American Geographical Society

The Line of Demarcation, 1493The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty ofTordesillas Reproduced and Translated with Historical Introduction and Explanatory Notes byPaul GottschalkGeographical Review, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1928), p. 701Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/207968 .

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As a geographer and explorer, Semenov-Tian-Shansky obtained his name from his expedition to Tian Shan in 1856-1857, the first successful expedition to this difficult region. Its success was due to thorough preparation and organization and to a scientific foresight possessed by him also in other domains. While directing the Russian Geographical Society he at the same time inspired other extensive geo- graphical explorations of northeastern and central Asia-those of Prjevalski, Potanin, Grum Grzhimailo, Mushketov, Koslov, Obruchev, Bogdanovich and others.

Besides attaining scientific distinction he was an eminent statesman who gained a name in the public life of Russia as one of the workers for the freedom of Russian

peasants from serfdom. For many years he organized the collection of Russian official statistics including the first Russian census, of the necessity of which he was conscious and labored to make the government recognize its importance, for more than thirty years.

He was the recipient of many honors. In I906 the addition of Tian Shan to his name of Semenov was granted, not only to him but to his descendants. A number of geographical features have been named for him, mostly in Central Asia but also in Caucasus, Spitsbergen, Kara Sea, as well as Semenov Mountain in Alaska on the

right shore of the Yukon. About a hundred families, genera and species of mammals, birds, fish, insects, plants, fossils bear the name of Semenov-for he was botanist, entomologist and geologist as well as geographer. The Russian Geographical Society established a medal bearing his name; he himself received several medals and was on the honorable list of many scientific institutions at home and abroad, among them the American Geographical Society of which he was elected a corresponding member in I896.

THE LINE OF DEMARCATION, 1493

PAUL GOTTSCHALK. The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas Reproduced and Translated with Historical Introduction and Explanatory Notes. 91 pp.; plates, bibliogr. Paul Gottschalk, Berlin, 1927. $66.50. I2 x I5% inches.

Paul Gottschalk, Berlin bookseller and publisher, has done a useful piece of work. The bulls of Alexander VI, which divided the earth's surface between Spain and Portugal, and the Treaty of Tordesillas, which established the famous demarcation line as running from pole to pole and passing through a point 370 leagues east of the Cape Verde Islands, are, as Gottschalk says, "among the most important diplomatic documents ever issued." To a very large extent they are "responsible for the fact that in certain parts of America Spanish is the spoken language while in others it is Portuguese." Besides their geographical interest they occupy an important place in the development of international law.

In the sumptuously printed and richly bound volume before us the photographic reproductions of the original documents, the transliterations, and the bibliography will be of unquestioned value to scholars. It could be wished, however, that Mr. Gottschalk's English were clearer, not only in the translations, where obscurity may be excused on the ground of the obscurity of the original, but in the explantory text and discussions of controversial matters. A work of this importance and costli- ness ought to have been carefully revised and parts of it even rewritten by someone thoroughly competent in the art of English expression. Furthermore, we fail to see the point of the reprints from Dr. E. L. Stevenson's "Maps Illustrating Early Discovery and Exploration in America, 1502-1530"-at least we find it difficult to understand why these reprints are given in the form that Gottschalk has adopted. The three maps are cut up into no less than fifty-one separate sections, some of which show nothing but ocean and margin. As no reduced facsimiles of the three original sheets are supplied, it is impossible to gain an idea of the maps as a whole.

As a geographer and explorer, Semenov-Tian-Shansky obtained his name from his expedition to Tian Shan in 1856-1857, the first successful expedition to this difficult region. Its success was due to thorough preparation and organization and to a scientific foresight possessed by him also in other domains. While directing the Russian Geographical Society he at the same time inspired other extensive geo- graphical explorations of northeastern and central Asia-those of Prjevalski, Potanin, Grum Grzhimailo, Mushketov, Koslov, Obruchev, Bogdanovich and others.

Besides attaining scientific distinction he was an eminent statesman who gained a name in the public life of Russia as one of the workers for the freedom of Russian

peasants from serfdom. For many years he organized the collection of Russian official statistics including the first Russian census, of the necessity of which he was conscious and labored to make the government recognize its importance, for more than thirty years.

He was the recipient of many honors. In I906 the addition of Tian Shan to his name of Semenov was granted, not only to him but to his descendants. A number of geographical features have been named for him, mostly in Central Asia but also in Caucasus, Spitsbergen, Kara Sea, as well as Semenov Mountain in Alaska on the

right shore of the Yukon. About a hundred families, genera and species of mammals, birds, fish, insects, plants, fossils bear the name of Semenov-for he was botanist, entomologist and geologist as well as geographer. The Russian Geographical Society established a medal bearing his name; he himself received several medals and was on the honorable list of many scientific institutions at home and abroad, among them the American Geographical Society of which he was elected a corresponding member in I896.

THE LINE OF DEMARCATION, 1493

PAUL GOTTSCHALK. The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas Reproduced and Translated with Historical Introduction and Explanatory Notes. 91 pp.; plates, bibliogr. Paul Gottschalk, Berlin, 1927. $66.50. I2 x I5% inches.

Paul Gottschalk, Berlin bookseller and publisher, has done a useful piece of work. The bulls of Alexander VI, which divided the earth's surface between Spain and Portugal, and the Treaty of Tordesillas, which established the famous demarcation line as running from pole to pole and passing through a point 370 leagues east of the Cape Verde Islands, are, as Gottschalk says, "among the most important diplomatic documents ever issued." To a very large extent they are "responsible for the fact that in certain parts of America Spanish is the spoken language while in others it is Portuguese." Besides their geographical interest they occupy an important place in the development of international law.

In the sumptuously printed and richly bound volume before us the photographic reproductions of the original documents, the transliterations, and the bibliography will be of unquestioned value to scholars. It could be wished, however, that Mr. Gottschalk's English were clearer, not only in the translations, where obscurity may be excused on the ground of the obscurity of the original, but in the explantory text and discussions of controversial matters. A work of this importance and costli- ness ought to have been carefully revised and parts of it even rewritten by someone thoroughly competent in the art of English expression. Furthermore, we fail to see the point of the reprints from Dr. E. L. Stevenson's "Maps Illustrating Early Discovery and Exploration in America, 1502-1530"-at least we find it difficult to understand why these reprints are given in the form that Gottschalk has adopted. The three maps are cut up into no less than fifty-one separate sections, some of which show nothing but ocean and margin. As no reduced facsimiles of the three original sheets are supplied, it is impossible to gain an idea of the maps as a whole.

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