[Illustration: Fig. 1—The Leardo Map of the World, 1452 or 1453.]
AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
LIBRARY SERIES NO. 4
THE LEARDO MAP OF THE WORLD
1452 OR 1453
_In the Collections of the
American Geographical Society_
BY
JOHN KIRTLAND WRIGHT, Ph.D.
Librarian, American Geographical Society
WITH A NOTE ON THE REPRODUCTION OF THE MAP
BY
A. B. HOEN
[Illustration: AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 1854]
AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
BROADWAY AT 156TH STREET
NEW YORK
1928
COPYRIGHT, 1928
BY
THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
RUMFORD PRESS
CONCORD, N. H.
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Leardo Map of the World, 1452 or 1453 1
The Calendar and the Inscription Beneath It 2
The Map Disk 4
Sources of Leardo’s Geography 6
The Known World According to Leardo 10
Asia 10
Africa 15
The Mediterranean 16
Europe 17
Notes 21
Appendix: Detailed Comments on the Map 31
Explanation 31
I. Northern Asia 32
II. Far Eastern Asia 35
III. India 37
IV. Central Asia 40
V. Persia 41
VI. Mesopotamia and Syria 42
VII. Arabia 44
VIII. Asia Minor 45
IX. Armenia, Caucasia, and Southeastern Russia 46
X. Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea 47
XI. Southern Africa 47
XII. Middle and Lower Nile Region 49
XIII. Upper Nile Region and West Africa 50
XIV. North Africa 52
XV. Black and Mediterranean Seas 54
XVI. Southwestern Europe 55
XVII. Atlantic Ocean and Islands 56
XVIII. Central Europe 56
XIX. Italy 57
XX. Southeastern Europe 57
XXI. Baltic Sea 58
XXII. Scandinavia 58
XXIII. Eastern Europe 59
XXIV. Far North 60
List of References 63
The Reproduction of the Leardo Map, by A. B. Hoen 71
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG. PAGE
1. The Leardo map of the world, 1452 or 1453 _frontispiece_
2. Passage from mid-eighteenth century manuscript of the Doge
Marco Foscarini referring to Leardo map of 1447 23
3. Passage from mid-eighteenth century manuscript of Giovanni
Agostini referring to Leardo map of 1447 23
4. General key map _at end of book_
5. Detailed key map; northeastern section _at end of book_
6. Detailed key map; east-central section _at end of book_
7. Detailed key map; southeastern section _at end of book_
8. Detailed key map; northwestern section _at end of book_
9. Detailed key map; west-central section _at end of book_
10. Detailed key map; southwestern section _at end of book_
THE LEARDO MAP OF THE WORLD
1452 OR 1453
The notes will be found on pp. 21-28.
In 1906 Archer M. Huntington, Esq., presented to the American
Geographical Society one of three known maps of the world signed and
dated by the Venetian, Giovanni Leardo. Of these, the oldest, as well as
the crudest and simplest, is preserved in the Communal Library at Verona
and carries the date 1442.[1] The second (1448), somewhat more elaborate
in design, belongs to the Civic Museum at Vicenza.[2] The Society’s
map,[3] the largest of the three, bears the signature in the lower
right-hand corner: _Johanes Leardus de Venetteis me fezit abano domini
145_[?]. The last digit in this inscription is partly mutilated; the
date, however, is probably either 1452 or 1453.[4]
The Society’s map is of primary interest as revealing a conception of
the earth’s surface typical of the century preceding the discovery of
America. In its blending of colors and pleasing general composition it
forms a work of art of no slight decorative value. Furthermore, the
encircling calendar and many details on the map proper are distinctly
unusual.[5] The Society has therefore undertaken the publication of a
full-sized colored facsimile, in explanation of which the present book
was prepared. Drawn on a piece of parchment measuring 28½ by 23⅜ inches
(72.4 × 59.4 cm.), the original is in a fair state of preservation
except for two pieces torn from the left-hand side, for discolorations,
and for the fading of some of the inscriptions. Fortunately, no part of
the map itself has been seriously injured.
The Calendar and the Inscription Beneath It
The calendars encircling Leardo’s three maps constitute exceptional
additions. Of these calendars, the one on the Society’s map is the most
interesting. The inscription in the panel below the circles, in part an
explanation of the calendar, is somewhat awkwardly phrased in the
Venetian dialect of the fifteenth century, but, although it lacks the
beginning of each line, the meaning is fairly clear, especially when
certain of the missing lines are reconstructed from the corresponding
inscription on the map in Vicenza.[6]
In the first two lines the cartographer makes an excursion into the
realm of theology. According to Dr. Arthur C. McGiffert, to whom the
present writer submitted the passage, this part of the inscription is
“evidently not the work of a theologian, for it makes God the creator
‘of all things created and _un_created’ (the credal phrase is ‘things
visible and invisible’), and in the next clause runs the Trinity (‘three
persons and one common substance’) and the person of Christ together as
if they were the same thing. There are reminiscences of the Nicene
creed, but the whole is theologically a hodge-podge.”
This passage is followed by a statement that the map shows how the land
and islands stand in relation to the seas and how the many provinces and
mountains and principal rivers are distributed on the land. Then, on the
asserted authority of Macrobius, “a very excellent astrologer and
geometrician,” figures are given for the dimensions of the earth and of
various heavenly bodies. These are quite fanciful, bearing little
relation to the corresponding figures actually cited by Macrobius.[7]
The astronomical details are followed in the third paragraph by the
explanation of the calendar. The latter consists of eight concentric
circles, of which the innermost gives the dates of Easter for
ninety-five years, from April 1, 1453, to April 10, 1547; when Easter
falls in April, _A_ is written in the small compartment, when in March,
_M_; leap years are designated by _B_ (“bissextile years”).
