Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

Spei. About a dozen miniatures have been omitted, but
those which remain have evidently been copied from the
globe itself. On the other hand, Jomard as well as
Ghillany gives us five miniatures not to be discovered on
the original; namely, a kneeling figure at the northern
extremity of Scotland ; a Venetian lion off Constantinople ;
Royal Tents at Saba in Arabia, in Abasia on the southern
tropic, in Africa, and in Thebet (K 37), in Asia. Jomard,
in addition to this, figures a griffon to the west of this
tent. There are likewise a few additional place names.
But these, as well as the astoundingly corrupt spelling of
many others, I shall deal with in the chapter describing
the " Nomenclature of the Globe."1

It was originally my intention to publish this facsimile
in a simple manner, but my publishers, with a generosity
not very general, insisted upon elaborate colour printing,
the execution of which they entrusted to Mr. Griggs,
whose reputation for this class of work is world-wide.

Of course, I am fully aware that if the definition of
etymologists of a facsimile3 as an4' exact copy or likeness "
be insisted upon, the copy or version now produced
cannot claim that description. I trust, however, that,
notwithstanding its many shortcomings, it will prove
acceptable to students and antiquaries alike.

My own " Facsimile."

Fully conscious that a true facsimile of a globe can be
produced only as a sphere (in rotundo) or in gores or
segments such as with a little management can be fitted
to a sphere, and the former course being out of the
question in the case of a publication like mine, I chose
the latter. My facsimile thus includes 13 segments, viz.,
11 of 30 degrees and 2 of 15 degrees, as also two segments
for the polar regions. The scale is that of the original.

Having made a copy of the globe at Paris, with the
aid of tracings and photographs by M. P. Sauvenard,2 and
excellent sketches of the miniatures by Mile. Henrietta
Bressler, I took that copy to Nuremberg, and was
permitted on two occasions in 1899 and Christmas, 1904,
to collate it with the original. Baron Behaim, moreover,
permitted Prof. N. J. Rackl to examine the globe on
several occasions on my behalf, in elucidation of doubtful
points which arose in the course of my work.

It was my intention at one time to correct the corrupt
spelling of place names on the facsimile itself, but I found
this to be a hopeless and unprofitable task, and gave it up.
I have, however, dealt with this subject fully under
" Nomenclature," where will be found not only the various
" readings " of conflicting authorities, but also the correct
spelling, as far as possible.

On the facsimile itself I have inserted a number of
names which I found on the facsimiles referred to, and
which may originally have been on the globe itself.
Names of this kind I have placed within brackets. Such
names, however, as Havre-de-Grace, Amur, Menam,
Pekin, etc., which owe their presence to the spurious
erudition of renovators, I have omitted.

1 All other " facsimiles " of the globe are derived from those mentioned
and described. They are by Heidelof, western hemisphere only, diameter
172 mm., published by Ghillany in 1842; by J. Lelewel, diameter
114 mm. (' Geographie du moyen Age,' Atlas, Plate 40), 1850 ; by the same,
diameter 111 mm. (' Epilogue'), 1857 ; Vivien de Saint-Martin, a reduction
from Jomard, diameter 134 mm. ('L'histcTe de la Geographie/ Atlas),
1874; S. Ruge, western hemisphere, dianreter 280 mm. ('Zeitalter der
Entdeckungen'), 1881 ; S. Giinther, western hemisphere, diameter 139 mm.
(•Martin Behaim,' 1890).

2 He had been a prisoner of war of Dresden and carried away with
him grateful memories of that beautiful city.

XIX. THE SOURCES OF BEHAIM'S GLOBE.4

Behaim informs us in one of the legends of his globe that
his work is based upon Ptolemy's Cosmography, for the
one part, and upon the travels of Marco Polo and Sir
John Mandeville, and the explorations carried on by the
order of King John of Portugal, for the remainder. Other
sources were, however, drawn upon by the compiler, and
several of these are incidentally referred to by him or
easily discoverable, but as to a considerable part of his
design I have been unable to trace the authorities consulted
by him.

Ptolemy.

With respect to Ptolemy, Behaim has been guided
by the opinion of the " orthodox " geographers of his time
and has consequently copied the greater part of the outline
of the map of the world designed by the great Alexandrian.
He has, however, rejected the theory of the Indian ocean
being a " mare clausum," and although he accepted
Ptolemy's outline for the Mediterranean, the Black Sea
and the Caspian, he substituted modern place names for
most of those given by ancient geographers. The edition
of Ptolemy of which he availed himself was that published
at Ulm in 1482, and reprinted in 1480, with the maps of
Dominus Nicolaus Germanus.

Isidor of Seville.5

Isidor of Seville, or one of his numerous copyists, is
the authority for placing the islands of Argyra, Chryse
and Tylos far to the east, to the south of Zipangu, as also
for a reference to syrens and other monsters of the eastern
ocean. Behaim, in a legend (M 7) refers for furthe?

3 Captious critics will possibly charge me with a "terminological
inexactitude " for daring to use the word " facsimile."

4 Letters and figures within brackets refer to the gores and latitudes
of my facsimile, viz., (A 20) stands for gore A, lat. 20°.

5 Isidor of Seville was born about 560 and died Bishop of Seville in
624. He is the author of an encyclopaedic work, ' Originum sive etymo-
logiarum libri XX.,' which enjoyed much authority during the Middle
Ages. This work contains a ' Liber monstrorum' (see K. Miller, ' Die
altesten Weltkarten,' VI., Stuttgart, 1898).