Description

Important Edition of Solinus’s “Polyhistor”: This edition of “Polyhistor” by Solinus, a legendary Roman geographer, grammarian, and compiler, is highly significant. First appearing in print in Venice in 1473, the work is based on Pliny the Elder’s Natural History and Pomponius Mela’s geographical texts, suggesting that Northern hemisphere landmasses must have antipodean counterparts.

Inclusion of Peter Apianus’s Map: Camertius’s edition includes the famous double-page cordiform map by Peter Apianus, “the earliest obtainable map to name America.” The map features North America as “Terra incognita” and South America with its new name “America,” in a statement praising Columbus.

Map’s Historical Context: Apianus’s map is modeled on Waldseemüller’s 1507 map, the first to use the name “America.” The Waldseemüller map exists in a single copy acquired by the Library of Congress. Controversy over Vespucci’s achievements led Waldseemüller to abandon the name in later maps. Apianus’s map, the first to reuse the term “America,” gained acceptance due to Apianus’s scholarly prestige.

Laurent Fries’s Contribution: Apianus’s protégé, Laurent Fries, co-drafted the map and later published his edition of Waldseemüller’s atlas in 1522. The Apianus map also appeared in a 1522 edition of Mela’s “De Situ Orbis.”

Differences in Depictions: Apianus’s map differs from Waldseemüller’s by clearly terminating South America’s southern limit above the south polar regions, a conception influenced by Magellan’s circumnavigation and medieval geographic theories.

Geographical Details: The map depicts “Java minor” and “Java maior” near Ceylon and unnamed East Indies islands, with no sign of the southern continental landmass that appeared in later maps.