Editing Cosmography (section)

== Traditional usage ==
The 14th-century work ''[['Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara'ib al-mawjudat]]'' by [[Persian people|Persian]] physician [[Zakariya al-Qazwini]] is considered to be an early work of cosmography. Traditional [[Hinduism|Hindu]], [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and [[Jainism|Jain]] cosmography schematize a universe centered on [[Mount Meru]] surrounded by rivers, continents and seas. These cosmographies posit a universe being repeatedly created and destroyed over time cycles of immense lengths.
[[File:Peasants spinning.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Sedentary Occupations of Peasants<!---Facsimile from 
an Engraving on Wood, attributed to---> &ndash; by [[Hans Holbein the Younger|Holbein]], in the "Cosmographie" of Munster (Basle, 1552, folio)]]

In 1551, [[Martín Cortés de Albacar]], from [[Zaragoza]], Spain, published ''[[Breve compendio de la esfera y del arte de navegar]]''. Translated into English and reprinted several times, the work was of great influence in Britain for many years. He proposed spherical charts and mentioned magnetic deviation and the existence of magnetic poles.

[[Peter Heylin]]'s 1652 book ''Cosmographie'' (enlarged from his ''Microcosmos'' of 1621) was one of the earliest attempts to describe the entire world in English, and is the first known description of [[Australia]], and among the first of [[California]]. The book has four sections, examining the geography, politics, and cultures of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, with an addendum on ''[[Terra incognita|Terra Incognita]]'', including Australia, and extending to [[Utopia]], [[Álfheimr|Fairyland]], and the "Land of [[Chivalry|Chivalrie]]".

In 1659, Thomas Porter published a smaller, but extensive ''Compendious Description of the Whole World'', which also included a [[chronology]] of world events from [[Genesis creation myth|Creation]] forward. These were all part of a major trend in the [[European Renaissance]] to explore (and perhaps comprehend) the known world.