The second circle shows the names of the months, beginning with March,
which was officially reckoned the first month of the year in the
Republic of Venice until as late as 1797[8]; it also tells the day,
hour, and minute when the sun enters each of the twelve signs of the
zodiac.
The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth circles enable one to calculate the
phases of the moon. In the third circle the first nineteen letters of
the alphabet represent in order the years of the Metonic lunisolar
cycle. These years were usually designated by the golden numbers, but
before the Gregorian reform letters were frequently employed in place of
the numbers. Leardo explains that _C_ stands for 1453, _D_ for 1454, and
so on until _T_ is reached, after which we begin over again at _A_.[9] A
letter is placed opposite the figures (in the fourth, fifth, and sixth
circles) showing respectively the day of the month, the hour of the day,
and the “point of the hour” at which the “conjunction of the moon” (i.
e. new moon) will take place in the years to which the letter refers.
For example, there will be a new moon on April 8, 1453, at 16 hours, 200
points.[10] Leardo adds that there are 1080 points in an hour.[11]
The seventh circle gives the dominical, or “Sunday,” letters; these are
indicated opposite the days of the month (fourth circle) on which Sunday
falls in the years designated by the seven first letters of the
alphabet. If we know the dominical letter for any particular year, we
may thus determine the days of the week.[12] Leardo, however, does not
specify the years to which the dominical letters in his calendar refer.
The eighth and ninth circles give the lengths of the days in hours and
minutes.[13] From this we see that the vernal equinox fell on March 11,
inasmuch as the calendar was constructed before the Gregorian reform.
Finally, in the tenth circle saints’ days and other religious festivals
are shown.[14]
The four figures in the spaces between the calendar and the outer edge
of the parchment represent the four evangelists: the lion for St. Mark,
the bull for St. Luke, the angel for St. Matthew, and the eagle (of
which only the head shows) for St. John.[15]
The Map Disk
It should be noted first that east is at the top of the map and
Jerusalem at the center; hence the long axis of the Mediterranean runs
vertically up the southern half of the disk.
With the exception of the Red Sea, appropriately colored, the seas are
uniformly blue. The lands are left the natural color of the bleached
parchment except for a fiery red region in the far south bearing the
legend: “Desert uninhabited because of heat,” and a dreary brown waste
in the far north marked: “Desert uninhabited because of cold.” Islands
are tinted either red or yellow, with green patches in the interior of
Great Britain and Ireland. The only other natural features depicted are
mountains, rivers, and lakes, although certain deserts are mentioned in
legends. Mountain ranges are represented by rows of mounds, alternately
red, green, and blue, and each rising symmetrically in two or three
steps. Rivers are blue and, as frequently on medieval maps, sometimes
connect one sea with another, or at least have common sources. A yellow
lake, labeled “Sandy Sea,” lies in the midst of the Sahara.
Vignettes of castles, walled towns, and churches stand for cities,
kingdoms, and regions. In most cases the names have been written upon
the vignettes themselves; since the latter are also colored pink or
green, the letters are frequently obscured and quite illegible. Many
towns and districts are shown by red dots beside which the names are
written in ink, once black but now faded with age. These names were
inserted after the vignettes were drawn, for in many instances they are
tilted or compressed to fit the available space. The draftsman did not
venture to write any name to the left of the dot to which it belongs; as
he could not write on the blue of the seas, he was obliged to invert the
map in the case of places on south-facing coasts. Names of islands and
seas, which had to be written on water surfaces, are inclosed in small
yellow panels. The names of the continents, the two inscriptions
relating to the polar and equatorial deserts, and the words “Terrestrial
Paradise” are in red capitals; but all other names are in minuscule,
usually without an initial capital. Besides place names there are a few
longer legends.
Winds blowing from the four cardinal and four intermediate points of the
compass are shown by eight faces around the edge of the disk. Those to
the north, northwest, and northeast are blue, suggesting cold blasts
from these quarters; the other faces are ruddy.
Although decorative, the Leardo map lacks many of the pictorial
elements—animals, birds, preposterous monsters—that enliven the blank
spaces on other medieval maps. With the exception of the eight wind
faces and the symbolic figures of the evangelists no living creatures,
whether animals or men, are graphically represented.
Sources of Leardo’s Geography
Briefly stated, the sources of Leardo’s geography are to be sought in
the information accumulated by the Greeks and Romans, as added to and
altered during the early Middle Ages by the Church Fathers on the basis
of the interpretation of the Bible and as later augmented by the work of
medieval travelers, merchants, and sailors.
At a very early period the Greeks developed the idea (borrowed, perhaps,
from the Babylonians[16]) that the earth is a flat disk surrounded by
the Ocean Stream. This conception seems to have given rise to a
cartographic tradition followed by certain ancient and medieval
map-makers who had long outgrown the belief that the earth is actually
flat. Thus Leardo draws a circular land mass, or _oikoumene_, surrounded
by a narrow hem of water. We cannot, however, question his belief in the
sphericity of the earth, for otherwise he could hardly have held the
views expressed in the panel below the calendar. Furthermore, his two
legends relating to the fiery and frozen deserts echo a theory that was
propounded in classical times and based on the hypothesis of a spherical
earth. This theory, worked out in detail by Crates of Mallos, is briefly
as follows.[17] Around the equatorial circumference of the globe is a
fiery zone so intensely hot that no man can cross it. This zone cuts off
all communication with the southern hemisphere. The north and south
polar caps are uninhabitable because of the cold. An ocean encircling
the globe from north to south intercepts communication with the half of
the northern hemisphere opposite the _oikoumene_. Many maps were made in
the Middle Ages to illustrate this conception. Leardo presumably had it
in mind and did not intend to represent either a flat disk or a complete
hemisphere but merely a circular portion of the earth’s surface lying
north of the equator.
