[UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nova Totivs Terrarvm Orbis Geographica AC Hydrographica Tabvla<\/em>, in Atlas Novus,<\/em> Volume 1 The very core of the universe was in question. In a time of drastic scientific change, Hendrik Hondius clung to tradition. When this map was made, Europe was in the midst of a major shift started by mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473\u20131543). Copernicus asserted that the earth was not the center of the universe. In fact, he declared that the universe bears no one center. But Hondius had other things on his mind: he had to maintain the family business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a race to compete against a rival publishing house, Hondius produced this map with up-to-date geography. While innovative for its inclusion of the Australian coastline and Korea\u2019s position as an isthmus, this map\u2019s order of the universe recalls long held beliefs. Many of these date back to Claudius Ptolemy (c.\u2009100\u2013c.\u2009170 BCE), pictured in the map\u2019s upper right. He assumed that the earth was the unmoving center of the universe. The lower right corner holds the portrait of the mapmaker\u2019s father, Jodocus Hondius (1563\u20131612), to accompany the other notable geographers. In so doing, Hondius traces a lineage of mapmakers from ancient Rome to his own family. Through this elaborate peripheral decoration, he wields tradition to claim authenticity for his map, avoiding the risks of contemporary controversy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asiae nova descriptio<\/em> Though depicting Asia, this map connects the entire human world. Woven with myth and religion, the Dutch mapmakers present their order of the universe. Two corner text blocks reveal these perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the lower-left, Latin text places humanity\u2019s origins in Asia. It states that God created Adam and Eve, the first humans, there. Additionally, the text places Noah\u2019s ark in Asia, referencing the large boat that saved enough people and animals to repopulate the world after a global flood. It was thought that Noah\u2019s three sons fathered three races, leading to harmful, long held beliefs about racial hierarchy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This desire to categorize people motivated another critical early modern myth. The text in the upper-right describes the well-accepted, yet to be confirmed, Northwest passage to Asia. This stretch of water called \u201cAnian Fretum\u201d lies just west of its description on the map. Seventeenth-century explorers believed in a perfectly balanced cosmos where the northern and southern hemispheres mirrored each other. Following this logic, because straits at the tip of South America were found, a northern maritime passage had to exist. Their belief that Indigenous peoples of the Americas migrated from Asia also added weight to Europeans\u2019 obsession. Many ships sank in pursuit of this elusive route to Asia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For additional information on European perceptions of the other continents in the early modern period, please see Mercurio Geografico: Pictorial Separation <\/em>by Erin Hein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] Nova Totivs Terrarvm Orbis Geographica AC Hydrographica Tabvla, in Atlas Novus, Volume 1Hendrik Hondius (1597\u20131651)Amsterdam, 1638Hand-colored engraving on paper20 1\/2 x 13 x 3 in. (52.1 x 33 x 7.6 cm)University of Delaware Special Collections, Folio+ G 1007 .A7 1638 The very core of the universe was in question. In a time of drastic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":59,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-exhibition.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-132","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132\/revisions\/220"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/multiple-middles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Hendrik Hondius (1597\u20131651)
Amsterdam, 1638
Hand-colored engraving on paper
20 1\/2 x 13 x 3 in. (52.1 x 33 x 7.6 cm)
University of Delaware Special Collections, Folio+ G 1007 .A7 1638<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jodocus Hondius (1563\u20131612)
Amsterdam, 1607
Hand-colored engraving on paper
17 1\/2 x 20 in. (44.5 x 50.8 cm)
University of Delaware Special Collections, 01807 gr<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n