Insulas, et iis Junonem, quae Teneriffa vulgo creditur, delegimus, cujus excelsa illa et praerupta petra, perpetuis nebulis obsessa, Indigenis El Pico dicta, primi Meridiani terminus esto. Qua in re ab Arabum longitudinibus (qui extrema Africae littora versus occidentem delegerunt), vix unius gradus quadrante abimus diversi: quod quoque monuisse operae pretium putavi.” “Although the beginning of longitude is arbitrarily selected nevertheless it pleased the ancients to begin the counting of it from the west, because there was the limit of the earth, as some thought, while no expedition to the east was able to determine this. Therefore Ptolemy, to whose application and industry all men, even though unwilling to admit it, owe the preservation of geography (geographical science), made the location (of the beginning of longitude) in the farthest known limit of the west, which is called the Fortunate Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, and in them he fixed the first meridian. This hypothetical beginning, almost all who came after him retained because of his influence. But in our century there are some who have said that this beginning should be taken from nature herself, and in this matter they have taken the indication of the magnetic needle as their guide, and fix the first meridian in that place in which the needle points to the true north: That this is clearly an error is proved by this additional (and peculiar) property of the magnetic needle, that on the same meridian it has a variation according as it is near to this or that continent. But the very men who think this, on account of the uncertainty of the variation, disagree much among themselves as to where the first meridian is to be located, and so for the highest good of geography, that this same fixed meridian as a first beginning may be marked and be retained, we ourselves, following in the steps of Ptolemy, have chosen the same islands as he, and from their number that one which is called Juno, or commonly Tenerif; of these (islands) that high and steep rock beset by perpetual clouds and called by the natives El Pico, shall for us be the location of the first meridian. In this matter, from the longitude of the Arabs, who selected the shore of Africa farthest toward the west, we vary scarcely the fourth part of a degree, and this I thought worthy to be noted.”
There is a brief but important legend near the Strait of Magellan reading, “Fretum Magellanicum, sic dictum a Ferdinando Magellano Lusitano, qui omnium primus id aperuit atque emensus est, anno 1520, Franciscus Draach et Thomas Candish, uterque anglus Fretum emensi sunt, ille anno 1579, hic anno 1587. Oliverius van Noorth et Georgius Speilbergius, uterque Belga annis 1600 et 1615.” “The Strait of Magellan, so called by Ferdinand Magellan a Portuguese who was the first to discover it and to sail through it in the year 1520, Francis Drake and Thomas Candish, both Englishmen, sailed through the strait, the one in the year 1579, the other in the year 1587. Oliver van Noort and George Spilbergen, both Belgians in the years 1600 and 1615.” Near the last-quoted legend we find “Fretum Le Maire a Wilhem Scouten Hernano et Jacobo Le Maire per eum inventum et lustratum Ao 1616.” “The Strait of Le Maire discovered and surveyed by Wilhem Scouten and Jacob Le Maire in the year 1616.” To the northwest in the Pacific we find “Magellanus ad insulas has delatus, cum in iis nec hominum ulla vestigia, nec quicquam humano usui opportunum invenisset, Infortunatus nuncupavit.” “Magellan came to these islands and finding in them no trace of man nor of anything suitable for human use called them the Unfortunate Islands.” Near New Guinea is the information recorded “Novissime detecta et lustrata est a Wilhelmo Scouten anno 1616.” “Very recently discovered and surveyed by Wilhelm Scouten in the year 1616.”