In its orientation, with east and the Terrestrial Paradise at the top
and with Jerusalem at the center, the map follows the Christian
tradition of the earlier Middle Ages. Other features reflecting the
influence of the Scriptures are Noah’s Ark resting on top of Mt. Ararat,
Mt. Sinai, the exaggerated length of the River Jordan, and an
inscription in the far northeast referring to Gog and Magog.
Later medieval contacts between Europe and remote lands are revealed in
names derived from Marco Polo and possibly from other Western travelers
who had visited the Orient, as well as in the Arabic names in Asia and
Africa.
Medieval navigators’ charts also influenced Leardo. Towards the close of
the thirteenth century sailors in the Mediterranean—particularly
Italians and Catalans—began making marine maps (known as portolan
charts) that far surpassed all earlier maps in the accurate delineation
of coast lines. The majority of these show the Mediterranean and
Atlantic coasts of Europe and of north Africa but little of the interior
of the continents and nothing of the farther parts of Asia. Some,
however, were used as the basis for maps of the world. On the latter the
shore lines were derived from the navigators’ charts, and the remaining
regions were compiled from other sources. The Leardo map belongs in this
category.
Among the existing maps dating from the fourteenth and early fifteenth
centuries our Leardo map is very closely related to the group of maps
drawn by the famous Catalan cartographers of Majorca in the Balearic
Islands. In its general outlines it is so strikingly like a Catalan map
of about 1450 now preserved in the Este Library at Modena[18] that we
must assume a common cartographic ancestor at no great distance back.
There are, however, certain legends on the Este map that Leardo does not
give, particularly the long inscriptions and a multitude of place names
on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. Leardo’s map, on the other
hand, has features not shown on the Este map. These are of two sorts:
(1) place names in Asia and Africa, the counterparts of which may be
found on other Catalan[19] and Italian[20] maps of the period; and (2)
river, mountain, and province names taken directly from Ptolemy. There
are also not a few names whose origins or counterparts on other maps I
have been unable to trace.
Ptolemy’s _Geography_ had been neglected during the earlier Middle Ages,
but the enthusiastic interest in Greek literature which characterized
the early Renaissance had led to its translation into Latin shortly
before Leardo’s time.[21] A strict interpretation of Ptolemy’s data
would have necessitated a complete redrafting of the outlines of the
continents, as was done on the Ptolemaic atlases of the mid- and late
fifteenth century. Leardo made no such attempt. The extent of his
concession to the Ptolemaic geography was to sprinkle a few of Ptolemy’s
names over a medieval base and to add the Rivers Indus and Oechardes in
eastern Asia.[22]
The Known World According to Leardo
The numbers in parentheses correspond to the reference numbers in the
Appendix (pp. 32-60) and on the key maps at the end of the book.
In the Appendix (pp. 31-67) I have tried to identify as many as possible
of the names and other features shown on the Leardo map with existing
places, or at least with corresponding features on other maps of the
period. Here I propose to conduct the reader on a rapid sight-seeing
tour around the map, pointing out some of the most interesting details
only.
Asia
In the extreme north (left-hand side) there is a large structure which
looks like an Italian church with its campanile (13). The legend
beneath, suggested ultimately by a passage from Marco Polo, runs about
thus: “[This is] the sepulcher of the [Grand Khan] and they do this when
he comes to be carried for interment: he comes accompanied by many armed
men who kill those whom they find on the roads, and they say that the
souls of these are blessed because they accompany the soul of the Grand
Khan to another life.” Marco Polo adds that at the time of the funeral
of Mangou Khan 20,000 persons were thus slain! The actual place of
burial of the Mongol Khans was in Cathay, far away from northern Russia
where Leardo, following the model of Catalan maps, draws it. European
cartographers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries seem to have
known and cared little about the relative positions of places in Asia;
as Italian merchants by this time had established contacts with the
Mongols in southern Russia, what was more natural than to place the
Mongol overlord’s tomb in the hinterland of the Black Sea? Here there
was more available space than in the Far East, and here on Leardo’s map
the Grand Khan’s tomb could be made symmetrically to balance Prester
John’s palace across the map in Africa (299).
South of the sepulcher we see the River Volga (6, 7) flowing into the
northwestern corner of the Caspian (250). A branch from the east (8),
perhaps the Kama, joins the Volga where the latter bends at a right
angle to the south. East of the lower Volga is a “desert of thirty days”
(10), Polo’s mysterious demon-haunted desert of Lop, where the traveler
hears ringing bells and other uncanny sounds (possibly “singing sands”).
Like the Grand Khan’s tomb, this desert is also wofully misplaced, since
the actual desert of Lop lies in eastern Chinese Turkestan. The
responsibility is not Leardo’s, however, for the Lop desert is in the
same place on the Catalan Atlas of 1375 and on the Este map.
Farther east, beyond a row of six castles representing towns on the
borderlands of China (35-40), we come to a gulf of the encircling ocean
and to a great system of mountains. The gulf (11), which contains three
islands, appears in almost the same position and form on the Este map,
where there is a legend explaining that on the islands griffons and
falcons are found and that the natives are not allowed to kill them
without the permission of the Grand Khan of the Tatars. This is also
from Marco Polo, who writes that the islands where the gerfalcons are
bred lie so far north that the North Star is left behind you in the
south! The mountains southeast of the gulf make an enclosure shaped
something like a θ (42-47). Inside the northern half of this θ a legend
tells us that “this is the province of Gog and Magog, where many tribes
of the Jews were shut in” (70), referring to the medieval tradition that
Alexander the Great enclosed Gog and Magog—the terrible hordes of
Antichrist—within the Caspian Mountains. On many maps the mountains of
Gog and Magog in the Far East are named thus. Leardo, however, places
“M^o Gaspio” (Caspiae Montes) (4) north of the Caspian Sea somewhat
nearer the position at which Ptolemy had placed them. To the mountains
of Gog and Magog he assigns names derived from Ptolemy’s northeastern
Asia. Running westward from the southern basin formed by these mountains
Leardo has added a river (49), the Oechardes of Ptolemy. Near the point
where this river emerges from the mountain rim we see a red spot labeled
“Iron gate” (72) and, immediately to the west, two short red marks,
“Statues of Alexander” (73). The iron gate was built by Alexander in the
wall enclosing Gog and Magog, and the statues represent trumpeters set
up by Alexander to keep guard over these unclean hordes. On the Catalan
maps the trumpeters themselves are shown with their trumpets.
