Mundum tradidit disputationi eorum

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Fair

Dealers ID No.: 85220

Description: Heinrich Scherer was a Professor of Hebrew, Mathematics and Ethics at the University of Dillingen until about 1680. Thereafter he obtained important positions as Official Tutor to the Royal Princes of Mantua and Bavaria. It was during his time in Munich as Tutor to the Princely house of Bavaria that his lifetime's work as a cartographer received acclaim and recognition. His Atlas Novus, first published in Munich between 1702 and 1710 and reissued in a second edition between 1730 and 1737 was a revolutionary work in terms of the development of European mapmaking at the beginning of the 18th Century. nThe Atlas comprised 7 separate volumes entitled Geographia Naturalis, Geographia Hierarchica, Geographia Politica, Tabellae Geographicae, Atlas Marianus, Critica Quadrapartita, and Geographia Artificialis. Each volume was introduced by allegorical titlepages. nThis one is from ?? it depicts a large armillary sphere in the centre with Mundum Tradidit Disputationi Eorum on a banner surrounding the sphere, which is from Ecclesiastes 3:11 (He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end). nThis allegorical titlepage alludes to how knowledge and concepts changed as a result of new discoveries and the sharing of knowledge across continents. The sphere is being held by God's hand emanating from a radiant pyramid in the sky, which is flanked by two figures representing Geography and Astronomy. At the bottom, set against a background of sailing ships, is a nobleman or cartographer receiving documents from a mariner representing the source of information contained in the atlas. At right, a figure representing Astronomy tears a horoscope in half, alluding to the separation of astronomy and astrology that took place during the Age of Enlightenment.

Engraver: Wolffgang, Matthus

First published: Atlas Novus, Munich: Heinrich Scherer, 1705

Image Size (cm): 25×18

Mapmaker: Scherer, Heinrich (1628-1704)

Primary Category: Titlepage

Sheet size (cm): 27.5×21.2

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: ca. 1703