Brussels International
Map Collectors' Circle
Facsimile of the German edition, Amsterdam, 1589.
Varel: Centrum Cartographie Verlag, 1998.
244 pp text and 47 double-page coloured charts. Buffalo
skin binding with blind stamp, in slip case, 42 x 29.5
cm, printed on acid-free paper; EUR 812.95
Centrum Cartographie Verlag GmbH, Wiefelsteder Strasse
59, D-26316 Varel,
Tel +49 4451 840 08, Fax +49 4451 840 00
http://www.spiegel-der-seefahrt.de
Those who participated in our Third International Conference Mare Nostrum - Maps of the Mediterranean last December [2004] will recall Prof Schilder's brilliant lecture on Barentsz's Caertboek van de Midlandtsche Zee of 1595. We are here looking at its fore-runner which served as a model: Waghenaer's Spieghel der Zeevaerdt, first published in Dutch in 1584 - 86, then in Latin (1586), in English (1588), in German (1589 - subject of the present review) and in French (1590). This was followed in 1592 by his second work, the Thresoor der Zeevaerdt which extended the previous geographical coverage to include the Mediterranean coasts up to Venice.
The German edition, published in 1589 in Amsterdam by Cornelis Claesz., contains the 47 reingraved charts of the Latin edition to which had been added a German titel placed above the map frame. The 18 charts of the first part cover the coasts from the entrance to the Zuider Zee, and Waghenaer's home town Enkhuizen, along Flanders, France, Spain and Portugal to the Straits of Gibraltar; the 28 charts of Part two depict the coasts of England and Scotland, from Bristol in the South-West to Aberdeen, and then goes from Bergen in Norway, around the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia, along the coasts of the Baltic States, Poland, Germany, around Jutland and back to Holland via the North Sea coast of Germany.
At the beginning of Part 1 there is an overview map covering Europe from about St. Petersburg in the East - and Trieste on the same longitude ! - to nearly the Azores, and from the top of Norway to North Africa. In the text preceding this map Waghenaer explains
[...] in this general map of Europe you may see its physical structure and geographical arrangement, and how its countries are positioned. [...] We consider it appropriate to present this at the beginning of all charts so that the individual maps of this book can be more easily traced in their order. (my translation)This astutely, although perhaps not intentionally, dissimulates the lack of coverage of some some parts of the European coasts, such as of the West of Great Britain, of Ireland, and of the Mediterranean. Not surprisingly, it is only the overview map which has a Lat./Long. grid, the orientation on the detail maps being possible solely from the compass rose and the geographical locations indicated.
But let me stop this impertinent criticism of a nautical document of the first order, created over 400 years ago, lest it distract from its historical value and the artistic charm which comes across in nearly fifty brightly coloured copper plate engravings of the shores of Europe of that time, many signed by their author, Johannes van Deutecum. A certain Thomas Slotboem produced the German translation and added over forty descriptions of the countries bordering the seas, each of these filling many of the previously blank spaces of the last verso of the folio charts. No one capable of understanding German can escape the singular fascination of reading these commentaries, abounding in historical detail and alive with fabulous phenomena of nature and geography, a perfect match with the awe-inspiring sea monsters and daring sailing vessels on the maps.
A sea atlas would not be complete without nautical instruction and advice, and the over thirty pages preceding the charts contain declination and astronomical tables, lists of tides and of aids to navigation at sea, such as the buoys and beacons in use already at this early time. This part is a real challenge to the modern coastal navigator who may admire the prowess of navigational performance supported by such primary advice.
The facsimile, made from an original held in the Schiffahrtsmuseum der Oldenburgischen Weserhäfen, Brake, was published in a limited edition of 890 numbered copies in cooperation with the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, whose Librarian, Dr Albrecht Sauer, produced a commentary in German, which is a loose-sheet inclusion to the facsimile. One may regret that this 6-page commentary, with its bibliography, has not been integrated into the facsimile volume, as was customary, for example, with the remarkable facsimile series Theatrum Orbis Terrarum published by Nico Israel in Amsterdam. But the overall product is, in every respect, outstanding in quality, and the choice of paper imitating vellum for the text and map parts, and of natural buffalo hide for the binding, will certainly appeal to those wishing to offer (and why not themselves) a very special cartographical present.
by Wulf Bodenstein