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AMONG the "facsimiles" of Behaim's globe there is only one which can honestly be described as such. I refer to the exact copy of the globe which, at the suggestion of E. F. Jomard(1) was made in 1847 for the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris. This work was carried on under the supervision of Albrecht Reindel,(2) Director of the School of Art. During its progress the atelier was twice visited by Dr. A. E. Cropp(3) of Hamburg (introduced by Dr. Ghillany), who met there the mechanician Bauer of the Schildgasse, and a young man (probably Jean Müller), who were busily at work upon the globe. He noticed that although much of the lettering had been renovated and was quite legible, the artist was unable to decipher many of the names. In cases of this kind recourse was had to Doppelmayr's facsimile, Sebastian Münster's `Cosmographia,' and to a map drawn on vellum. This map I believe to have been referred to by Ch. G. von Murr (p. 20) when he tells us "there is to be found in said archive (of the Behaim family) a fairly correct and neat copy of this globe upon two rolls of parchment." Dr. Cropp directed the attention of Director Reindel to the fact that upon this parchment map the words "Insula Antilia genannt septe ritade" were erroneously written against St. Brandan's Island, and that this erroneous description had already found a place upon the facsimile of the globe. On a closer examination traces of the words "Insula de Sant Brandan" were discovered and the error corrected.
On the completion of the facsimile the following procès-verbal was drawn up and signed by desire of M. Jomard.(4)
"M. le baron de Behaim présentement vivant, le possesseur actuel du globe, l'a confié au directeur de l'école des arts de Nuremberg, M. Reindel.
"Celui-ci a fait faire une monture entièrement conforme à l'original ainsi que les autres pièces accessoires; ensuite il a chargé un habile artiste de la ville de faire une copie, la plus exacte possible, à l'aide de décalage, non seulement des contours des pays, mais aussi des écritures et des autres signes, figures et ornaments qui se trouvent sur l'original, avec le coloriage entièrement conforme à celui du modèle.
"Ensuite de quoi, le Recteur de l'école polytechnique d'ici, M. le Dr. Ohm,(5) a encore été invité spécialement à constater, par une comparaison attentive, la fidélité de la copie, et à l'attester par son témoignage. Ce dernier a reconnu entre la copie et l'original un accord aussi complet qu'il était humainement possible de l'obtenir.
"La vérité de ce qui précède est certifiée ici par les trois personnes susnommées chacun pour ce qui le concerne, avec l'apposition de leurs sceaux et signatures.
"Fait à Nuremberg, le premier août mil huit cent quarante-sept.
(Signed) "Frédéric Carl, baron de Behaim, senior familiae.
Albrecht Reindel, directeur de l'École des arts, conservateur du Musée de Nuremberg, etc.
D. Georges Simon Ohm, directeur de l'École polytechnique, membre de l'Académie des sciences."
I, too, have compared the Paris facsimile with the original, and although in the main I cordially agree with the favourable estimate formed as to the conformity between the original, and of all its accessories, and the copy made at the art-school, I have discovered a few sins of commission and omission which ought not to have escaped the eye of a careful examiner. Such a one would quickly have missed the skeleton-flags floating over Fayal, the tent of the King of Mangi, and a paragraph of the legend giving an account of the Indian spice trade. On the other hand quite a number of names have found a place upon the Paris copy which are looked for in vain upon the original and were utterly unknown even to the most learned cosmographers at the end of the fifteenth century. Among such names are Havre de Grace, only founded in 1515, Chiwa, Canton and Peking, the last two placed within brackets and identified with Zaitun and Kambalu! The Nuremberg artist, perhaps at the suggestion of one of his scientific advisers, has likewise attached modern names to a number of rivers which are nameless upon the globe. Thus, three rivers entering the Hyrcanian Sea (Caspian) are named Jemba, Sir and Amu,(6) usually known in those days by their ancient names of Daix, Jaxartes and Oxus. Three rivers in North-eastern Asia he rashly identifies with the Lena, the Kolyma and the Amur, apparently quite unaware of the fact that the Russian fur-hunters only reached the Lena in 1628 and the Amur in 1643. Further south two rivers are named Menam-ken (J 5 s) and Menam fl. (J 11 s), which the artist believed to represent the Me-kong and the river of Siam, which certainly became only known (at all events by these names) many years after the completion of the globe. There are minor discrepancies between the original and the copy made for the Bibliothèque Nationale, but what has been stated proves that the collation was not as thorough as the certificate printed above would lead us to believe.
In 1892 M. Gigot de Grandpré, under the direction of Mr. H. Vignaud, made a copy of the Paris globe, which was exhibited at Chicago and is now in the National Museum at Washington. It only cost 2,000 frcs.
A third facsimile in solido was produced by order of the Portuguese Commission(7) for the Centenary of the discovery of America which was celebrated at Madrid in 1892. It is the work of a clever lady artist, Sª. Casanova, but is decorative merely, and has no claim to accuracy.
The earliest of these facsimiles was published by J. G. Doppelmayr, in 1770. It is on a globular projection and on a small scale (diam. 196 mm.), but compensates for a paucity of place names by having most of the legends of the globe engraved in its broad margins. Even in Doppelmayr's day the lettering of the globe appears in part to have been difficult to decipher. Doppelmayr's reading near the Pole, "hie findet man weises volk" (here are found white people), is corrected by Murr into "hie fecht man weisen valcken" (here are caught white hawks). Similarly, Puini should evidently read Permi (Permians) and minupias Menuthias. The island antilia has been overlooked. The words Polus arcticus and antarcticus, although also given by Murr, are not to be discovered on the original.
Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, in his `Diplomatische Geschichte des Ritters Martin Behaim' (First edition, Nuremberg, 1778), published a facsimile of that part of the globe which lies between Gran Canaria and Asia. Murr (p. 26) describes this as "an exact copy on the actual size of the globe," when, as a matter of fact, it is a mere sketch, on a globular projection, having a diameter of 520 mm. On this facsimile the meridian distance between Gran Canaria and the eastern horn of Asia (Zeitun) amounts to 100°, instead of 118° as on the original; Murr altogether omits the meridian, which is drawn about 15° to the east of Cipangu, and its legends. On the other hand he numbers the degrees along the Equator, and names the "Tropicus cancri" and "Tropicus capricorni," the "Polus arcticus" and "Polus antarcticus," neither of which is done on the original.
I shall next deal with the facsimiles published by Dr. F. W. Ghillany in 1853 (`Geschichte des Seefahrers Ritter Martin Behaim'), and E. F. Jomard in 1854 (`Monuments de la Géographie'), and I shall do so at some length, as up to 1894, when Prof. H. Wagner(8) exposed their shortcomings, they were looked upon as trustworthy copies made direct from the globe. Indeed, Ghillany (pp. III.) claims to give, for the first time, a complete draft, the size of the "globe itself, and all that is found on it in faithful facsimile." He assures us (p. 72) that "the various legends have been introduced literally (wortgetreu)." These assertions prove that although Ghillany is known to have seen the globe, he can never have carefully examined it. Jomard did not live to write the text which was to accompany his `Monuments.' When he died in 1862, the materials collected by him were handed over to M. d'Avezac, after whose death in 1875 they were entrusted to E. Cortambert, who merely published a short `Introduction à l'Atlas des Monuments de la Géographie' (Paris, 1879). Ultimately d'Avezac's effects were handed over to his nephew, Count Jules Boselli, since which time the original, from which Jomard's facsimile was copied, has not been seen. This original I venture to identify with the two parchment rolls referred to by Murr as containing a "fairly correct and neat copy of the globe,"(9) and which were also seen by Dr. Cropp, who noticed that St. Brandan's Island had erroneously been named Antilia. The original rolls I presume were forwarded to Jomard, who accordingly retained the erroneous designation of St. Brandan's Island, omitting Antilia altogether. A copy, however, was retained from which Jean Müller subsequently produced Ghillany's facsimile. Upon this facsimile the mistake as to Antilia and St. Brandan, which had been pointed out by Dr. Cropp, was corrected.
The assumption that the "facsimiles" published by Ghillany and Jomard are copies of the same original is irrefutable. They are both on a globular projection and on the same scale; they both ignore the existence of a first meridian and its legends, and place the signs of the Zodiac differently from the original; show an equatorial gulf penetrating for 900 geographic miles into Eastern Africa; duplicate the names Catabeda and Copicora (topierra),(10) describe the south-western cape of Africa as Caput bona 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."(11)
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,(12) and excellent sketches of the miniatures by Mlle. 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.
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 facsimile(13) as an "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.
(1) Edme François Jomard, the distinguished French geographer, was born at Versailles in 1777. He was appointed in 1828 Keeper of the Bibliothèque Nationale, and died in 1862. back
(2) A. Reindel, a famous engraver and artist, was born at Nuremberg 1784 and died there in 1852. back
(3) Dr. Cropp's remarks, for a copy of which I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. Scheppig, were discovered in Ghillany's `Der Erdglobus des Mart. Behaim' (Nürnberg, 1842) in the Hamburg "Commerz-Bibliothek." Dr. Cropp was told that Jomard paid 800 fl. (1660 frcs.) for this copy. back
(4) Published by J. Codine (`Bull. de la Soc. de Géographie,' Paris, March, 1876). back
(5) G. S. Ohm, the famous discoverer of Ohm's law, was born 1787 at Erlangen, 1833-48 Director of the Polytechnic School at Nuremberg, died 1854 as Professor of Physics at Munich. back
(6) On the Catalan Map, 1375, the Oxus is called fl. amo. back
(7) "Centenario do descobrimento de America," `Memorias da Commissão Portugueze' (Lisbon, 1892). back
(8) `Die Rekonstruktion der Toscanelli-Karte' (`Nachr. d. K. Gesellsch. d. W.,' Göttingen, 1894). back
(9) See page 60. back
(10) First, correctly, to the south of the Ganges, secondly on Sinus magnus. back
(11) 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. (`Géographie du moyen âge,' Atlas, Plate 40), 1850; by the same, diameter 111 mm. (`Epilogue'), 1857; Vivien de Saint-Martin, a reduction from Jomard, diameter 134 mm. (`L'histoire de la Géographie,' Atlas), 1874; S. Ruge, western hemisphere, diameter 280 mm. (`Zeitalter der Entdeckungen'), 1881; S. Günther, western hemisphere, diameter 139 mm. (`Martin Behaim,' 1890). back
(12) He had been a prisoner of war of Dresden and carried away with him grateful memories of that beautiful city. back
(13) Captious critics will possibly charge me with a "terminological inexactitude" for daring to use the word "facsimile." back
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