Background
Martin Waldseemuller was born about 1470 at Radolfzell on the Bodensee, Germany.
(Excerpt from The Cosmographiæ Introductio of Martin Walds...)
Excerpt from The Cosmographiæ Introductio of Martin Waldseemüller in Facsimile: Followed by the Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, With Their Translation Into English It is needless to say a word on the appropri ateness of this publication at the present time. Besides its sentimental value, the publication will offer the reader a copy of the oldest map cut in wood, and probably of the oldest wall map ever published. The map will exhibit a picture of the world such as it was known four hundred years ago and, we may add, substantially such as it was known to Columbus himself, while the facsimile of the pamphlet will present us with a piece of early Strasburg black letter. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Martin Waldseemuller was born about 1470 at Radolfzell on the Bodensee, Germany.
Waldseemuller was matriculated at the University of Freiburg in 1490.
Much of Waldseemuller's early life is obscure. He first comes to light as a member of the group of humanist scholars and geographers which thrived at the court of Duke Rene II of Lorraine and influenced later-16th-century German interest in geography. News of the discoveries in the New World traveled quickly to transalpine Europe, and Alsace and Lorraine soon became important centers of interest and study in the discoveries and their consequences. When copies of the letters of Amerigo Vespucci arrived at the court, they generated even more interest in the New World, and in 1507 Waldseemuller published a volume called Cosmographiae introductio, which contained a description of the New World as well as a translation of Vespucci's letters. Seeking a name for the new lands, Waldseemüller (who had not then heard of Christopher Columbus) suggested that they be called America, after Vespucci. Although Waldseemuller later suggested a revision when he became aware of Columbus's role in the discoveries, his original suggestion had become too popular. America remained the common designation for the new continents, and Waldseemuller retained the nickname "the godfather of America. "
Also in 1507, Waldseemuller published another work which was to have immense influence on later cartography, his great world map. In the same year Waldseemuller also constructed a globe.
In 1511 Waldseemuller made a large-scale map of Europe and in 1513 did new maps for the great Strassburg edition of the works of Ptolemy.
Martin Waldseemuller was the first to suggest that the newly discovered landmass in the New World should be called America. His great world map, engraved on 12 blocks, became one of the earliest examples of humanist interest in New World cartography, as well as the globe, he had constructed. For the next 30 years these were the standard examples of their kind.
(Excerpt from The Cosmographiæ Introductio of Martin Walds...)
Waldseemuller was an example of an intellectual type whose work in the 16th and 17th centuries would contribute to the popularization of the considerable body of knowledge about the world and man which had to be spread, absorbed, and acted upon by an increasingly larger public.
Quotes from others about the person
"He was an important transitional figure in the history of cartography. He was not an original scientist, but an encyclopaedic and intelligent interpreter. His maps, his globe, and his Cosmographiae introductio form an impressive body of old and new geography which to some extent anticipated the equally popular and still more fruitful work of Mercator. " - J. H. Parry
