Modern and Complete Map of the Entire World

Oronce Fine (1494–1555), also known by his Latinized name of Orontius Finaeus Delphinatus, was born in Briançon, France and trained as a medical doctor at the University of Paris. He was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the Collège Royal in Paris in 1531 and, like many mathematicians of his day, applied his knowledge to cartography. In addition to mapmaking, Fine published a multivolume work on mathematics, astronomy, and astronomical instruments, and he was an expert on military fortifications. Fine’s Nova, et integra universi orbis descriptio of 1531 is the earliest known map on which the name Terra australis appears. Ancient geographers had speculated about the existence of a southern continent, and European explorers often assumed that newly discovered lands in the Southern hemisphere, such as Tierra del Fuego and New Zealand, were extensions of this continent. The existence of Antarctica was not definitively proven until the 19th century. Fine’s Terra australis bears a certain resemblance to Antarctica, but it is unlikely that he had any knowledge of the continent beyond the speculations of the ancient and Renaissance geographers.

Date

1531

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

1,500 × 1,024 pixels

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