Deák Antal András: A Duna fölfedezése
Tartalom - III.A DANUBIUS PANNONICO-MYSICUS, 1726
T II E DISCOVERY OF THE DANUBE Marsigli did not feel sufficiently dedicated to fight alone against the contradictions that had become commonly accepted in the cartographic representation of Hungary. How Marsigli resolved this problem will be described in the section on the Summary map. He obtained the necessary instruments and got J. C. Müller to help (1696). By that time, Marsigli had accumulated a rich collection of map drafts and notes dealing with the environs of the Danube. According to the plans, Müller's main task was to make the summary. It is not known when the first Danube representation was drawn in which he marked the decided north-south turn the river takes at Vác. The Danube Bend already appeared in this form on the commercial map enclosed with the frontier report from the 16 t h of October 1699. 25 3 The correct depiction of the course of the Danube was of great significance with respect to the cartographic representation of the whole country, since the rich hydrological system of the Carpathian Basin, which was the basis for the maps of Hungary, comprised the area of the Danube watershed. In this way, the new representation of the Danube afforded a more correct cartographic representation of Hungary as well. It is an irony of fate that the Frenchman, de L'Isle, who had never seen the river, published the first map with an authentic representation of the Danube Bend using Marsigli's astronomical positions (Carte de la Hongrie...). 25 4 This, nevertheless, does not reduce the value of the maps of the Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus. Never until then, had such a careful and beautiful cartographic description of the Danube been made. Not only was the course ascribed to the river new (Mappa generalis) but also the representation of the region and, within it, of Hungary. The thematic maps illustrating Roman antiquities and mines in the country were ahead of their time. In order, the Danube maps were as follows: The Danube and its tributaries (39 x 27 cm) This map shows a schematic depiction of the river from its source to the Black Sea and indicates its tributaries. He found it necessary, he wrote in the dedication to the map, to start with a summary map of the Danube so that the reader could locate the river stretch under discussion since previous maps did not afford this possibility. Summary map (70 x 91 cm) The summary map of the Danube shows the river from Kahlenberg to the Jantra river in Bulgaria, based on 18 detail maps which followed. With all the novelty of the representation, it contains most of the mistakes of other contemporary maps. This came partly from the inaccuracy of distance measurements, partly as the result of the low number of astronomical positions. As is well known, impassable swamps bordered most of the Danube along both sides. These had to be bypassed and so the stretches where the river flowed in a definite direction could not be measured with authenticity even in steps. The problem could be solved only by establishing astronomical positions. Accordingly, in 1690, Marsigli decided that he would get training in astronomy and obtain a quadrant necessary for making observations. He ordered the quadrant from Eimmart in Nürnberg while his correspondence with Cassini the famous astronomer evidence the earnestness of his decision. 25 5 Cassini and Eimmart had to instruct him in the theory of 25 3 Vienna ÖStA KA HKR Akten 1701 BLG July 42. Supplement Relation 10. 25 4 The De' L'Isles, father and son, were active in geography, astronomy and cartography in France at the turn of the 17 t h- 18 t h centuries. It was due to them that the new and more authentic representations of Marsigli's Danube maps became generally known. The inscription on the map cites "many manuscripts and published" maps besides those of Marsigli among the sources. De L' Isles, Guillaume (1675-1726). 1703. 55,5 x 79 cm; Museum of Water Affairs of Hungary 23.77.17. ^55 I decided in 1690, he wrote in the foreword to the astronomical part, that I would make more observations to help in mapping of the more distant environments of the Danube...I have purchased a scaled astronomical quadrant with a radius of 2 feet made of brass which also comes with a brass azimuthal ring that can be turned around it. 138
