This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list) o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o +
---------------------------------------- To: maphist@geo.uu.nl Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:45:42 -0400 From: hills...@aol.com Subject: [MapHist] How do map-myths get started? I believe the embellished details began as a mixture of revelations,a profound knowledge of geology, and a tincture of ego. The early cartographers brought a rich aural geographic tapestry from voyagers to their parchment. The Mapmaker's Dream describes this phenomenon. "They're be tygers here . . ." Chuck Loan Fairhaven, MA This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list) o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + We've all seen maps that, with the benefit of satellite mapping and geological knowledge, clearly never represented anything near reality. For example, maps of large islands between Brazil and Africa marked 'Atlantis', or maps of a large Caspian - Aral Sea, longer east-west than north-south. These maps are apparently quite detailed, with rivers, hills, marked on. How did such detail get started. Did some ancient cartographer have some kind of vision and believe, as they did then, that this vision was a real revelation, draw what they had seen, and this 'map'then get copied by subsequent generations as real, subsequent people with limite dtravel and no aerial view could not know otherwise. Or did these cartographers simply put in what looked good and plausible, making such 'maps 'more like paintings. What was in the cartographer's mind as he drew such things, artistic licence, or copying what he thought was really there? Hillary Shaw Newport Shropshire We've all seen maps that, with the benefit of satellite mapping and geological knowledge, clearly never represented anything near reality. For example, maps of large islands between Brazil and Africa marked 'Atlantis', or maps of a large Caspian - Aral Sea, longer east-west than north-south. These maps are apparently quite detailed, with rivers, hills, marked on. How did such detail get started. Did some ancient cartographer have some kind of vision and believe, as they did then, that this vision was a real revelation, draw what they had seen, and this 'map'then get copied by subsequent generations as real, subsequent people with limite dtravel and no aerial view could not know otherwise. Or did these cartographers simply put in what looked good and plausible, making such 'maps 'more like paintings. What was in the cartographer's mind as he drew such things, artistic licence, or copying what he thought was really there? Hillary Shaw Newport Shropshire _______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. List Information: http://www.maphist.nl Maphist mailing list Maphist@geo.uu.nl http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist _______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. List Information: http://www.maphist.nl Maphist mailing list Maphist@geo.uu.nl http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist
