The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-22
FAMOUS MAPS DISCOVERED.
Che of Them was ttc First to Con-
 tair the Name ,f America.

tair the Name # America.
 New York Sun.
 Two of the most famous maps of the Columbian era of discovery have never been seen in modern times till within the last few weeks. Some of the German geographers have hunted assiduously for them in archives and libraries. It began to be thought that the last copies. of them had been destroyed: but copy of each has now been accidentally discov- cred.
 Prof. P. J. Fischer of Feldkirch. Ger many. who is preparing scientific work on the discoveries of the Norsemen in Greenland and the northeast coast of this continent, was recently looking for old Greenland maps in the fine library of Prince Waldbourg at Wolfegg Castle In Wurtemburg. when he came across the two long-lost wall maps. They we'e made by the German cartographer. Mar tin Waldseemuller, early in the sixteenth century. The maps were in sheets, had not been opened in many genera tions. One of them, issued in 1907, is the oldest map on which the name America appears. The other map was published in 1516; both maps had great influence In their day in stimulating further re- search in the new worlG, and the earlier map together with the accompanying letterpress, Is responsible for the name which was given to the two great con- tinents that were revealed by Columbus and those who followed hiln. The story of this important find has just been told in Petermans Mitteilungen, by Profes- for the missing Waldseemuher wall maps.
 In 1907, when Waldseemuller published the earliest of these maps. he also pub lished small explanatory treatise in Latin entitled "Cosmographiac Introduc- to," with an appendix containing trans lations of the letters of Amerigo Ves- pucci. This little work was chiefly re- markable because the name America was Gw->t ttn ft he t1th hf.r ia his pamphlet:
 And the fourth part of the world hav- ing been discovered by .Americus 1t may be called Amerige-that is. the land of Americus or America"
 It was not long before the suggestion was adopted, the name being first ap- piled to South America and later ex- tended over the whole of the Western world.
 Only few copi es of the original Cos nographiae Introductio are known to exist. The copies that are in American libraries were bought at high prices and are treasured with much care.
 Waldseemuller is known to most of the world only as the man who, supposing that Vespucci was the first discoverer of the American mainland, suggested that 1t be named America, and his sugges- ton was adopted. Dr. von Wieser. how ever. says that he has far higher claims to distinction. He was the first carto- grapher who made printed maps show
 
 Spaniards and Portugese. He was the first map maker to show these discov- cries on many sheets. putting them to- gether to make wall maps and produc- ing many copies by the printing press. The fact that the scientific achievements of Waldseemuller were almost forgotten for generations Is due largely to the jealousy of his contemporaneous rivals. who belittled his work and lost no op- portunity to eliminate his name whenever possible from every map he produced. The resul. was that when interest was revived in his productions. which were proven to have given a great impetus to exploratory enterprises in his day. not a single example could be found of his three most important cartographic works.
 These works were the 'Wetkarte von 15o7," published at St. Die. to which the "Cosmographiaa Introductio' belonge1: the "Carta nineraria Europae." pub lished at Starsburg in 1511. with explan- atory text by M. Ringmann; and the ''Carta Marina of 1516. All that was known of these maps was from short descriptions of them and reduced copies, in which most of the details of the large originals were necessarily omitted. The original maps appeared to have been completely lost.
 For many years pr. von Wieser spent all his leisure time in the various public and private libraries of Europe, looking for the lost Waldseemuller maps. His Industry was at last rewarded in 1853 by the discovery oI copy ol tne Cartd Itineraria Europae," but his. search for the two wall maps was without result. His plea sure was great, therefore, when he received a letter from his former pu- pill. Professor Fischer announcing his discovery of the missing maps. Dr. von N ieser at once went to the library Of Prince Wal ibourg to examine the new found treasures.
 Both maps are woodcut engraNngs. Each map is in twelve sheets. four of them to be pasted side by side, three rows of sheets forming the wall map. The map of 1907 bears neither the cart ogrs pher's name nor the date of publ- cation, but it is fully identified as the Waldseemuller map of that year by its perfect agreement with the reduced copy made by H. Glareanus, and with ali the information In the "Cosmo- graphiae Introductio," which was written in exclamation of the map. It Is known that not less than 1000 copies were printed, Nearly. all of the sheets were undoubtedly pasted together to make the wall man. and, thus exposed. their de- terioration and desTuction were hast ened.
 The copy now found doubtless owes it's preservation to the fact that the sheets were not pasted. but were bound, with many othe- map sheets, in large folio volume. The special interest of this work is that it is the oldest printed map recording the discoveries of the early mart of the Columbian era, and the old est map upon which America is given as tsA ra noA af the new world. The name