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Polish Cartography in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1976

Jan Wereszczyński
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Extract

Dr. Jan Wereszczynski, a member of this Institute, describes the little known Polish contribution to the mapping of eastern Europe at a time when interest in maps of the known world had been stimulated by the rediscovery and publication of Ptolemy's great work on Geography, written in the second century AD and forgotten during the Middle Ages.

The history of the cartographical development of the Baltic and Black Sea coasts reveals a significant contribution from Polish cartographers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The ‘father of Polish cartography’, and one of the most famous scientists of his day, was Bernard Wapowski (1450–1535) who published two maps of Sarmatia. One covers the northern part of the Balkan peninsula, a large part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Crimean Khanate and part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The other covers the country north of a line from Toruri to Novgorod. It should be emphasized that Wapowski's geographical coordinates are of outstanding accuracy, most of them, especially the latitudes, being based on his own astronomical observations.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 1976 , pp. 380 - 384
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 1976

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References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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