Johannes Schöner globe

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Johannes Schöner (1477-1547), a German astronomer and cartographer, made some of the oldest globes still in existence. Some of them show areas before they were discovered, like the Magellan Strait and the Antarctic.

Johannes Schöner globe made in 1520 shows the Americas, Antarctica

The Johannes Schöner Globe (1515), a manuscript globe, was made in 1515. Referring to globes of the world, Rafael Candel Vila, Professor of Cosmological Science and engineer at the University of Strasbourg ^[1] says: “Among the most famous is one made by Johann Schönner in 1515, which figured the Magellan Strait before it was discovered”. Albert Ronsin^[2] also mentions that the Magellan Strait can be found on the globe before its “official discovery.” The Strait of Magellan is at 53 degrees South. The Strait, if that is what it is, is shown at about 40 degrees South on the 1515 globe.

The Johannes Schöner Globe (1520), a printed globe, was made in 1520. Albert Ronsin also mentions that the globe also shows the Antarctic continent, which had not been explored at that date either. Albert Ronsin, honorary curator of the Bibliotèque et de Musée de Saint-Dié des Vosges, wrote that Schönner "draws an Antarctic continent, named lower Brasilia separated from South America by a strait unknown at that time because the results of Magellan’s voyage were still not complete” (“Jean Schönner: Globe Terrestre (1520), disciple de Waldseemüller […] et dessine un continent anatarctique nommé Brasilia inférieur séparé de l’Amérique du sud par un détroit alors inconnu puisque le résultat du voyage de Magellan n’est pas encore achevé”).

The Johannes Schöner's Weimer Globe (1533) was made in 1533. It shows North America as part of Asia, also shows Antarctica.