In the far north is a reference to the attempts made by numerous explorers to find a passage to the east by way of the north, reading, “Quemadmondum post apertum a Lusitanis iter illud ad regiones orientales, quod Promontorium Bonae Spei navigantes circumducit non defuere qui et ante Ferdinandum Magellanum, breviorem aliquam per Septentrionem Cauriumque ad easdem illas regiones opulentissimas ac toto orbe decantatus, Moluccas, indagarent viam: et nominatim quidem anno jam tum 1500, duobusque seqq. Gaspar et Michael Cortereales, fratres lusitani, et post eos anno 1507, Sebastianus Cabotus venetus: ita et post superatum jam a praedicto Magellano Fretum, quod de ejus nomine Magellanicum dicitur, extitere celebres aliquot praestantes naucleri, qui ne codem quidem itinere contenti, tum per easdem regiones septentrionales Caurique tractus, tum per Aquilonaria quoque Moscoviae Tartariaeque littora, idem tentaverint. Tales, ut alios nunc omittam, fruere anno 1553 Hugo Willoughbeus, Eques anglus, annis 1576 et 77 Martinus Forbisherus, et annis 1585, 86, 87 Ioannes Davisuis, uterque itidem anglus, item Guilijelmus Bernard et Ioannes Hugo Linschotanus, Batavi, annis 1594, 95 et 96. Quibus omnibus etsi, post incredibiles exantlatos labores, conatus non successissent, non destitere tamen Henricus Hudsonus, et ipse anglus ac post eum Batavi quidam Amsteredami emissi, eandem terram (quod dici solet) reciprocare. Is Hudsonus anno 1611, superato, ad Americae borealis oras, sub latitudinis 61, 62 et 63 gradu, ut indicat globus noster, praelongo freto, in exitu ejus engens ac late diffusum, invenit pelagus: cujus quidem detectio, multis spem addidit fore ut tandem inibi transitus aliquis inveniatur. Utrum vero huic spei eventus sit responsurus, propediem, quod vovemus, ipsum tempus ostendet.” “When the way had been opened by the Portuguese to the eastern regions which led the navigators round the Cape of Good Hope, there were some who said there was a way, even before Ferdinand Magellan, a shorter way by the north and the northwest to those opulent and world famous regions, the Moluccas. To name these, in 1500, the two brothers Miguel and Gaspar Cortereal, and after them in the year 1507 Sebastian Cabot a Venetian, and after the Strait had been navigated by the aforesaid Magellan, which is called the Strait of Magellan after him, there were certain famous and excellent navigators who, not content with a knowledge of this passage, attempted another both by the same northern and northwestern route and by the northern coasts of Moscovie and Tartary, among these, to omit others for the present, there were in the year 1553 Hugo Willoughby an English Knight: in the years 1576 and 1577 Martin Frobisher: in the years 1585, 86, 87 John Davis, both of the last named being Englishmen: also William Bernard and John Hugo Linschoten, Dutchmen, in the years 1594, 95, 96. Although none of these attempts, in spite of the Herculean labors, were successful, nevertheless Henry Hudson, himself an Englishman, and after him certain Dutchmen sent from Amsterdam, did not give up the attempts to find that land, as it was called. Hudson himself, in the year 1611, having navigated along the shore of North America in latitudes 61, 62, and 63, as our globe indicates, a very long inlet at its farthest extremity discovered an immense and far-stretching sea, the discovery of which gave hope to many that at last some outlet would be found therein. Whether the event would answer to this hope, and we pray it may, only time will tell.”[41] Somewhat nearer the pole we read “Anno 1594 et seqq. Illm̄orum D. D. Ordinum Foederatorum, anno vero 1596 Amplismi Senatus Amsterodamensis jussu atque auspiciis. Fortissimus Archithelassus Iacobus Heelmsterchius et cum eo pertissimus navarcha Guilijelmus Bernard filius uterque civis Amsterodamensis viam per Septentrionem ad regna Cathayae et Chinae indagaturi, cum littora Novae Zemlae usque ad gradum latitudinis 78 perlustrassent, neque immensis e glacie coacervatis montibus impedito, ulterius possent tendere, tertio postremoque itinere, quo loco casam a nobis expressam vides, hibernare coacti sunt.” “In the year 1594 and the following years, by the command and under the auspices of the illustrious Lords of the United Netherlands, and in the year 1596, under the auspices of the distinguished Senate of Amsterdam, the brave sea captain Jacob Heelmstrech, and with him the skilful navigator William Bernard’s son, both citizens of Amsterdam, sought passage by the north to the regions of Cathay and China. When they had passed the shore of Nova Zembla to latitude 78, without being stopped by the immense mountains of ice, and could have gone further, on this third and last journey they were compelled to pass the winter at the spot where you see a hut depicted by us.” In addition to the above legends we find such as “Hic anno 1611 H. Hudson hibernavit.” “Here in the year 1611 Henry Hudson passed the winter.” “Huc usque processit H. Hudson anno 1612.” “As far as this Henry Hudson came in the year 1612.” In the western part of North America, that is, in “Nova Albion,” there is a legend referring to the expedition of Francis Drake, reading, “Hoc loco ad latitu. 42 grad. appulsus Franciscus Dracus in gentem incidit prorsus indolatricam, et quod merito quis miretur ipso adeo mense Junio prae frigoris quam acerrime saevientis vi coactus est, terram hanc Novae Albionis nomine a se decoratam deserere.” “In this place, at latitude 42° Francis Drake came upon a tribe wholly idolatrous and what is justly to be wondered at, in the month of June he was compelled by the violence of the cold that raged here to desert this land of New Albion which he distinguished with its name.”[42]
The great inland sea appearing on the large world map of Jodocus Hondius of the year 1611 (Fig. [96]), and called “Mare Septentrionale Americae,” is here represented as “Lacus iste quantum ex accolis colligi potuit trecenta ut minimum miliaria in longitudinem pateat.” “This lake, as far as can be learned from the inhabitants, stretches at least three hundred miles in length.”[43]