Immediately west of the statues appears “Mount Tanacomedo” (48), an
amusing instance of Leardo’s carelessness; he has here evidently copied
“Montana Comedorum” from a Ptolemaic map, combining the last part of the
first word with the first part of the last! At the extreme eastern edge
of the world disk we see the Terrestrial Paradise (63) surrounded by an
enormous wall to keep out curious intruders. The River Indus flows
southwestward to a great delta near the entrance of the Persian Gulf
(84). Many of the place names in India correspond with those of the
Catalan maps and in turn were derived from Marco Polo. The scene of St.
Thomas’ mission and of the early introduction of Christianity into India
is indicated by the inscription: “Here preached St. Thomas” (113).
In central Asia, we note two rivers entering the eastern side of the
Caspian Sea, the Jaxartes (117) and Oxus (118). The Lake of Aral, in
which these great streams actually have their outlet, seems to have been
wholly unknown to the geographers both of antiquity and of medieval
Europe. Moslem scholars, however, were aware of its existence. Leardo’s
castles of Organa and of Organzia (Urganj) (120, 121) at the mouth of
the Jaxartes and his place name Orcania (132) on the Oxus recall Matthew
Arnold’s description of the Oxus at the close of _Sohrab and Rustum_:
But the majestic river floated on ...
Right for the polar star, past Orgunjè,
Brimming, and bright, and large.
The Tigris and Euphrates (165, 166) join, reaching the Persian Gulf
(267) as a single stream flowing between two large edifices that
represent Susiana (172) and Babylonia (173). To the east of the Tigris a
nameless river (139) having its headwaters in a large lake (138) also
enters the Persian Gulf. This same stream on the Catalan Atlas and on
the Este map rises in a double source, two bodies of water that have
been identified with Lakes Van and Urmia. Leardo connects the Euphrates
(166) with the Mediterranean through the Orontes (168) and with the Red
Sea (268) through the Jordan (167).
The most prominent feature in Arabia is Mecca (211), a large domed and
towered building in good Italian Renaissance style and presumably
representing a mosque. Several corrupted Turkish place names (227, 228,
229, 232) along with classical names (224, 231, 233-235) appear in Asia
Minor.
The Indian Ocean is filled with yellow and red islands. A legend
asserting that pepper and spice are found in these islands (275) comes
from Marco Polo’s description of the East Indian archipelago. The
largest of all the islands, lying off the coast of India, is marked
Taprobana (269) and probably represents Sumatra.
Africa
Leardo’s Africa, like that of the Este map, has a very unusual shape.
Two gulfs reach inland from the Indian Ocean and from the Atlantic,
partially cutting off the southern extremity of the continent. On the
Este map the eastern gulf is not as prominent as that of Leardo’s map,
but the western is even deeper. Kretschmer suggests that these features
have sprung from a combination of the ancient doctrine of a vast austral
continent with Ptolemy’s theory that the Indian Ocean is surrounded by
land.[23] Certain Arabic maps show an eastward projection of Africa like
those of the Este map and Leardo, although they do not indicate anything
corresponding to the western gulf.
Prester John’s castle (299) bulks large in the interior of Africa. In
the twelfth century, reports spread through Europe of the vast realm of
a fabulous Christian monarch in the heart of Asia. By the fourteenth
century, however, Prester John’s empire had been transferred to Africa,
where it became associated with the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia. The
elaborate edifice with which Leardo represents Prester John’s empire may
be intended for the sumptuous palace described in the thirteenth-century
_Letter of Prester John_.
Like most medieval cartographers, Leardo makes the Nile (312) rise in
West Africa (338). In this he follows Herodotus, Pliny, Mela, and other
ancient authorities. Ptolemy, however, seems to have had a more correct
view, placing the sources of the river in the Mountains of the Moon in
eastern Africa. Nothing daunted, most of the fifteenth-century
cartographers who used the writings of Ptolemy boldly transferred the
Mountains of the Moon to West Africa to suit their theory of the river’s
course. Thus, on the Leardo map we see the Montes Lunae (334) on the
north coast of the West African gulf. Thence four streams flow north
into a lake, out of which the Nile makes its way eastward and another
stream flows westward into the Atlantic. The latter stream represents,
perhaps, a combination of Niger and Senegal, of which some faint
knowledge may have been gained through traders who had crossed the
Sahara. The lower Nile is joined by the River “Stapus” (313), doubtless
the Astapus of Ptolemy or the modern Blue Nile. On the Este map this
tributary rises in the Terrestrial Paradise, there placed in East
Africa.
To the mountain range of North Africa, the Carena of the Catalan maps,
Leardo has added Ptolemaic names (385-392).
The Mediterranean
The outlines of the Mediterranean (433) and Black Seas (431) are more
correct than any other features which Leardo draws. This, of course, is
due to the fact that they were derived ultimately from the portolan
charts. Leardo preserves the faulty orientation of the Mediterranean
characteristic of the latter. If we assume that the perpendicular line
extending from the wind-blower off the west coast of Spain through
Jerusalem to the wind-blower east of the Terrestrial Paradise is
intended to run due east and west, we see that the axis of the
Mediterranean with the adjoining shores has been turned
counter-clockwise some twelve degrees. This is probably because of
failure on the part of the makers of the original portolan charts to
take into consideration the declination of the compass.[24]
Leardo’s place names along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts are
all derived from the portolan charts, although Leardo wrote names only
where it was easy to do so without crowding. The least successful
portion of Leardo’s Mediterranean coast is that of Spain: the shore is
here unduly elongated as compared with that of the Este Catalan map,
Barcelona (475) and Ampurias (476) being placed too far northeast on
what ought to be the French shore line.
