Behaim Globe

Common card · No. 238271

The Behaim Globe, also known as the Erdapfel (German for 'earth apple'), is a terrestrial globe 51 cm (20 in) in diameter, produced by Martin Behaim from 1490 to 1492. It is the oldest extant terrestrial globe, constructed of a laminated linen ball in two halves, reinforced with wood and overlaid with a map painted on gores by Georg Glockendon. These intricate details were based on navigational charts by Jorge de Aguiar, incorporating paper maps meticulously pasted onto a parchment layer encircling the globe. The Americas are not included, as Columbus returned to Spain no sooner than March 1493. The globe shows an enlarged Eurasian continent and an empty ocean between Europe and Asia. The mythical Saint Brendan's Island is included. Cipangu (Japanese archipelago) is oversized and well south of its true position; Martellus's map is followed in developing an enormous phantom peninsula east of the Golden Chersonese (Malay Peninsula). The idea to call the globe "apple" may be related to the...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Martin Behaim / Georg Glockendon, CC BY-SA 4.0