Dat tweede boeck der cosmo

Peter Apian was a German mathematician, astronomer, mapmaker, and professor of mathematics at the University of Ingolstadt. His Cosmographicus liber, first published at Landshut in 1524, introduced readers to cosmography: the study of the earth in relation to the heavens.

This woodcut diagram comes from the 1561 Dutch edition of Apian's Cosmographia, published in Antwerp by Jan Verwithagen. It serves as the title page or opening page for the second book, Dat tweede boeck der cosmo, which introduces the division of the known world into western and eastern longitudes: De minder oft westerluche lingde and De meerder oft dosteluche lingde. At the centre is a woodcut wind rose with thirty-two compass directions labelled in Dutch. The four corners carry older Mediterranean wind names, including Lebeccis, Greco, Syroccho, and Magistral linking vernacular navigational instruction with older wind traditions.

The text beneath the diagram explains terms used to describe inhabitants of different parts of the globe, including Perieci, Anteci, Antipodes, Periscij, and Amphisen. These terms belong to classical and early modern cosmographical teaching, in which the earth’s inhabitants were classified according to their position on the sphere, their latitude, and the behaviour of shadows. The page shows how Apian’s cosmography was adapted for vernacular readers in the Low Countries. It combines practical navigational knowledge, classical terminology, and diagrammatic instruction, presenting cosmography as both a learned discipline and a usable guide to the ordered structure of the world.

The page shows how Apian’s cosmography was adapted for vernacular audiences in the Low Countries. It combines practical navigational knowledge, classical terminology, and printed diagrammatic teaching, presenting cosmography as both learned and usable.