| Popis: |
Paulus Pfinzing von Henfenfeld embodied the gentrification of geometry in late sixeenth-century Nuremberg. A patrician merchant, Pfinzing developed and invented surveying tools, and publicized their use. He is famed for his so-called Pfinzing Atlas of manuscript maps of the Nuremberg area that he completed in 1594. His legacy in print of two now rare books from 1598–1599 on surveying and on geometric solids is less well known, as Pfinzing published them both anonymously. The former entreated the well-educated to take up surveying, while the latter presented a summary of recent scholarship on geometric solids based on Albrecht Dürer and Wenzel Jamnitzer, among other luminaries. This article investigates the ways Pfinzing used his knowledge of surveying and familiarity with Nuremberg publishing to present geometry as a gentlemanly pursuit. |
