Page 94 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

2. Consuelo Varela, Cristobal Colon: Textos y docu- 16. See generally for the history of European naviga- terras do Oriente, i.a decada (Lisbon, 1552), livro 4,
mentos completes. Relaciones de viajes, cartas y tion, E.G.R. Taylor, The Haven-Finding Art: A His- cap. vi, folio 4iv.: "sayo em terra por fazer aguada
memoriales, ist ed. (Madrid, 1982), LII: "But noth- tory of Navigation from Odysseus to Captain Cook, & assy tomar a altura do sol. Porgue como do vso do
ing which concerns Columbus can be simple and new ed. (London, 1971). For the background, see astrolabio pera aquelle mister da nauegacam, auia
clear/' J.R.S. Phillips, The Medieval Expansion of Europe poco tempo que os mareantes deste reyno se
3. Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), "Fragen eines lesenden (Oxford, 1988). aproueitaua, & os nauios eram pequenos: nam con-
Arbeiters": "So many reports. / So many ques- 17. Often called portolan charts, but a thirteenth-cen- fiaua muyto de atomar dentro nelles por causa do
tions.", quoted from Die Gedichte von Bertolt tury use of the word compasso means "sailing direc- seu arfar. Principalmente com hum astrolabio de pao
Brecht, 6th ed. (Frankfurt am Main, 1965), 656-657; tions," comprising the portolano (the written guide) de tres palmos de diametro, o qual armauam em tres
and John Willett, Ralph Maheim, and Erich Fried, and the nautical chart. On nautical instruments in paos a maneira de cabrea por melhor segurar a linha
Bertolt Brecht, Poems, zd ed. (London, 1981), 252- the time of Columbus, see the individual entries in solar, & mais verificada & distinctamente poderem
253- Silvio A. Bedini, ed., The Columbus Encyclopedia saber a veradeira altura daquelle lugar: posto que
4. Jorg Syrlin der A. (c. 1425-1491), Ulm. Ptolemy (New York, forthcoming). leuassem outros de latam mais pequenos, tarn rusti-
holds a demonstrational armillary sphere in his left 18. On the development of an astronomical navigation, camente comec,ou esta arte que tanto fructo tern
hand, a measuring device in his right. The carving is see Albuquerque 1972, and Vitorino Magalhaes dado ao nauegar." The 1946 edition of Barros' mas-
full-round, stained brown, height 44 cm. Godinho, "Navegacao oceanica e origens da nautica sive history is now available on computer disk from
5. See Francis Maddison, Medieval Scientific Instru- astronomica," reprinted in his Ensaios (Lisbon, the Center for the Study of the Portuguese Dis-
ments and the Development of Navigational Instru- 1968), 1:179-227. coveries, Linacre College, Oxford.
ments in the xvth and xvith Centuries 19. Columbus Encylopedia, forthcoming, under "Com- 29. See Tibbetts 1971, generally; and, on the identifica-
(Agrupamento de estudos de cartografia antiga 30) pass, Marine," where bibliographical references will tion of Vasco's pilot, 9-12.
(Coimbra, 1969), 4 and note 2. To avoid expanding be found. See also J.J.L. Duyvendak, China's Dis- 30. Barros 1552, fols. 46v~47v: "E amostrandolhe Vasco
unduly the footnotes, reference will be made, where covery of Africa (London, 1949), 19-20, for the da Gama o grande astrolabio de pao que leuaua, &
possible, to this publication, which has extensive Chinese use of the marine compass; and Taylor outros de metal com que tomaua a altura do sol, nam
bibliographical references. Most of the instruments 1971, 91-92, 97, for the traditional association with se espantou o mouro disso: dizendo que alguuns
mentioned in this essay are discussed and illustrated Amalfi of the development of the marine compass in pilotos do mar roxo vsauam de jnstrumentos de
in Anthony Turner, Early Scientific Instruments: Europe. On twelfth-century science, see Tina latam de figura triangular & quadrantes com que
Europe 1400-1800 (London, 1987), which includes a Stiefel, The Intellectual Revolution in Twelfth-Cen- tomauam a altura do sol, & principalmente da
good up-to-date bibliography. tury Europe (London & Sydney, 1985), who men- estrella de que se mais seruiam em a nauegacam.
6. Maddison 1969, 4 and note 4. It was, however, King tions Neckam on page 101. Mas que elle e os mareantes de Cambaya & de toda a
Joao ii who rejected Columbus' project before the 20. Compasso da navigare, in Italian. India, pero que a sua nauegacam era per certas
Spanish court supported it. 21. See David Woodward's essay in this catalog. estrellas assy do norte como do sul, & outras
7. Maddison 1969, 4 and note i; author's translation. 22. For the political and economic background, see notauees que cursauam per meyo do ceo de oriente a
e
8. B. W. Ife, ed. and trans., with an essay on Colum- Pierre Chaunu, L'Expansion europeenne du xin au ponente: nam tomauam a sua distancia per
e
bus' language by R. J. Penny, Christopher Colum- xv siecle, Nouvelle Clio 26 (Paris, 1969). The basic jnstrumentos semelhauces aquelles mas per outro de
bus: Journal of the First Voyage (Diaro del primer study of the early African west coast voyages is Ray- que se elle seruia, o qual jnstrumento Ihe trouxe
viaje) 1492 (Warminster, Wiltshire, 1990), 2—5, mond Mauny, Les Navigations medievales sur les logo amostrar, que era de tres tauaas. E porque da
notes on 242-243, 142-145 (Friday, 21 December; cotes sahariennes anterieures a la decouverte portu- figura & uso dellas tratamos em a nossa Geografia
the gloss in italics is that of Bartolome de Las gaise (1434) (Lisbon, 1960). See also Luis de em o capitulo dos jnstrumentos de navegacam, baste
Casas); Varela, 89. Albuquerque, Introdugao a historia dos Desco- aquy saber que seruem a elles naqwella operacam
9. Ife 1990, 243 n. 7. brimentos (Coimbra, 1962). que ora acerca de nos serue o jnstrumento aque os
10. References to instruments in Columbus' journal are 23. Quintanilha 1971, 33: "D. Diniz/' Mensagem xx. mareantes chamam balhestilha, de que tambem no
given below. The drawing of divisions on a trigono- 24. The quadrant was not a recent invention. Most capitulo que dissemos se dara razam delle & dos seus
metrical quadrant in a manuscript of Pierre d'Ailly's medieval quadrants were engraved with lines show- jnuentores" (author's translation). Unfortunately,
Ymago mundi, in the Biblioteca Colombina, Seville, ing the planetary (unequal) hours and used for tell- Barros' Geography has apparently not survived.
no. 3,122, may be evidence of Columbus' theoretical ing time in conjunction with an adjustable bead 31. This Arabic term, meaning "perfection, comple-
interest in instruments, or merely a diagram for the sliding on the plumb line. See Columbus Encyclope- tion," is not attested before the nineteenth century;
graphical determination of solar declination; the dia, forthcoming, under "Quadrant." perhaps better is khashaba (a piece of wood), used
drawing is conveniently reproduced in Bjorn Land- 25. The earliest illustration of a quadrant for use at sea by the Arab mu'allims Ahmad ibn Majid and Sulay-
strom, Columbus, Eng. trans. (London, 1967), 30; is comparatively late: in the 1563 (posthumous) edi- man al-Mahri (first half of the sixteenth century).
and compare Luis de Albuquerque, Cur so de historia tion of Valentim Fernandes' Reportorio dos tempos, See Tibetts 1971, 315-318; and Columbus Ency-
da ndutica, zd ed. (Coimbra, 1972), 123-125. ist ed. (Lisbon, 1518); see figure i. Other mnemo- clopedia, forthcoming, under "Kamal." See figure 3,
11. See G. J. Marcus, The Conquest of the North Atlan- nic diagrams served to assist the determination of reproduced from H. Congreve, "A Brief Notice of
tic (Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1980). the time at night by showing the midnight positions Some Contrivances Practiced by the Native
12. See G. R. Tibbetts, Arab Navigation in the Indian throughout the year of ft Ursae minoris", see Maddi- Mariners of the Coromandel Coast, in Navigating,
Ocean Before the Coming of the Portuguese, Being son 1969, 32, 35. Sailing and Repairing Their Vessels," in Madras
a Translation of Kitab al-Fawa'id fi usul al-bahr 26. See Nan Stimson, The Mariner's Astrolabe: A Journal of Literature and Science 16 (January—June
wa'1-qawa'id of Ahmad b. Majid al-Najdi (Oriental Survey of Known, Surviving Sea Astrolabes vol. 4 1850), 101-104, reprinted in Gabriel Ferrand,
Translation Fund, n.s. vol. 42) (London, 1971). of HES Studies in the History of Cartography and Instructions nautiques et routiers arabes et portu-
e
13. See, for instance, Stephen D. Thomas, The Last Scientific Instruments (Utrecht, 1988). The pla- gais des xv et xvi siecles (Paris, 1928), 26.
e
Navigator (London, 1987). nispheric astrolabe was not a mariner's instrument. 32. See Albuquerque 1972,195-199.
14. For instance, the seventeenth-century examples Its flat solid disk made it unsuitable for use on board 33. Columbus Encyclopedia, forthcoming, under
from Alexander O. Exquemelin (Cayman Islands, ship, it was fragile because of the delicate tracery on "Cross-staff"; Albuquerque 1972,189-195. See fig-
before 1678) and Martin Martin (Hebrides, before the rete (star map) and separate latitude plates, and ure 3, reproduced from Medina 1563.
1698) in Maddison 1969, 5-6, note 8. For references its stereographic projection of the celestial sphere 34. See J. M. Lopez de Azcona, "Nunez Salaciense,
to Columbus' observation of natural phenomena, see made it a complex instrument to understand and to Pedro," in Charles Coulston Gillispie, ed., Diction-
below. use. See Columbus Encyclopedia, forthcoming, ary of Scientific Biography (New York, 1974),
15. To ascertain the ship's position by "dead-reckoning," under "Astrolabe"; Maddison 1969, 11-13; Turner 10:160-162.
Vitruvius, the Roman engineer and architect, writ- 1987,11-16, 27-45. 35. Armando Cortesao and Luis de Albuquerque, eds.,
ing in 25 B.C. proposed an impractical version of his 27. Pedro de Medina, Regimento de navegacion (Seville, Obras completas de D. Joao de Castro (Coimbra,
hodometer, for use in ships; see A. G. Drachmann, 1563). 1968), 1:115-179.
The Mechanical Technology of Greek and Roman 28. Joao de Barros, Asia... Dos fectos que os Portugueses
Antiquity (Copenhagen, 1963), 157-159. fizeram no descobrimento e conquista dos mares et

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