The Roundness of the Earth
- Fol. a2r. Woodcut illustrating the view of earth from the top of a mast.
- Johannes de Sacrobosco (d. ca. 1244-1256). Sphaera mundi: Comm. Wenceslaus Faber, de Budweis.
- Leipzig: Wolfgang Stöckel, 1499.
This edition of Sacrobosco’s Sphaera mundi includes commentaries by Wenzel Faber von Budweis, an astronomer, astrologer, and theologian from Bohemia, who was well-known as a prolific author of the so-called practicas, yearly published booklets containing the astrological predictions of a particular year. Our copy has been heavily annotated by a contemporary reader.
Many editions of the Sphaera also include representations containing naturalistic elements such as this woodcut illustrating the roundness of the Earth. The image shows how the curvature of the earth produces a bulge in the ocean, which we would deceptively perceive as being flat. This bulge prevents the observer on the deck of the ship from seeing a point in the city, which is actually visible to the figure at the top of the mast.