Martin Waldseemüller (Latinized
Martinus Ilacomilus or
Hylacomylus, c. 1470 – c. 1521/1522) was a
German cartographer. He and
Matthias Ringmann are credited with the first recorded usage of the word
America, on the 1507 map
Universalis Cosmographia in honor of the Florentine explorer
Amerigo Vespucci.
Waldseemüller was born in Freiburg in Breisgau (his mother was from Radolfzell) and studied at the University of Freiburg.
On April 25, 1507, working at St. Deodatus (German Sankt Diedel) in the duchy of Lotharingia (today Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France), he produced a globular world map and a large 12-panel world wall map (Universalis Cosmographia) bearing the first use of the name "America". The globular and wall maps were accompanied by a book Cosmographiae Introductio, an introduction to cosmography. The book includes a translation to Latin of the Quattuor Americi Vespuccij navigationes (Four Voyages of Americo Vespucci), which is apparently a letter written by Amerigo Vespucci, although some historians consider it to have been a forgery written by its supposed recipient in Italy. The Cosmographiae describes why the name America was used
In 1513 Waldseemüller appears to have had second thoughts about the name, probably due to contemporary protests about Vespucci’s role in the discovery and naming of America. In his reworking of the Ptolemy atlas, the continent is labelled simply Terra Incognita (unknown land). Despite the revision, 1,000 copies of the world maps had since been distributed, and the original suggestion took hold. While North America was still called Indies in documents for some time, it was eventually called America as well.