Europe
As on the Catalan maps, the geography of northwestern Europe is badly
distorted. The Seine (448), Rhine (487), and Elbe (488) all flow
parallel with one another but slightly to the south of west. The course
of the Danube (552) with its southern branches is more true to nature.
The Baltic Sea (577) and Scandinavia are drawn much as on the Este map.
NOTES
[1]Giuseppe Crivellari, _Alcuni cimeli della cartografia medievale
esistenti a Verona_, Florence, 1903, pp. 5-28.
[2]This map was discovered by Vincenzo Lazari in 1850. A detailed
description and interpretation of it will be found in Santarem, Vol.
3, pp. 398-442 [fuller bibliographical details regarding this and
other abbreviated references in these notes will be found on pp.
63-67]; black and white reproduction in Santarem’s _Atlas_, Part 3,
No. 49; also in A. E. Nordenskiöld, _Periplus_, p. 61.
[3]The map was discovered in 1879 by Major Friedrich von Pilat, Imperial
Counsellor of the Austro-Hungarian Legation and Consul-General of
Austria-Hungary in Venice. At the time it was presented to the
Society a brief anonymous description appeared in the _Bulletin of
the American Geographical Society_, Vol. 38, 1906, pp. 365-368. This
was based upon a sixteen-page pamphlet by Dr. Guglielmo Berchet, _Il
planisfero di Giovanni Leardo dell’ anno 1452_, Venice, 1880,
accompanying a photographic facsimile constituting No. XIV of the
series _Raccolta di mappamondi e carte nautiche del XIII al XVI
secolo_ published by Ferdinand Ongania, Venice. Dr. Berchet’s paper,
while useful to the present writer, has on the whole proved
disappointing because of its many inaccuracies in transcriptions and
also because almost no attempt was made to deal with the place
names, in many respects the most interesting features of all.
[4]As much of this digit as remains might be the upper part of either a
2, a 3, or a 7. Since the Easter calendar begins with 1453 the date
could hardly be earlier than Easter, 1452. For the same reason, it
is not likely to have been as late as 1457, the only possible date
after 1453. On the Vicenza Leardo map the Easter calendar begins
with the year in which the map is dated, 1448; on the Verona map of
1442 the calendar begins with the preceding year, 1441. A
discrepancy of four years between the beginning of the calendar and
the date of the map, however, is most improbable.
Santarem, Vol. 3, p. 399, and Berchet, _op. cit._, p. 6, cite two
mid-eighteenth century MSS in the Library of St. Mark’s, Venice,
which contain entries relating to a map by Giovanni Leardo dated
1447. One of these MS is that of the Doge Marco Foscarini (Codex
ital., XI, 123, p. 42), the other that of a contemporary scholar,
Giovanni degli Agostini (Codex ital., VII, 291, p. 542; this and the
preceding reference were furnished to the present writer by the
Chief Librarian of the Library of St. Mark’s; they do not agree
exactly with the references as given by Santarem and Berchet).
The passage from the Foscarini MS (Fig. 2) may be translated thus:
“Gio. Leardo, who flourished in 1440, made a planisphere on
parchment on which was written _Leardius de Venetiis me fecit anno
1447_. It was at the house of (_era presso_) Bernardo Trevisano.
Apostolo Zeno saw it many times and marveled at seeing the exactness
of the design.” The passage from the Agostini MS (Fig. 3) runs as
follows: “Giovanni Leardo: This (man) lived shortly before the
middle of the fifteenth century, and he delighted in geography and
spheres. In the Trevisan Library was preserved a planisphere by him
on parchment on which could be seen delineated the whole terraqueous
globe with all the signs and celestial constellations, beneath
which, according to his assertion, every part is placed. At the
bottom of this parchment these words may be read: _Joannes Leardius
de Venetiis me fecit ab anno 1447_. It is curious to see how in his
time, when not many discoveries had been made and navigation was so
little advanced, the positions of the provinces and of the seas were
conceived.”
Berchet, _op. cit._, p. 7, points out that the arms at the top of
the parchment of the Leardo map now belonging to the American
Geographical Society are those of the Trevisan house. He reads
incorrectly, however, the date given by Agostini as 1452, concluding
therefrom that the map mentioned by the latter was the same as the
Society’s map, the date of which he also reads as 1452. In view of
the actual difference in the dates, we may conclude that Leardo
constructed two maps for the Trevisan family, and that the one dated
1447 is yet to be rediscovered.
Figs. 2 and 3—Passages from mid-eighteenth century manuscripts in
the Library of St. Mark’s, Venice, in which reference is made to a
map by Giovanni Leardo, dated 1447. See note 4.
[Illustration: Fig. 2—from manuscript of the Doge Marco Foscarini.]
[Illustration: Fig. 3—from manuscript of Giovanni Agostini.]
[5]Although the Society’s map is not, perhaps, one of the great,
outstanding monuments of medieval cartography, the assertion of
Theobald Fischer (_Sammlung mittelalterlicher Welt- und Seekarten_,
Venice, 1886, p. 104) that the Leardo maps of 1448 and 1452 were
“von geringem Wert,” seems too harsh.
[6]There follows a transcription of this legend. Missing passages
supplied from the Vicenza map as transcribed on Santarem’s
reproduction are given in square brackets:
_... chreatore de Tute le Cose chreate et non chreato et E En 3
persone et una medexima sustanzia et uno Idio El quale En .i.inita
(divinita?) E Incomprensibelle aiomeni et aianzelli quanti uisono
dal zentro per sino Ala zirconferenzia En umanita ... | ... ene
Maria et farsi homo pasibelle et sostener morte per Redimer Lumana
zenerazione et resusito Il Terzo zorno et asexe ... (en?) ziello ala
destera del padre et al nouisimo di zudigera zusti et pechatori. Al
nome de quel dio che cosi veramente chre ... at_|
_... como La Tera et le Ixole stano nel mare et Molte prouinzie et
monti et fiumi prenzipalli sono nela Tera El diamitro dela Tera sie
meglia 6857 secondo Macobrio ezelentisimo Astrologo et geumetrico.
