What do you think?
Rate this book
The Cosmographi Introductio of Martin Waldseemüller in Facsimile Followed by the Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, with Their Translation
English, Latin
151 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1907
6 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 23, 2016
The famous book that started it all! Waldseemüller , a cartographer, renamed the western hemisphere "America" after explorer Amerigo Vespucci... and before he knew anything about Columbus.
In the first 3/4 of the book, Waldseemüller explains cosmomaritime charting... but the book's final 1/4 is awesome: Vespucci's own synopsis of his incredible 4 voyages.
Fascinating observations about some native tribes:
------------------------------------------
“...Both men and women are graceful in walking and swift in running…
“...Their women (as we have often witnessed) think nothing of running a league or two, wherein they greatly excel us Christians…”
“...the women are far better swimmers than the men, a statement which I can make with authority, for we frequently saw them swim in the sea for two leagues without any assistance whatsoever.”
“They are unacquainted with iron and the metals…”
“They are expert archers, with the result that they strike with their arrows whatever they aim at.”
“... Not even the parents rebuke or chastise their children.”
“They are simple in their speech, but very shrewd and crafty.”
“... They are neat and clean, for the reason that they bathe very frequently.”
“In sexual intercourse they have no legal obligations… the women enjoy the same rights as the men.”
“They are very prolific in bearing children, and do not omit performing their usual labors and tasks during the period of pregnancy. They delivered with very little pain… on the very next day they are completely recovered and move about everywhere with perfect ease.”
“Dwellings were so large that in some places we found as many as six hundred persons living in a single building.”
“Every eight or seven years they move the seat of their abodes.”
“…Trifles are considered riches by them, things to which we attach no value whatsoever… they are quite content with what nature freely offers them.”
“… They are by nature so very generous that they never deny anything that is asked of them… they are just as eager to ask and receive.”
“If any one of them is sick with fever…. they bathe him in very cold water… then they compel him to run back and forth for two hours around a very warm fire until he is fairly aglow with heat, and finally lead him off to sleep.”
“They are full-bodied… owing to the food… roots, fruits, herbs, and fishes. They do not raise crops…. they rarely eat flesh with the exception of human flesh… they expressed their wonder that we do not eat our enemies.”
“In truth, this land is so happily situated, that it could not be improved.”
“… the entire village had houses built in the water, as at Venice… in front of the doors of each house drawbridges had been erected, over which one could pass from one hut to another as if over a well-constructed road.”
“Here we rested for the night, and the natives most generously offered us their wives.”
“We neared and entered the finest harbor in the world.”
In the first 3/4 of the book, Waldseemüller explains cosmomaritime charting... but the book's final 1/4 is awesome: Vespucci's own synopsis of his incredible 4 voyages.
Fascinating observations about some native tribes:
------------------------------------------
“...Both men and women are graceful in walking and swift in running…
“...Their women (as we have often witnessed) think nothing of running a league or two, wherein they greatly excel us Christians…”
“...the women are far better swimmers than the men, a statement which I can make with authority, for we frequently saw them swim in the sea for two leagues without any assistance whatsoever.”
“They are unacquainted with iron and the metals…”
“They are expert archers, with the result that they strike with their arrows whatever they aim at.”
“... Not even the parents rebuke or chastise their children.”
“They are simple in their speech, but very shrewd and crafty.”
“... They are neat and clean, for the reason that they bathe very frequently.”
“In sexual intercourse they have no legal obligations… the women enjoy the same rights as the men.”
“They are very prolific in bearing children, and do not omit performing their usual labors and tasks during the period of pregnancy. They delivered with very little pain… on the very next day they are completely recovered and move about everywhere with perfect ease.”
“Dwellings were so large that in some places we found as many as six hundred persons living in a single building.”
“Every eight or seven years they move the seat of their abodes.”
“…Trifles are considered riches by them, things to which we attach no value whatsoever… they are quite content with what nature freely offers them.”
“… They are by nature so very generous that they never deny anything that is asked of them… they are just as eager to ask and receive.”
“If any one of them is sick with fever…. they bathe him in very cold water… then they compel him to run back and forth for two hours around a very warm fire until he is fairly aglow with heat, and finally lead him off to sleep.”
“They are full-bodied… owing to the food… roots, fruits, herbs, and fishes. They do not raise crops…. they rarely eat flesh with the exception of human flesh… they expressed their wonder that we do not eat our enemies.”
“In truth, this land is so happily situated, that it could not be improved.”
“… the entire village had houses built in the water, as at Venice… in front of the doors of each house drawbridges had been erected, over which one could pass from one hut to another as if over a well-constructed road.”
“Here we rested for the night, and the natives most generously offered us their wives.”
“We neared and entered the finest harbor in the world.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review