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Images of 1507 Waldseemuller map: Jim Young/Reuters, Brazilbrazil.com.

It may betray me as a nerd, but I’ll confess: I have an affinity for maps. Most geography majors will admit a certain childhood fascination with maps as underlying, at least in part, their eventual decision to specialize in the discipline. Many non-geographers are equally appreciative of these diagrams of the world. Let’s face it:  Maps are cool. They are visually interesting, practical, and in their ability to orient and provide perspective—at once both grounding and mind-expanding.

So imagine my delight when MWW intern Martha sent me the following intriguing article:

Map that named America is a puzzle for researchers:
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The only surviving copy of the 500-year-old map that first used the name America goes on permanent display this month at the Library of Congress, but even as it prepares for its debut, the 1507 Waldseemuller map remains a puzzle for researchers.”

Ahhh….this “map puzzle” is even better than the jigsaw version of the United States I used to play with as a child. I’ve always been interested in the science and history of cartography. After all, it’s one thing to create a map using the modern technologies of satellite imagery and GIS, but imagine what it would have been like 500 years ago??

The Mystery of the Map
As described in the Reuters article, that’s exactly what German Monk Martin Waldseemuller was commissioned to do in 1507. The world map eventually published in 1509 was “surprisingly accurate and modern.” In fact, it should have been impossible.

For starters, the west coast of South America is very nearly correct, though no Europeans are recorded to have crossed the continent prior to 1513--at the earliest. The mapmakers’ claims to have based their rendering on the ancient writings of Egyptian geographer Ptolemy and the late 15^th century Florentine Amerigo Vespucci are hardly convincing to contemporary researchers who believe that these accounts in themselves could not have been sufficient to generate the detail depicted on the 1507 map.

What’s more, later maps created by Waldseemuller would seem to indicate a virtual reversion in discovery: A map produced in 1513 displays part of the east coast of the Americas, but not the west coast, and refers to the land abutting the border as “Terra Incognita” rather than “America.” A 1516 mariner’s map retains similar regressive conventions, and takes a step further to reconnect North America with Asia. 

Some, like Library of Congress Chief of Geography and Maps John Herbert, have suggested that the prevailing European power politics of the time, particularly between the seafaring nations of Spain
and Portugal, could explain the apparent discrepancies. The 1507 map may evidence a Portugese influence, while the later maps may reveal a Spanish influence. But the jury is still out on the matter:

“Why did the mapmaker name the territory America and then change his mind later? How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific?”

While I certainly don’t have any answers to these “conundrums,” you can bet I’ll take a stroll down to the Library of Congress when the exhibit of this “keystone” America map opens December 13^th. With a price tag of $10 million, I figure it’s at least worth a look.

Read the full Reuters article, or check out an abridged version from National Geographic News.

Map buff?
Expand your cartographic horizons: Props to MWW staff member Bobby for directing me to this awesome blog that features unique (and often bizarre) maps: Strange Maps

(Today's "strange map" is--coincidentally--germane to both the brazilbrazil.com reference cited in the current post, and my response to a reader comment about the previous feature: Curitiba, Brazil.)

For even more maps, check out the Chicago Festival of Maps, a “citywide celebration of humanity’s greatest discoveries and the maps that record our boldest explorations.” Of course, if you find yourself in the vicinity of the Windy City, you should pay a personal visit to the festival. For the rest of us, there is a wonderful online companion site with impressive visuals, historical information, and even a blog, interactive map, and database searchable by category. So get started on your own expedition into the world of maps!

Sarah for My Wonderful World

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Comments

[Sarah Jane]

Thanks Steph! This is a unique site with some very interesting thematic and conceptual maps. For the map analysts among us, there are some good examples of selection criteria being exercised here. For example, one that stuck out was a map of domain codes of the world (e.g: .us, .uk, .in, .au). The font used for the domain codes is sized to reflect relative national populations. Personally, I would have preferred to see font sizes reflect a more 'relevant' variable--like overall presence of each domain code on the web, or the size of national populations using the internet. But definitely a website to check out!

[Steph]

If you like maps, check out this website with different iterations of maps of the internet: http://www.internetgeography.blogspot.com/.