Columbus
Knew Where He Was Going, He Had A Map
Like
all seasoned travelers, Columbus had a map in his pocket when he left
Spain on Friday, August 3rd in 1492. Heading west across the Atlantic,
he was the first of an impressive group of adventurers who would do
the same: but he knew where he was going. He knew he would eventually
bump into land and he did. On October 12th he landed on San Salvador
in the Bahamas. His map was correct.
Columbus,
in fact, had many maps. As his dream of crossing the Atlantic took shape
his search for any graphic that would support his theory became a major
preoccupation. Many maps were available to him, but as his date
with history approached he eliminated all but two; an ancient map that
illustrated the entire Atlantic and a Toscanelli chart that indicated
a western shore but lacked north and south detail. It was the ancient
map that satisfied all of his requirements.
This
story really begins in 1485 when Columbus literally swam ashore from
a sinking ship off the coast of Portugal. His brother Bartholomew was
living in Lisbon at that time, manufacturing globes, maps and copying
valuable manuscripts. Christopher joined him, living and working with
him. He also associated with the remnants of the Nautical School at
Sagres near Cape Vincent. Prince Henry started this school as a staging
point to explore the west coast of Africa, making Portugal, at that
time, the navigation capital of the world and a gathering place for
captains and ship owners searching for new horizons. This activity made
available to Columbus the best collection of maps and charts available
anywhere in the world, except for his mother-in-law's closet. During
this period Christopher married Dofia Filipa Perestrello, daughter of
Prince Henry's navigator. For a year they lived with Dofia's mother
on the island of Purto Santo where he had access to a large and rare
collection of maps and charts. Somewhere in these resources, the map
business, school and private collection, Columbus found the ancient
map that would become his proof that the western shore of the Atlantic
existed, his door to the New World and eventually the Piri Reis map.
Although
the Reis map was not published until 1513, about 20 years after the
first discovery voyage, two important facts about the map are clearly
evident. It is the first map in modern history to illustrate both sides
of the Atlantic and, in his notes, Reis gives full credit to Columbus
for the western shore; basically most of the map that is left. Another
important fact: the Columbus map is found only on the Reis map. None
of Columbus' personal maps or charts have been located, even though
he and his brother made a business of illustrating maps. Is this really
the map Columbus used in 1492? It has to be. Obviously the Reis map
is not the discovery map. After 1492 there would be little reason for
Columbus to draw it. There were two useable maps available in
1492; the ancient one and the Toscanelli chart. The ancient map had
the greatest amount of necessary detail. Columbus used it in 1492 and
Reis accepted it as "the" discovery map. The proof is in the Reis notes,
he says, "These parts are called the coasts of Antilia ... Apparently
a Genoese infidel by the name of Columbus was the one who discovered
these parts." In his personal notes about the map Reis said, "In all
the world there is no map this this." That was a major statement of
approval. With over 250 maps and charts to his credit Reis was a respected
cartographer.
The
ancient map illustrated the entire Western coast of the Atlantic from
approximately 50 degrees north to 60 degrees south. Columbus, of course,
never traveled the north and south shores of the Americas. His area
of discovery, in four trips across the Atlantic, was the Caribbean and
portions of South America. Spread out over twelve years, his travels
focused exclusively on the warm areas of the Western Atlantic; contained
in a large oval with The Greater Antilles at the top, San Salvador,
Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad,
Panama, Nicaragua and Honduras at the bottom.
The
map is unique in many ways. To begin with it is a navigation chart complete
with portolan rose and rosettes. This feature was of little value to
Columbus, though, he was basically a dead reckoning navigator. At a
time in mapping history, when the Americas were unknown and an accurate
world map did not exist, the old map was a major information advance.
It was drawn on a gazelle hide, an accepted practice when valuable information
was to be preserved. Because of the limitation of the skin the coast
of South America was bent at obvious points and brought up in the South
Atlantic producing the appearance of a Ptolemy chart. Unfolded the map
fits well over a modern Mercator, almost 100 years before Mercator introduce
this projection. Sixteen major cities are plotted, eleven in Africa,
four in North America and only one in Europe. An additional sixty nine
minor cities are plotted; twelve in the Americas. This is a major
statement of irony. In this time period, 1492, Portugal was the navigation
capital of the world, the interior of Africa as almost unknown and the
North American continent was totally unknown. The cartographers who
assembled the original graphics, for the map, were part of a well rounded
technical base; their mapping is proof. They had the equipment to establish
longitude and latitude, and most important, the need. This writer believes
the graphics Columbus used in his map originated well before modern
recorded history, reaching him by way of the Library at Alexandria and
a variety of cartographers who respected this information. The important
point, he used it in 1492 and Reis considered it important enough to
include it in his "World Map,"
C Copyright,
N. Bielat, 9,1999 All publication rights reserved. Single copies
of this page can be secured from this material. All others, contact:
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