El diamitro de Laqua| [sie meia 14796. El diametro de laiere sie
m]eglia 31929¹/₇. E diamitro del fuoguo 68191²/₇. El diamitro de La
Luna sie meglia 147149. El diamitro de mercurio sie meia 20(?)7533.
El diamitro de venus sie meglia 692703. El diamitro del solle sie
meia 1494781. El diamitro de mar(te) |... eia 6532374¹/₇ (Jupiter).
El diamitro de saturno sie Meia 13997942⁴/₇. diamitrus horbis
signiorum sie meia 29995591. diamitrus horbis aplanes sie meia
64276266⁵/₇. diamitrus horbis christalini sie meia 137724(?)856.
pitagora dize che da La |...._
[El primo zircholo che zirconscrisse Il sopra schri]_to mapamondo
sie de la raxon de la pasqua de la Rexurezione per Ani 95. Comenza
nel 1453 adi primo aprille conpie nel 1547 adi 10 Aprille. quando si
Troua nele caxelle Letera M aueremo La pasqua de marzo, quando si
Trouera Letera A Aueremo| [quando la viene daprille. quando si troua
letera B que]lano aueremo Bixestro. El segondo zircolo sie de I12
mexi dellano et quando Il sole Entra En cadauno dei 12 segni
zelesti. El Terzo zircollo sie de 19 Letere de lalfabeto per Atrouar
la raxon de La Luna. El quarto zircollo sie dei numeri (?)| [di
zorni de mexi. El quinto sie de le ore.] El sesto zircollo sie
Iponti de le hore. El setimo zircollo sie Le Letere dominicale.
Lotauo zircollo sie Le ore de La grandeza del di En tututo (sic!) El
tenpo de lano (?). El nono zircolo sie dei menudi che auanza oltra
Le ore ne la grandeza del di. El dezim |... uoler sapere quando
rinoua La Luna de Zugnio del 1453. nel dito mileximo Abiamo per
letera concorente Letera C. Auoler atrouar La conioncion de la Luna
dobiamo Atrouar Letera C nel mexe de zugnio E alincotro se trouera
di.. |... (rin) ouera La Luna de cadauno mexe del dito mileximo. El
mileximo comenz(a) de Zenaro nel 1454 aueremo concorente Letera d
ecosi se schore ogniano 1 Letera de lalfabeto. Et quando sizunze
aletera T l’Altro ano drieto sitorna Aletera A. |... raxone comenza
Ala Leuar del solle e intendese atanti di et Atante hore et atanti
(?) ponti. ponti 1080 sintende 1 hora. Ale fiade En uno mexe si
troua 2 fiade una Letera en quel mexe La luna rinoua 2 fiade etc._
[7]By the “diameters” of the sun, moon, and planets Leardo obviously
means the diameters of the orbits. Macrobius, _Commentaria in
somnium Scipionis_, I, 20: 20, gives the diameter of the earth as
80,000 stades, which might, if converted into Arabic miles, be
approximately the 6857 miles of Leardo. According to Macrobius the
radius of the sun’s orbit is 4,800,000 stades (_ibid._, I, 20: 21);
the diameter of the sun’s orbit would therefore be 9,600,000 stades,
or 120 times that of the earth. The diameter of the sun’s orbit
according to Leardo is 218 times that of the earth. On the authority
of Porphyry, Macrobius (_ibid._, II, 3: 14) gives the relative
distances between the planets; but Leardo’s figures bear no relation
to these. I have not been able as yet to trace the origin of
Leardo’s figures.
[8]H. Grotefend, _Zeitrechnung des deutschen Mittelalters und der
Neuzeit_, Vol. 1, Hannover, 1891, p. 203 (reference kindly suggested
by Dom Hugh G. Bévenot of Weingarten Abbey, Württemberg, Germany).
[9]Grotefend, _op. cit._, p. 113, asserts that O was usually omitted to
avoid confusion with zero. Leardo, however, includes O. J and I are
counted as one letter. The golden number of 1453 is 10; Leardo’s A
corresponds with golden number 8.
[10]The following is a comparison of the times of the new moon on
certain dates as indicated by Leardo with the actual times as
determined for the meridian of Venice from Th. von Oppolzer, _Canon
der Finsternisse_ (constituting _Denkschr. Kaiserl. Akad. der Wiss.
in Wien, Math.-naturw. Classe_, Vol. 52, 1887).
Leardo’s Times Actual Times
1453 Dec. 1 ? hrs. 203? pts. Nov. 30 2.40 P. M.
1455 Apr. 16 21 hrs. ? Apr. 17 12.22 A. M.
1456 Apr. 6 7 hrs. 229 pts. Apr. 5 4.25 A. M.
1461 Jan. 11 21 hrs. ? Jan. 11 8.44 P. M.
1468 Feb. 23 14 hrs. 747 pts. Feb. 23 10.15 P. M.
The discrepancies are too great and too variable to enable us to
come to any very definite conclusions as to the place or manner of
origin of Leardo’s figures.
[11]The division of the hour into 1080 points (3×6×60, as Dom Bévenot
points out) is puzzling. More usually the hour was subdivided into
four points. See Grotefend, _op. cit._, p. 188.
[12]The dominical letter for 1453 was G.
