The ‘Geometria Culmensis’ (around 1400), the most ancient German educational book on practical geometry, tries to instruct lay surveyors as well as experts in the art of field measurement. The oldest existent manuscript transmits the Latin text together with the German adaption. Both texts show a similar albeit not equal set of diagrams illustrating the geometric and arithmetic problems proposed in the texts. The article tries to explore the ambivalent reference of the diagrams and shows how the ‘Geometria’ itself discusses their status as diagrammatic model and instrument.
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