Varenius, Bernhardus

Bernhardus Varenius, German Bernhard Varen, (born 1622, Hitzacker, Hannover [Germany]—died 1650/51, Leiden, Netherlands), a major figure in the revival of geographic learning in Europe, whose scholarly general geography remained the accepted standard authority for more than a century.

Born Bernhard Varen, he was better known by the Latin version of his name, Bernhardus Varenius. After studying medicine, he was attracted to geography by his acquaintance with geographers. In 1649 he published Descriptio Regni Japoniae (“Description of the Kingdom of Japan”), which in addition to describing Japan included a Latin translation of an account of Siam (Thailand), possibly by the Dutch navigator Willem Corneliszoon Schouten, and excerpts from the Arab traveler and geographer Leo Africanus on religion in Africa.

Geographia generalis (1650), Varenius’s best-known work, sought to lay down the general principles of geography on a wide scientific basis according to the knowledge of the day. It not only was a systematic geography on a scale not previously attempted but also contained a scheme for special, now known as regional, geography. That major work was frequently revised, and the edition of 1672 had improvements by Sir Isaac Newton.