Werner, Johannes

(1466 - 1528)

Johannes Werner a parish priest in Nuremberg, refined and promoted the Werner map projection, a cordiform (heart-shape) projection map that had been developed by Johannes Stabius (Stab) of Vienna around 1500.

After its introduction by Werner in his 1514 book, Nova translatio primi libri geographiaae C. Ptolemaei, the Werner projection was commonly used for world maps and some continental maps through the 16th century and into the 17th century. It was used by Mercator and Ortelius in the late 16th century for maps of Asia and Africa. By the 18th century, it was replaced by the Bonne projection for continental maps. The Werner projection is only used today for instructional purposes and as a novelty.