[13]On the basis of certain of the figures given by Leardo for the
lengths of the days at about the times of the solstices, I have
estimated that this table was worked out for about lat. 42° 45′ N,
which is more nearly the latitude of Orvieto than that of Venice
(45° 30′). (This calculation was made with the _Smithsonian
Meteorological Tables_, 4th edit. (constituting _Smithsonian Misc.
Colls._, Vol. 69, No. 1), Washington, 1918: Table 87, “Duration of
Sunshine at Different Latitudes,” and Table 88, “Declination of the
Sun for the Year 1899.” The difference in the declination of the sun
for 1452 and 1899 is negligible.) Dom Bévenot writes: “I fancy day
lengths were reckoned roughly for degrees. Here in Weingarten about
1490 they used tables drawn up for lat. 45° N, though the place is
actually 47° 40′.”
[14]I am indebted to Dom Bévenot for the following comment:
“Concerning the calendar of saints I find the good Venetian has
inserted besides the usual feast of St. Mark, patron of Venice, on
April 25 two more: that of his apparition and the finding of his
relics on June 25 and a third feast on Jan. 31 (translation). The
last two were special for the diocese of Venice (Aquileia). The
calendar for Aquileia is given at the beginning of Grotefend, _op.
cit._, Vol. 1, but does not quite tally with Leardo’s list of
saints. Perhaps this is because Grotefend has modernized the
calendar. It may be that Leardo, living perhaps elsewhere than in
Venice or its diocese, put in feasts that were dear to him. Indeed,
in view of your findings for latitude from the length of the days
[see preceding note], Rome is the most likely place, perhaps, for
the Venetian embassy. It lies nearly in lat. 42° N; if we allow for
Leardo measuring the length of the days according to the apparent
sunset and sunrise, this may well explain a discrepancy of the
greater part of a degree.”
[15]Berchet, _op. cit._, p. 7.
[16]See H. F. Lutz, _Geographical Studies Among Babylonians and
Egyptians_, in _Amer. Anthropologist_, Vol. 26 (N.S.), 1924, pp.
160-174.
[17]See Appendix, Nos. 305, 619.
[18]Kretschmer, CE see p. 63.
[19]Particularly the famous Catalan Atlas of 1375 see p. 63.
[20]For the names of and for bibliographical references relating to some
of these maps see the list of references on pp. 63-67, _sub_ CD,
Mauro, Piz., Vat., Vilad.
[21]This Latin translation of Ptolemy’s _Geography_ was begun by the
Byzantine scholar Emmanuel Chrysoloras and completed by Jacopus
Angelus in 1410; manuscripts of this translation were accompanied by
maps, which, however, differ from the well-known maps in the
Ptolemaic atlases of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The
latter were the work of Dominus Nicolaus Germanus, known as Nicholas
Donis. See A. E. Nordenskiöld, _Facsimile Atlas to the Early History
of Cartography_, transl. by J. A. Ekelöf and Clements R. Markham,
Stockholm, 1889, pp. 9-10.
[22]Like the Leardo map of 1452, the map of Walsperger, 1448, reveals
Ptolemaic influence in some of its names although all the
topographical features are strictly medieval. The Genoese world map
of 1447 in its elliptical form is the result of a more serious
attempt to reconcile the Ptolemaic geography with the traditional
views. See Kretschmer, CE, pp. 76-77; on the Walsperger map,
Kretschmer, _Eine neue mittelalterliche Weltkarte der vatikanischen
Bibliothek_, in _Zeitschr. Gesell. für Erdkunde zu Berlin_, Vol. 26,
1891, pp. 371-406, reference on pp. 376-377. On the Genoese world
map see the extended commentary of Fischer, _op. cit._, pp. 155-206.
[23]Kret., CE pp. 82-83.
[24]See Kret., Port., pp. 81-93; see also E. L. Stevenson, _Portolan
Charts: Their Origin and Characteristics, with a Descriptive List of
those Belonging to the Hispanic Society of America_, New York, 1911,
p. 19, where it is suggested that the faulty orientation of the
Mediterranean may be in part connected with the persistence since
the time of Ptolemy of the practice of placing Constantinople on
maps “too far to the north by at least two degrees.”
APPENDIX
DETAILED COMMENTS ON THE MAP
Explanation
The following commentary is divided into sections numbered with Roman
numerals corresponding to the Roman numerals on the general key map
(Fig. 4, at end of book). Each item is given an Arabic numeral which
corresponds to the Arabic numerals on the detailed key maps (Figs. 5-10,
at end of book).
For each feature which bears a place name and for each longer legend on
the Leardo map the transcription is given below in italic. Many of these
transcriptions, particularly of names written on edifices (castles,
churches, etc.), are mere guesses, owing to the obscurity of the
original. Particular difficulty was encountered in distinguishing
between the letters _a_, _e_, _o_, _c_, and _t_, and between _s_ and
_f_. A clue to the reading of many names, however, was furnished by
other maps contemporary with or earlier than that of Leardo. Illegible
letters are indicated by dots; doubtful readings by (?); interpolated
letters are enclosed in square brackets. Illeg. means “wholly
illegible.”
No data beside the transcriptions are given for such names as _f.
tigris_, _corsicha_, _galizia_, etc., the meaning of which is obvious.
In the case of the less familiar names, the forms in which they appear
on certain other medieval maps are supplied. In general, if a name
occurs on the Catalan Atlas of 1375 (CA), on the Catalan map in the Este
Library at Modena (CE), or on the Ptolemaic maps (Ptol.), no attempt is
made to indicate its occurrence elsewhere.
Each doubtful identification with a medieval name is preceded by ?. For
names along the coast of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the
Atlantic, references are given to the pages in Kretschmer’s _Die
italienischen Portolane des Mittelalters_ (= Kret., Port.) where the
variant spellings of these names as they are found in the more important
portolans and portolan charts are listed and the places identified with
modern localities.
