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Given the plans to make available a facsimile of the Waldseemueller's two
famous maps -- the 1507 world map and the Carta Marina of 1516 -- I should
point out that the Library of Congress once again in its bookstore is
selling copies of the second, enlarged 2009 edition of the first-ever book on
the 1507 map, entitled The Magellan Myth: Reflections on Columbus, Vespucci
and the Waldseemueller Map or 1507. (originally published in July 2007)
This second edition contains a long 20,000 word supplemental essay
entitled: Vespucci's Dilemmas, Spanish Exploration and the Saint-Die
Project which takes into account new discoveries concerning the transmission
of
geographical knowledge to Saint-Die especially from Portugal about the
island-like configuration of the new southern continent surrounded by water on
all sides or "a vast ocean" as Ringmann put it. The essay also explores
more closely the awkward situation in which Vespucci found himself in the
service of the Portuguese King Manuel after the publication of the much too
revealing essay, Mundus Novus in 1503-1504. This publication appears to have
undermined his continued service for Lisbon but his decision to return to
Spanish service as opposed to his declared intention to retire to Florence
surely raised Portuguese suspicions that he had been all along a spy for
King Ferdinand who was well known for his large investment in espionage.
This helps explains why the Spanish monarch mothballed Vespucci rather than
risk his capture by the Portuguese on the high seas and then in early 1508
(after the Waldseemueller map) why the Spanish King sent Pinzon and de Solis
to the SW to explore the new continent and locate the strait which the
Portuguese had found. (Antonio Herrera's account of this voyage is the only
credible account of this voyage).
Finally, the Saint-Die scholars were well aware and their map/essay
project were heavily influenced by getting started in the late summer in
1505 after word got out that King Ferdinand was going to play a bombshell
French Card to outflank Lisbon by marrying the niece of Louis XII. This power
play resulting in a new Franco-Spanish alliance with dynastic coloration
explains a great deal, including the decision at Saint-Die to dedicate Latin
translations of Vespucci's letters to King Ferdinand and then balancing
that with the dedication of Cosmographiae Introductio to the son of Emperor
Maxmilian (Philip) over whom Ferdinand had just triumphed in a nasty
political showdown for the control of the Crown of Castile.
The scholars at Saint-Die were not political neophytes, and Ringmann
and Waldseemueller said and visually showed too much with their project
concerning knowledge of the new southern continent to have made Lisbon happy.
Quite the opposite, King Manuel must have been furious.
In any case, my book is available at the Library of Congress
bookstore. For those interested I can provide more information about how to
obtain a copy from it or directly through me.
Peter Dickson
3515 North Pershing Drive
Arlington, Virginia 22201
Phone: 703-243-6641
Email: _pwdbard@aol.com_ (mailto:pwdb...@aol.com) _______________________________________________
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