Posts from — March 2007

Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts presents North by Northeast: Five Centuries of New England Maps (March 31-August 12, 2007). The exhibition focuses on antique maps and is organized around eight themes including mapmaking and map production; defining New England; geographical literacy and learning; the politics of cartography; thematic and special purpose maps; the manmade landscape; cartography and conflict; and the elements of style: design and iconography.

David Bosse, Historic Deerfield’s librarian and guest curator of the exhibition puts the exhibit into context:

A goal of the exhibition is to provide greater awareness of the biases and perspectives found in most maps, since they are always a product of their time – embodying the political, cultural, and economic views of their makers.

Along with about 50 printed and manuscript maps, “North by Northeast” will also offer portraits, surveyors’ compasses, globes, reverse paintings on glass, landscape views, printed diagrams, and an orrery—a mechanical device used to illustrate the orbit of the earth and the moon.

Historic Deerfield is also planning a related lecture series on the history of maps and mapmaking this coming summer.

[tags]Antique Maps, New England, Map Exhibits[/tags]

The mainstream media, including MSNBC and CNN, is running an item today pointing out how the new book, “Beyond Capricorn” by Peter Trickett, claims to prove that a 16th-century maritime map shows that Portuguese adventurers, not the British or the Dutch, were the first Europeans to find Australia.

A 16th-century map from the Vallard Atlas appears to mark geographical sites along Australia’s east coast in Portuguese, although the orientation of part of the map is off. Trickett says this is because the Portuguese charts were misaligned when they were copied but by using a computer, Trickett rotated the southern part of the Vallard map 90 degrees to produce a map which accurately depicts Australia’s east coast.

“They provided stunning proof that Portuguese ships made these daring voyages of discovery in the early 1520s, just a few years after they had sailed north of Australia to reach the Spice Islands — the Moluccas. This was a century before the Dutch and 250 years before Captain Cook,” he said.

Trickett believes the original charts were made by Mendonca who set sail from the Portuguese base at Malacca with four ships on a secret mission to discover Marco Polo’s “Island of Gold” south of Java.

This type of statement always seems to get the heated dialogues (and book sales) up and running, particularly when it finds its way into mainstream media; I doubt this will be an exception. 

[tags]Antique Maps, Australia, Vallard Atlas[/tags]

The University of Wisconsin’s Sea Grant Institute in partnership with UW-Milwaukee, American Geographical Society Library, UW-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center, and the UW-Madison Water Resources Library is offering and exhibit of maps from March 19 – June 29, 2007: Making Maps, Mapping History-300 Years of Original Maps from Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region.

The exhibit features more than thirty antique maps that illustratrate the evolution of mapmaking since the 1600s and the historical influence of the Great Lakes on the history of Wisconsin. An audio commentary of selected maps is available for download to anyone, (presumably to listen to on your mp3 player while you take the tour.)

Additionally, Christopher Baruth, Curator of the American Geographical Society Library, will offer a public lecture on “The Early Mapping and Charting of the Great Lakes” at the exhibit on April 5th at 4 p.m.

Admission to the exhibit is free.

[tags]Antique Maps, Antique Map Exhibits[/tags]

The Saxton Atlas, regarded as a prime example of early map making, was auctioned by Sotheby’s yesterday and sold for a cool £670,000 (approx. $1.4 million US). The new owner bid anonymously by telephone.

One article notes:

Sotheby’s specialist Catherine Slowther said: “The atmosphere in the saleroom was electric and we are very pleased with the record sum paid for Saxton’s Atlas.

“People packed the saleroom crowding in at the back, together with a bank of bidders on the telephones.

Read about it here, here, here and here.

Sorry for passing this along so late in the game, but I have been playing “catch-up” with antique map news.

Please join us this Saturday, March 10th at 2:30 pm for our next meeting at the New York Public Library.

“United States of America v. Edward Forbes Smiley III.”

Our featured speaker is New York Map Society member and staff write for the Hartford Courant, Ms. Kim Martineau.

Ms. Martineau began her reports on the Smiley case immediately after his x-acto knife was discovered on the floor at the Yale University Library. Since then, she ha covered the continuing investigation, and was present when Smiley was sentenced. At this month’s meeting, she’ll offer members and guests an overview of the complete case.

NOTE: This month’s meeting will be in the lower-level Auditorium in the Library’s South Court Celeste Bartos Education Center. Stairway and elevator are just inside the door to the Education Center.

[tags]New York Map Society, Antique Maps, E. Forbes Smiley, map theft[/tags]

This article, Preston’s on the map – but Blackpool was omitted, contains a few more details about the Elizabethan atlas mentioned in an earlier post. The article makes the light hearted point that, while the first English atlas ever printed features Lancashire, with Lancaster, Kirkham, Garstang and Preston all clearly marked, the now popular seaside town of Blackpool is not shown.

It is speculated that the atlas…

…is one of the earliest ever recorded, and could have been commissioned by English politician William Burghely for Elizabeth I to chart the locations of potentially threatening Catholic estates and provide details of the English coastline to prepare for an attack from the Spanish by sea.

[tags]antique maps, antique map auctions, antique atlases[/tags]