ON THE

THEATRE

OF THE EARTH,

or

NEW ATLAS:

The world is indeed beautiful, and worthy to behold,
But traveling has its costs. The expenses fall heavily.
One may not trust the Ocean too much.
The mountains rise steeply. The forests look too grim.
The storms gape wide, to step over them.
The miles stretch constantly. The lands extend far.
The kingdoms, divided against one another by hostilities,
Stand in harness, and draw the weapon.
The bitter cold numbs. The heat roasts the limbs.
The air hangs full of vapors, or kills with fierce plague.
One finds inhospitable people, and uninhabited cities,
Wastelands, where the beast leaves its nest at night,
And roars and howls, for prey and carrion of cattle or men.
The sand encumbers the walk. The walker gasps and smokes,
On the untrodden path. Then it is in vain to wish
For the abandoned hearth, where mother cooks food.
O travel-minded spirit, you can spare that trouble,
And see on this Theatre the World, large and spacious,
Described and painted in small comprehension of leaves,
Thus clever art spins the globe on its thumb.

FIRST CHAPTER.

What is Cosmography.
What is Astronomy.
What is Geography.
What is Chorography.
What is Topography.
Of the center of the world.

The World, by which is understood everything that is visible to the eyes, namely Heaven and Earth, the Greeks call Cosmos order/world, and the description thereof COSMOGRAPHY: this comprises two distinct parts, ASTRONOMY and GEOGRAPHY. ASTRONOMY is a description of the Heavens, of the bodies that are carried and moved therein, and of their distinct movements; or, to say it in a word, it makes us understand all things that are to be noted in the heavens. GEOGRAPHY, that is Earth-description, lets us know the situation of the entire globe in general, and its most notable parts in particular, as of all Provinces, Kingdoms, famous Cities, Seas, Rivers, renowned Capes or headlands, and excellent places, both according to the situation they have among each other, and in regard to the Heaven. GEOGRAPHY is again divided into two parts, into CHOROGRAPHY and TOPOGRAPHY; although these two words have the same meaning, yet by CHOROGRAPHY is commonly understood the description of a certain province in particular, such as Spain, Italy, Germany, etc., with all Cities, Villages, Forests, Mountains, and Rivers contained therein, without taking into account the surrounding lands or the circuit of the entire Earth; By TOPOGRAPHY, the proper description of the parts of CHOROGRAPHY; as, in particular, a city, village, castle, tower, or any other small part, therein observing and noting all details, however small they may be.

Among the Cosmographos cosmographers or World-describers, there are two opinions regarding the center of the world and the movement of the celestial bodies; Some set the globe of the earth fast [immovable], and that the Sun, with all stars, as well fixed as wandering, move around it daily; Others, [set] the Sun still and immovable, and that the Globe of the Earth together with the wandering stars rotate around it, but the Heaven of the fixed stars stands fast and immovable.

Those of the first opinion, therein follow—

According to the shape of the Heavens.

Ptolemy, divide the world into two parts, Elemental and Celestial; the Elemental and lowest, always subject to change, consists of four parts, as the Earth, which, with the Water the second, makes a perfectly round globe upon which we live; the third, the Air, encompassing the earth and water; and the fourth, the Fire, which, according to their opinion, includes or occupies the spatium space between the air and the heaven of the moon. The celestial and uppermost (encompassing the lower regions of the elements in its hollow) is transparent, shining, free and separated from all change, and is divided into eight distinct spheres or hollow globes, which one calls heavens, of which the largest always contains the next one following in a spherical manner within itself, according to the indication of this adjacent Figure. Each of these

A circular diagram of the Ptolemaic geocentric cosmos. At the center is the globe of Earth and Water. It is surrounded by eight concentric celestial spheres, numbered 1 through 8. Lines radiate from the center across the spheres, which represent the orbits of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Firmament of Fixed Stars.

heavens has but one star, which one calls planets, of which the first (closest to the earth) is the heaven of the Moon, the second of Mercury, the third of Venus, the fourth of the Sun, the fifth of Mars, the sixth of Jupiter, the seventh of Saturn, the eighth of all fixed stars. The number of these