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Research Notes
Map Group WALDSEEMULLER 1513
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Waldseemuller 1513
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Woodblock Map of the British Isles by Martin
Waldseemuller, Strasbourg, Germany, 1513. The map studied is in
the Map Room, British Library, call number BL:Maps c.1.d.9.
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The map size is: wxh, sheet = 62x45.5cm; wxh, map = 516x359mm.
The map is a double page in its atlas, a leather bound volume
33.5x46.5cm labelled on the spine:-
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CLAUDII PTOLOMEI GEOGRAPHI
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A header page begins:-
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Claudii Ptolemei viri Alexandrini Mathematice discipline
Philosophi doctissimi
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Geographie opus novissima traductione e Greco rum archetypis
castigatissime pressum: ceteris ante lucubratorum multo
prestantius
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Pro Prima parte continens ...
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Rodney Shirley suggests that the sources of the British Isles
map are italian portolani charts which were not always the latest
and best. The shape of the island derives from charts of the mid
15th century, not as good as available charts of 1500, for
instance. Martin Waldseemuller also compiled a Ptolemy atlas,
1513
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NB remember that these notes are strongly biased towards a
Hampshire interest.
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| MAP FEATURES |
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title
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Printed at the top:-
TABULA NOVA HIBERNIE ANGLIE ET
SCOTIE
New Map of Ireland, England and
Scotland
The map includes England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, parts
of France, Germany and Denmark.
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orientation
up is N
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The map is printed with North at the top of the page.
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scale line
scale
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Printed in the lower right border is a:-
Scala Miliario[ ] Italia
graduated in 10s and 100s labelled in 100 miles. The 700 miles
= 120 mm giving a scale:-
148 italian miles to 1 inch
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latitude scale
scale
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Printed in the left and right, west and east, borders of the
map are scales of latitude; graduated and labelled in degrees.
The map includes from 46d to 59d N.
Measuring a scale 12d latitude = 313.6 mm gives a map scale 1
to 4259630; map scale about:-
1 to 4200000
67 miles to 1 inch
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sea area
sea shaded
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Sea areas are partly shaded, and there is a label:-
OCEANUS GERMANICUS
for the sea north of Scotland.
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rivers
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Some larger rivers are drawn by a double line. The european
rivers are boundaries between countries. The Thames is shown
passing through London.
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country
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Country boundaries are assumed to be rivers or hills. Between
England and Scotland is a range of hills tinted green, with a
river to the sea each end. In Europe the rivers
Sequana
Rhenus
Albis
divide
Britanie Pars
Gallie Pars
Magne Germanie Pars
Datia
in order. In the British Isles the countries are
labelled:-
ANGLIA
SCOTIA
HIBERNIA
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settlements
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A few settlements are marked by a circle, for example:-
Londra
Otherwise they are just labelled. The places noticed are along
the coasts, evidence of the genesis of this map in charts.
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Hampshire Places
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The places labelled about the Hampshire coast are:-
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S. polla
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larenge
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Antona
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linbra
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portamua
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[a]intat
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Errors in copying place names from earlier portolani charts
make it difficult to read some of them from the map. Among those
listed we can, perhaps, recognise Southampton and Portsmouth.
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All Old Hampshire Mapped Resources |