North America, Henry Briggs, 1625 (George S. Little)
The map of North America was made in 1625 by Henry Briggs, the cartographer. Henry Briggs was an English mathematician who was known for changing the original logarithms invented by John Napier into common (base 10) logarithms. Briggs produced North America, a map in which California is portrayed as an island to accompany the Samuel Purchas reprint of his famous 1622 treaty. This map that Briggs produced is the first English map to show California as an island. The audience is probably the people of England and possibly the people in the “New World” or anyone that understands English. It does not seem as though the map was made specifically for a special group of people. I believe the common cultural language is old English, since the map was made in London, by an Englishman in 1625. Modern english did not begin to be spoken until the end of the 17th century. What really strikes me about this map is the fact that California is drawn as an island. I believe that sailors sailing on the west coast of the New World sailed part way through the sea between Mexico and Baja California, and assumed that the rest of California was simply separated from the mainland. It’s interesting how Briggs was wrong. Henry Briggs’ map firmly re-established an erroneous cartographic myth that would confuse explorers and map makers for almost one hundred years to come. The map reflects the time period because it it shows uneasiness of what lies in the west. The map was published well before explorers in America explored the west (west of Mississippi River). Therefore, explorers were unsure of whether or not California was an island.
World Map (Ryan Watkins)
Francesco Berlinghieri was the cartographer of this world map named Septe Giomate della Geographia meaning the seven days of geography. Berlinghieri was an Italian Scholar and Humanist. He was one of the first to print a map based on Ptolemy in 1482. Ptolemy was born in Egypt in 178. He wasn't just a cartographer but was also a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and a poet. This map was most likely funded by a private patron as it was on of two of Ptolemy's map not found in his book Geographia. It is written in English and was one of the first maps to be printed in vernacular. But it was influenced greatly by religion. Berlinghieri depicts the twelve apostles around the map blowing causing wind. Berlinghieri also provides with curved lines of Latitude. This is recognition that the earth is in fact a sphere rather than flat. Another interesting thing that Berlinghieri did is that he represented land with white and water by darker grey. This is contrary to popular maps where land is shaded in and water isn't. He also depicts road or paths with darker shaded in lines. He probably chose this method to emphasize the roads. With his method of shading it is hard to see the map that we know today. This map was printed in Florence and was likely engraved by Francesco Rosselli. Francesco was the first man to engrave America on a printed map. Berlinghieri made a world map that wasn't just the standard map and it stood out to me because of that.
(Max Mayer)
The map of Europe from the 16th to 18th century that my group chose to investigate was crafted in the year 1548. The cartographer of this map was a Swiss-German man named Johannes Stumpf. It is believed that Stumpf’s intended audience with this map was a wealthy patron who hired him to craft it as a luxury work of art, but with the additional use of a navigational tool. It was kind of like a Rolex, which has the status symbol of a high end jewelery brand, but the added benefit of telling time. This map had the status symbol of a marvellously crafted piece of art, with the added benefit of being able to be used to navigate. We can infer that this map was likely made as piece of luxury art because its template was carved from wood block, which was a very painstaking and tedious process considering that the rest of the Europe’s map makers were using the more advanced technology of copper plate templating, which was much easier to form precise molds with, and required much less time and effort from the cartographer. The common cultural language of this map is german, with latin too, which is not surprising considering german was Stumpf’s first language, and likely that of his patron as well. Latin was still understood among wealthy, educated individuals of the time, and often used in prestigious items like maps and books.
The most striking thing about this map at first glance, is that it appears to be upside down. The Mediterranean sea is located at the top of the map, which we usually associate with being the North, and Great Britain and the North Sea are at the bottom of the map, which we usually associate with being South. This also means that France and Spain are in the East, while Russia is in the West. The map also has no lines of latitude or longitude, which is a fascinating exclusion.
I could infer that the map has no lines of longitude or latitude because if it did, the fact that it is ‘upside down’ would be noticed very quickly. Perhaps it was intentionally crafted as such to confuse the map’s patron. Perhaps Stumpf was living in an area controlled by a lord or noble that he did not have loyalty towards, and when he was approached to craft this map he intentionally made it in a disorienting manner as to confuse the local government’s tax collectors and military, and make their administration and possible conquest as unsuccessful as possible.
Another interesting feature of this map that is immediately apparent, is that Stumpf used fabulously crafted symbols to indicate mountain ranges, forests, cities, and rivers. Stumpf also carved intricate details on his map simply as decoration. The ocean is marvellously carved in a painstaking artistic pattern that one can only imagine took hours upon hours to chisel into the wood block. Stumpf also adds sea monsters and ships in the water to create a sense that the map is more than just a navigational tool, but a dramatic work of art as well.
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