Erhard Etzlaub

Erhard Etzlaub (c. 1455/1465 – 1532) was a German cartographer, astronomer, geodesist, instrument maker, and physician.

Distances between cities can be computed by dotted lines, where a one-dot-step means one German Mile (7400m).

From all three editions, only 6 samples are known to have survived (e.g. the ones held by SUB (Göttingen), Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Nuremberg), Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris), British Library (London)), but Etzlaub's data were widely used during the first half of the 16th century, among others by Martin Waldseemüller and Sebastian Munster.

was the term used for pocket-size sundials produced in Nuremberg since Regiomontanus' days, which were fitted with a compass, too, and were also used by seafarers.

Only two of Etzlaub's pieces remain: one, from 1511, is kept by Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Nuremberg), another one, from 1513 and in Drecker's collection, purportedly "went to the USA".

Johannes Cochlaeus notes on Etzlaub's work in Brevis Germaniae Descriptio, 1512, that his sundials were even demanded in Rome.

Instructions on the use of his sundials were given by Etzlaub in Codex ad Compastum Norembergensem which was kept by Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany, but seems lost.

Those were calendars to be hanged on the wall, giving festive days, new and full moon, some planet's positions and hints on healthcare like best times for blood-letting.