‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)

The article places The Cosmographical Glasse (1559), William Cuningham’s magnum opus, in its English and European context. The Cosmographical Glasse appeared during the early modern revolution in mathematics that turned mathematics to practical use by applying it to geography for a better conceptual...

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Main Author: Isabelle Fernandes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Firenze University Press 2023-03-01
Series:Journal of Early Modern Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-jems/article/view/14384
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author Isabelle Fernandes
author_facet Isabelle Fernandes
author_sort Isabelle Fernandes
collection DOAJ
description The article places The Cosmographical Glasse (1559), William Cuningham’s magnum opus, in its English and European context. The Cosmographical Glasse appeared during the early modern revolution in mathematics that turned mathematics to practical use by applying it to geography for a better conceptualisation of the globe and universe. Despite the work’s encyclopaedic scope and its author’s pioneering attempt to help readers retrieve the growing body of data that was being amassed by scholars and explorers, the article argues that this first book in English to deal with navigation in relation to astronomy and cosmography stood at a crossroads between the old and new epistemologies as geography both resorted to and confirmed traditional sources of knowledge while challenging them. Limited and flawed as it may be, The Cosmographical Glasse nevertheless added another building block in the construction of a modern sense of cosmography.
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spelling doaj-art-2eef6d4eff3748dba9f1728b1402b30b2025-08-20T02:09:42ZengFirenze University PressJournal of Early Modern Studies2279-71492023-03-011210.36253/jems-2279-7149-1438413210‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)Isabelle Fernandes0Université Clermont AuvergneThe article places The Cosmographical Glasse (1559), William Cuningham’s magnum opus, in its English and European context. The Cosmographical Glasse appeared during the early modern revolution in mathematics that turned mathematics to practical use by applying it to geography for a better conceptualisation of the globe and universe. Despite the work’s encyclopaedic scope and its author’s pioneering attempt to help readers retrieve the growing body of data that was being amassed by scholars and explorers, the article argues that this first book in English to deal with navigation in relation to astronomy and cosmography stood at a crossroads between the old and new epistemologies as geography both resorted to and confirmed traditional sources of knowledge while challenging them. Limited and flawed as it may be, The Cosmographical Glasse nevertheless added another building block in the construction of a modern sense of cosmography.https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-jems/article/view/14384john dayerobert dudleyfranciscus maurolicorobert recorde
spellingShingle Isabelle Fernandes
‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)
Journal of Early Modern Studies
john daye
robert dudley
franciscus maurolico
robert recorde
title ‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)
title_full ‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)
title_fullStr ‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)
title_full_unstemmed ‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)
title_short ‘to find out the pathe’: Mapping the Universal Machine in William Cuningham’s Cosmographical Glasse (1559)
title_sort to find out the pathe mapping the universal machine in william cuningham s cosmographical glasse 1559
topic john daye
robert dudley
franciscus maurolico
robert recorde
url https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-jems/article/view/14384
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