{"id":1780374,"date":"2018-01-18T09:38:05","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T14:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1780374"},"modified":"2018-01-18T11:56:26","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T16:56:26","slug":"urbano-montes-1587-world-map-digitally-assembled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/01\/urbano-montes-1587-world-map-digitally-assembled\/","title":{"rendered":"Urbano Monte’s 1587 World Map, Digitally Assembled"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
David Rumsey Map Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the real world, Urbano Monte’s 1587 map of the world<\/a>\u00a0exists as a series of 60 manuscript sheets designed to be assembled into a large world map\u2014one that would be, at 10 feet square, the largest early world map known to exist.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> As the David Rumsey Map Collection explains<\/a>, “the whole map was to be stuck on a wooden panel 5 and a half brachia square (about ten feet) so that it could be revolved around a central pivot<\/a> or pin through the north pole.”<\/p>\n

But with only two copies known to exist, that ain’t happening. So what the Rumsey Collection has done, with the copy they recently acquired via Barry Ruderman, is to do it virtually, creating a digital edition of the map as a single image (see above). The digital Monte map was apparently revealed at the Ruderman Conference last October (previously<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Rumsey Collection’s blog post<\/a> has lots of images of the individual sheets, and explains how digitizing the map explains Monte’s choice of projection:<\/p>\n

Monte wanted to show the entire earth as close as possible to a three-dimensional sphere using a two-dimensional surface. His projection does just that, notwithstanding the distortions around the south pole. Those same distortions exist in the Mercator\u2019s world map, and by their outsized prominence on Monte\u2019s map they gave him a vast area to indulge in all the speculations about Antarctica that proliferated in geographical descriptions in the 16th century. While Mercator\u2019s projection became standard in years to come due to its ability to accurately measure distance and bearing, Monte\u2019s polar projection gave a better view of the relationships of the continents and oceans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Mercator version of Monte’s map is here<\/a>. A Google Earth KMZ file of the map as a digital globe is here<\/a>. For background on Monte’s map, see the accompanying essay by Katherine Parker, “A Mind at Work<\/a>” (PDF). For more coverage, see All Over the Map’s blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the real world, Urbano Monte’s 1587 map of the world\u00a0exists as a series of 60 manuscript sheets designed to be assembled into a large world map\u2014one that would be, at 10 feet square, the… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[92,1135,400,1134],"class_list":["post-1780374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-antique-maps","tag-1500s","tag-planisphere","tag-rumsey","tag-urbano-monte","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1785557,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/05\/the-urbano-monte-map-in-20-different-projections\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780374,"position":0},"title":"The Urbano Monte Map in 20 Different Projections","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"9 May 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"More on Urbano Monte's 1587 world map, which, you may remember, the Rumsey Collection digitally assembled into a single map from 60 manuscript pages. Now Visionscarto has taken it a step further, with a web tool that reprojects a map into other projections, taking the map's original polar azimuthal equidistant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/urbano-monte-orthographic-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/urbano-monte-orthographic-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/urbano-monte-orthographic-150x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/urbano-monte-orthographic-150x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/urbano-monte-orthographic-150x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/urbano-monte-orthographic-150x150.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1785135,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/03\/van-duzer-assesses-urbano-montes-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780374,"position":1},"title":"Van Duzer Assesses Urbano Monte’s Work","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"19 March 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"More on Urbano Monte's 1587 world map, a copy of which the Rumsey Collection acquired last year (see previous entry). Chet Van Duzer presented his findings on the map and the mapmaker at Stanford last month,\u00a0LiveScience reports. His conclusion? Monte was \"both a mastermind and a copycat\"\u2014and not a very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1786961,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/01\/giant-1940-model-of-san-francisco-digitally-assembled\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780374,"position":2},"title":"Giant 1940 Model of San Francisco Digitally Assembled","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"10 January 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"A massive wooden model of the city of San Francisco that has not been on display, at least in one piece, since 1942 has been re-assembled as a virtual model by the David Rumsey Map Collection. Built by the WPA, the model was assembled from 158 individual pieces to form\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Unusual Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Unusual Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/unusual-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WPA model of San Francisco (David Rumsey Map Collection)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sf-wpa-rumsey-987x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sf-wpa-rumsey-987x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sf-wpa-rumsey-987x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sf-wpa-rumsey-987x1024.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1805981,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/02\/david-rumsey-map-collection-more-than-just-digitization\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780374,"position":3},"title":"David Rumsey Map Collection: More Than Just Digitization","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 February 2022","format":"link","excerpt":"The David Rumsey Map Collection has a blog post that explains that they do more than just scan old maps. When we digitize historical maps we create copies that can be shared and used by all. But we also create the potential to repurpose these copies to advance understanding of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urbano Monte 1587 World Map, digitally assembled (David Rumsey Map Collection)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1805778,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/12\/map-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780374,"position":4},"title":"‘Map Heaven’","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"27 December 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"\u201cI call this \u2018map heaven,\u2019\u201d said G. Salim Mohammed, the center\u2019s head and curator. \u201cThis is a place where maps come alive.\u201d The San Francisco Chronicle\u2019s piece on the David Rumsey Map Center (paywalled; alternative Apple News+ link) focuses on the digital experiments undertaken by the center to make maps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3448,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/11\/great-circles-in-cardboard\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780374,"position":5},"title":"Great Circles in Cardboard","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"23 November 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"The Global Map is a neat toy from the 1940s. The whole thing is just under one by two feet in area, and consists of two rotating hemispheres that touch at a single point, with the purpose of showing the shortest distance by air or sea between two points\u2014a quick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aviation"","block_context":{"text":"Aviation","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/aviation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Global Map (The Global Map Company, 1940). David Rumsey Map Collection.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/the-global-map-rumsey-1024x557.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/the-global-map-rumsey-1024x557.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/the-global-map-rumsey-1024x557.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/the-global-map-rumsey-1024x557.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1780374"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1784822,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780374\/revisions\/1784822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1780374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1780374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1780374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}