Unlike Ptolemy's maps, Waldseemüller's (ca. 1470-ca. 1520) map showed the entire surface of the globe. To draw it, Waldseemüller developed a geometric extension of Ptolemy's second cartographic method. In doing so, he adopted the approach proposed a few years earlier by Henricus Martellus Germanus (2nd half of 15th cent.). The geometric expansion was suggested by Ptolemy's (ca. 100-ca. 175 CE) map itself, on which the extension of the meridian arcs indicated a potential configuration for the cartographic representation north and south of the boundaries of the oikumene (that is, the inhabited world). Having presumably followed this indication, Waldseemüller marked, on the central axis, the latitudes of the Equator, the North Pole, the Arctic Polar Circle, and the last parallel chosen as the southern boundary, 40 degrees below the Equator. He then set a center of curvature 90 units from the North Pole, slightly beyond the center chosen by Ptolemy, and drew the main parallel arcs. To plot the variable 10-degree intervals on the parallels, he chose the gore shapes used to build the globe in solid form. The German cartographer then took a reduction compass and set it to a ratio of 1 to 8, which is the size ratio of the gores to the map. He measured the intervals on the Equator, on the Polar Circle, and on the last southern parallel, plotting them on the corresponding arcs on the map. Next, he drew two intermediate parallels: one passing through the city of Syene, 23°30' above the Equator, and one situated at 20° below the Equator. He subdivided these parallels, like the others, into 10-degree intervals. He could now trace the meridian arcs above and below the Equator, constructing them as curves intersecting three points. As in Ptolemy's first cartographic method, each arc was split at the Equator. To build the meridian arcs north of the Arctic Polar Circle, Waldseemüller seems to have chosen a laborious geometric construction. He began by tracing the chord of the outermost meridian arc, making it end a short distance above the North Pole, so as to obtain a horizontal line. On this line, he drew an equilateral triangle positioned in such a way that its vertex serves as the center of curvature of the meridian arc. He then traced the chord of the meridian arc closest to the central axis, and placed the center of curvature at the intersection between the line perpendicular to the chord and the horizontal line passing through the first center of curvature. The horizontal line thus became the location of the centers of curvature of all the other meridian arcs. He then drew the chords of all the meridian arcs, marked the center of each chord on an arc passing through the center of the first two chords, traced the respective perpendicular lines, and marked the centers of curvature of the meridian arcs on the horizontal line. The final step in the geometric construction of the world map consisted in drawing the meridian arcs north of the Arctic Polar Circle. On this cartographic grid, Waldseemüller drew the profiles of lands, perhaps starting with Ptolemy's oikumene, which the German cartographer reproduced with no geographic updates. He then drew the lands of the Far East, up to modern-day Japan, and the southern reaches of Africa, circumnavigated by the Portuguese. Lastly, he drew the coasts of the New World using information from Spanish and Portuguese mapmakers. He completed the drawing by marking cities, rivers, mountains, and winds, and by inserting a wealth of text information—all enclosed in an exquisite ornamental frame. The printing process was no less complex, given the size of the map. Waldseemüller divided the sheet into twelve parts, adopting a simple geometric construction using diagonals or dividing the two sides of the image in three and in four. He cut the entire sheet into twelve smaller sheets, and engraved a separate woodblock for each. To transfer the image to the block, he presumably used the dusting method, perforating the entire drawing with a punch. He then placed the sheet on the woodblock facing down and transferred the drawing by means of a pad coated with colored powder, so as to leave the trace of the image in reverse on the wood. Now an engraver set to work, removing the wood from all the parts of the drawing that were to remain white in the final print. When the carving was complete, the woodblock was inked and pressed against a sheet of printing paper. And so the twelve prints were assembled to form the world map that gave its name to America.