Identifications with modern localities are indicated by =, or =mod.;
with well-known ancient localities by =anct. Suggested but doubtful
identifications are preceded by =?, and names for which I have been
unable to find or to suggest any identification with a modern locality
are indicated by =? standing alone.
With the identification of Ptolemaic and medieval names in the Far East,
in Africa, and in Scandinavia, we enter upon a hazardous and
controversial field. While in many instances I have indicated
identifications that have been made by competent scholars, needless to
say, these should not be accepted as final. One cannot but feel that
where an identification is based upon mere similarity in sound it is
often a case of one man’s guess being as good as another’s. The scope
and purpose of the present study does not permit of an exhaustive
examination of these questions of detail.
For more complete bibliographical data relating to publications referred
to in abbreviated form in the key and for an explanation of the
abbreviations, see pp. 63-67. In bibliographical references volume
numbers are indicated in lower case Roman, book numbers in upper case
Roman, and chapter and page numbers in Arabic type.
On the key maps where there are long rows of place names the first and
last numbers only are indicated, with an arrow connecting them. This is
done to avoid overcrowding.
The Arabic numerals are in general placed in positions corresponding to
those of the legends on the original. This leads in some instances to
the separation of the numbers from the symbols to which they relate
(_e.g._, 73).
I. Northern Asia
Mountains
1 _M^o. alani_: Alani Montes in Scythia intra Imaum Montem, NE of
Caspian Sea, Ptol. (VI, 14: 3 (FA 22));=Mugodzhar hills in the Kirghiz
steppes, a southern continuation of the Ural Mountains (PW, i, 1281).
2 _M^o. ripei_: Rhipaei Montes, in which the Don rises, between Sea of
Azof and Baltic, Ptol. (III, 5:15 (FA 17)). See also 596 and PW, 2nd
ser., i, 902-904.
3 _M^o. norosus_: Norossus Mons, NE of Caspian Sea, Ptol. (VI, 14:5 (FA
22)).
4 _M^o. gaspio_: Caspii Montes, between Greater Armenia and Media, Ptol.
(V, 13:3 (FA20)); transferred to the far northeast as the haunt of Gog
and Magog on medieval maps, including CA and CE. See Kret., CE, 202-206.
Rivers
5 _f. Tanai_: Tanais Fluvius, Ptol. (V, 9:1, etc. (FA17));=Don.
6 _f. rumus_: ?Rhymmus Fluvius, which enters the Caspian E of the Rha
(Volga), Ptol. (VI, 14:2, 4 (FA22));=Volga.
7 _f. ras_: Rha Fluvius, Ptol. (V, 9:12, etc. (FA22)); see PW, 2nd ser.,
i, 1-8;=upper Volga.
8 Unnamed eastern tributary of the Ras;=Kama or Viatka.
Other Natural Features
9 _zizera_: Zizera, shown as an island on CD and CA;=the _jazira_ or
island of Peskov in the Volga near Tsaritsin (Yule, Cath., i, 308); Hamy
(395) suggests Sizran.
10 _dixerto de zornade_ | _trenta_ (desert of thirty days). Marco Polo’s
desert of Lop, said to take one month to cross (Polo, i, 196); a long
inscription on CA in the same locality describes this desert and the
devils’ voices heard in it. See 33.
11 On this gulf as it is shown on CE appears the legend: “On these
islands there are many beautiful griffons and falcons, and the
inhabitants of the islands do not venture to seize them without the
permission of the Grand Khan, lord of the Tatars” (Kret., CE, 208; from
Polo, i, 270).
Edifices
(A) North of the River Ras and its Eastern Tributary
12 _zimachi_|_a_(?): ?Sarmatia;=Russia. See also 600.
13 Tomb of the Grand Khan, beneath which an inscription reads thus: _q
... li sie El sepulchro del_ | [gran can] _et fano questa_ | ... _che
quando El uen_ | _portato a sepelir El uen acom|pagniato da_ _molti
homeni | armadi Iquali ozideno queli(?) | Itrouano su le strade et
| dicono che le anime de coloro sono Benede|te per che Le
aconpa|gniano Lanima del gran | can aunaltra uita_. Similar inscription
in corresponding position on CE (209-210) from Polo (i, 246, 250-251).
14 _R^o. de mas_ ... (?): ?Moscaor, CD;=Moscow (Hamy, 394).
15 _cast. | ra._(?): ?Castrama, CA; Castrema, CE;=Kostroma (Hamy, 395).
16 _ezina_(?): ?duplicate of 18.
17 _alla_ ... (?): ?Allania, N of Black Sea, CA;=country of the Alans
(Hallb., 13, 14). See also 604.
18 _etzi|na_: Polo (i, 223-225); Cordier (Ser M. P., 53-55) places
Polo’s Etzina in SW Mongolia, “on the river Hei-shui, called Etsina
[=Etsin Gol] by the Mongols.” See also 16.
(B) Between the Rivers Ras, Rumus, and Tanai
19 _trachia_: Torachi, CA;=Torjok (Hamy, 395).
20 _tufer_: Tifer, CA;=Tver, capital of an important Russian
principality and seat of a bishop in the Middle Ages.
21 _botnia_(?):=?Bothnia; ?duplicate of 608.
22 _zitere|ae_(?): ?[Ar]çetreca, Vat.;=Astrakhan (Pullé, Vat., 8).
23 _racoba_(?): =?
(C) South Side of East Branch of River Rumus
24 _borga_: Borgar, CA; Bolgara, Polo (i, 4, 6-8);=med. Bolghar, on the
Volga 90 m. below Kazan (Yule, Polo, i, 7).
25 _Iornâ_: Ioram, CA;=?Churmansk (Shurminsk) on the Viatka (Yule,
Cath., i, 307).
26 _paschati_(?): Pascherti, CA;=Bashkir. See Hallb., 69-70; Yule, Polo,
ii, 492.
27 _fasa_(?): Fachatim, CA; =?Viatka (Yule, Cath., i, 307).