Geography and Cartography

Geography and cartography are complementary disciplines; cartography graphically depicts information about the Earth related through geographical study. Because of new Renaissance mathematical computation techniques, both fields advanced significantly between 1400 and 1600. Knowledge from

Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe

Ancient texts, as well as from medieval Arabic sources translated into Latin, contributed to the enhancement of research concerning the Earth’s surface. Manuscript maps and Portolan charts (sailing charts) proliferated during the Renaissance. In addition, new techniques for engraving on copper plates led to the production of finely drawn maps that could be printed in multiple copies. During the mid-16th century, engraved maps were marketed by Italian map publishers, who occasionally sold small collections of maps in albums. The first album of maps describing the entire known world was published by a Flemish cartographer in 1570. World globes were created from engraved globe gores pasted onto a round plaster base. These gores contained a map of the world printed in a series of almond-shaped sections, wider across the equator and tapering to a point at the North and South Poles. When cut apart and trimmed along the edges, globe gores fit perfectly over a round form.

Descriptive geography and ornamental cartography presented information about physical and cultural aspects of foreign lands. Often exaggerated, the published reports of explorers and travelers gave Europeans their earliest knowledge of West African flora and fauna, customs of India, indigenous inhabitants of the New World, and the promise of gold and fertile land in the Americas.