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First, I was able finally to do a limited second printing of the second
expanded edition of my book The Magellan Myth: Reflections on Columbus,
Vespucci and the Waldseemueller Map of 1507 (2009) in order to resupply the
Book/Gift Shop with some copies. I say "limited" because a contractual
agreement with the National Maritime Museum for the reproduction the famous
Rosselli map of 1508 with its lavish hues of blue limited me to a very small
printing of an extra 50 copies to reach/stay within the agreed overall limit
level back in 2009.
Down the road I probably will do another printing within a new agreed
limit because the fabulous Rosseilli map is not only a visual delight, it
forms a part of my majestic Cartographic Troika (along with the Lenox Globe
and Waldseemueller's globe gores) that confirms circa 1506-1508 what
Ringmann asserted in both his revised poem and Cosmographiae Introductio:
namely, a one-time clandestine illegal Portuguese circumnavigation of South
America no later than 1506 to which Magellan himself always alluded.
I would have liked to insert new analysis in this current limited
printing but I was swamped with a much different book project and could not
find the time. If I had had the time to add anything, then it would have
been:
A. A commentary on the vice mayor of Saint-Die, Benoit Larger's discovery
that Duke Rene II had a political relationship with a Bishop in Florence
named Francesco Sodorini who was a brother Piero Sodorini (the then city's
most prominent political figure) to whom the Florentine/Italian language
edition of Vespucci's Letters was addressed. The scholars at Saint-Die
obtained a copy and this might have been the channel, but they also had the
benefit of another version of these letters (which they put into Latin) that
came most likely directly from Spain after Vespucci resettled there in late
1504 or early 1505 -- a key issue which I address in my book.
B. I was not able to arrange a contact to include that fabulous color
photo of the Green Globe owned by the Bibliotheque Nationale which has
"America" written on it four times. But hopefully I can in the future. In
my
Appendix A listing 20 pre-Magallan maps/globes showing the ice cream cone
shape of South America and/or a west coast, I decided to leave the composition
date for the Green Globe as circa 1515-1518. The argument of Monique
Pelletier that it was really made 1507 I shall take up in a later edition.
C. commentary pointing to what is most likely the last feature added to
the Waldseemueller map of 1507
-- the wood block insert shaped like an inverted letter L -- off the west
coast of India, referring to a amjor Portuguese political/trade position in
the region of Calicut. The fact that this is the only wood block text
that is not a rectangular in shape suggests that it was cut hastily in this
different shape to squeeze into the map at the last minute. One scholar
circa-1905-1910 had suggested this was the last added feature but I failed to
relocate the citation which was in an essay in a journal dealing with
geography/cartography. In any case, this insert is surely the insert which
this
scholar had in mind and had dated to 1506. Why 1506? There is not enough
specificity in the Latin text to prove that specific dating conclusively.
However, that said, the analysis or claim for 1506 is compelling and if
correct, it would have almost certainly been an implicit reference to the
Battle of Cannanore off Calicut in March/April 1506 when the Portuguese
defeated a combined Arab/Turkish fleet giving it the upper hand with trade
along
the Indian coast.
This last issue gets into the issue of the transmission of
information back to Lisbon and up to Saint-Die within the space of 12-13
months.
That is possible but it is a tight fit which would help explain why this
particular block text was not in a rectangular shape.
The notion or belief that the Portuguese had established a strong
toe-hold in the Calicut region could have pre-dated April 1506 but if so, then
why the failure to lay out this portion of the map in such a way to leave
enough space for a rectangular block of text for an insert?
The evidence in my view tends to support the view that this was the
last added feature in early 1507 or even a short bit after April 1507 if the
printing of the large world map was not quite finished in time for the
release of Cosmographiae Introductio in April 1507. Perhaps the map went on
sale in May/June 1507.
In any case, none of this analysis would give support for those like
Dr. Ariel Castro whose book and theory about a later post-1507 the creation
of the Waldseemueller map runs into serious chronological problems. His
book in an Italian translation may now be available. I do not know of any
plans for an English-language edition.
My book at the Library of Congress book shop sells for $24.95 plus
shipping. If you do not need to pay with a credit card which the Library can
handle, I can deliver some copies (see contact information below).
I shall address the circumnavigation issue both with respect to Africa
and South America more fully in a later email.
Peter Dickson
Arlington, Virginia
Phone: 703-243-6641
Email: [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])
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