History 101: Primary Source Analysis of the Waldseemüller Map

This assignment analyzes the Waldseemüller map, focusing on how Renaissance cartographers attempted to reconcile new geographical information with established classical models, particularly Ptolemaic cartography. The student explores the map's significance as "America's birth certificate" and the influence of explorers like Amerigo Vespucci. The analysis highlights the map's use of Ptolemaic techniques while incorporating new discoveries, such as the continent of America and the Pacific Ocean. The document examines the "old" knowledge derived from Ptolemy and the "new" knowledge from voyages and printing advancements. It discusses how the map attempts to unify ancient, medieval, and modern representations of the world, despite distortions in some areas. The student also discusses the maps's use of information from the travels of Marco Polo. The overall assignment reflects on the map's role in the evolution of cartography during the Renaissance.

Running head: PRIMARY SOURCE
PRIMARY SOURCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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What does Brotton mean when he says that the creators of European maps of the
Renaissance were attempting to “reconcile new information with established
classical models of the world”? (p. 156) How can we see that struggle between old
and new knowledge in the Waldseemüller map? Where did the “old” knowledge
come from? What about the “new”?
The Map ‘Universalis Cosmographia’ composed by the German cartographer Martin
Waldseemuller is considered the most expensive map by Brotton as he states that this map is
“America's birth certificate". Brotton states that the European Cartographers of renaissance
aimed at reconciling new information with classical models that established in cartography. The
map by Martin Waldseemuller gives an instance of it. Waldseemuller in framing his world map

3PRIMARY SOURCE
had taken information from the Voyages and discoverers of the time, and mostly influenced by
Amerigo Vespucci and his fellow traveler including Christopher Columbus. The reconciliation of
the new and the established classical models are the amalgamation made by Martin
Waldseemuller in framing is map using Ptolemaic Cartographic techniques and extending it
make room for the continent of America. This is the first map that recognizes the continent of
America and the Pacific Ocean. The amalgamation of Ptolemaic concepts in framing and
information from voyagers and travelers of the time in composing the map makes it one of its
kind and Waldseemuller being the first to do it. The legend of the map gives a description of the
map by Waldseemuller where he mentions that the map is delineation of various landmasses and
islands and it includes landmasses that are not mentioned by the ‘ancients’ and have been
discovered during 1497 to 1504 and were collected from four different voyages one of which
included Amerigo Vespucci as the chief officer. The legend also states that the map also includes
delineation of landmasses that were not known until the publication of the map. As
Waldseemuller states in the concluding line of the legend that the map attempts to represent the
information in true and precise knowledge of geography.
The struggle exists in the composition of the map based on cartographic techniques put
forward by Ptolemy. The map is designed on the basis of Ptolemy’s second projection; the
modification of the map has been done according to the Ptolemaic orientation of North-South
extension with inclusion of latitudes and longitudes. It has been done to accommodate the
continent of America and the higher latitudes.
The old knowledge as Brotton refers to is the use of the Ptolemaic concepts in framing
the maps. Initially maps were useful means to understand the and express the information based
on individual perception of the surrounding. However with the advent of the renaissance period

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the necessity to commercialize maps brought changes that required concise maps in order to print
them into copies. The concision of the maps brought about changes in traditional methods which
required revising and renovating.
The new changes that Martin Waldseemuller brought about related much to the process
of printing and the wood curving that was designed for the print. Martin Waldseemuller’s Map
was being done at a time when the old printing techniques were giving away to newer and better
techniques of printing blocks. The newer knowledge also relates to the information that was
being added o the map in order to make more realistic and the change of the orientation along
with the addition of the features with reference to latitudes and longitudes. The depiction of the
eastern and the western hemisphere has not been done literally but a clear demarcation was
evident. The maps, also uses information from the travels of Marco Polo, to depict the eastern
Asian regions, and are quite distorted in representation. Though the Continent of Africa is fairly
depicted, much of the detail includes medieval interpretations. The depiction of the Pacific
Ocean is a new addition along with the continent of America that adds to reconciliation of new
information in the map of Waldseemuller. Though limited in its capacity to represent accurate
informations of all places, the ‘Universalis Cosmographia’ made an attempt to unify ancient,
medieval and modern representation of the world as perceived over time.