THE ART OF MAPMAKING
Introduction to ‘Dutch printed sea charts from the 17th century’
Dear map lover,
The Dutch edition of my book about printed Dutch sea charts of the seventeenth century ‘NEDERLANDSE ZEEKAARTEN UIT DE GOUDEN EEUW’ was published in 2005. It was to be followed soon by the English edition. However the English edition never came. The publisher went bankrupt and I was unable to interest another publisher.
I still do have the English text I have written plus the illustrations. So I have decided to publish it as a serial in 9 parts in my blog about antique maps and atlases. You can read and copy if you wish to do so.
Robert Putman
Frontispice from the pilot guide ‘De Nieuwe Groote Zee-Fakkel’, published by Johannes van Keulen. Amsterdam, 1734.
DUTCH SEA CHARTS FROM HOLLANDS GOLDEN AGE
Continue reading ‘Introduction to ‘Dutch printed sea charts from the 17th century’’ »
CHAPTER I The development of the sea charts till the second half of the 16th century.
CHAPTER I PORTOLANS AND RUTTERS
Classical Antiquity
Thales of Miletus (c. 600 B.C.) formulated the method of finding latitude by measuring the altitude of the sun or the Pole Star. He knew the earth to be a globe divided into five zones by the polar circles and the tropics. He understood the true nature of the solar eclipses and had calculated the distance between the two tropics. Dicaearchus, a pupil of Aristotle, made the first attempt to graduate a map. On his map he drew a horizontal line from the Gades (the Strait of Gibraltar) in the west to the mountains bordering India in the east, with a perpendicular line through the island of Rhodes in a north south direction. Eratosthenes (c. 274‑c. 194 B.C.), the librarian of Alexander the Great, described in his Geography the world as it was then known from the mouth of the Ganges in the east to Cape Guardafui on Africa’s east coast in the south. His estimation of the circumference of the world was only four percent greater than it actually is.
Portolano of the eastern part of the Mediterranean from the atlas Universalis Orbis Hydrographica’ by Fernao FazDourado, Lisbon, 1575. Manuscript on vellum.
Dutch sea charts from Hollands golden age Chapter II
Chart of the African continent. Gerard Mercator (Duisburg, 1569). 45 x 29 cm, copper.
It is in a book on Dutch sea charts inevitable to give ample attention to Gerard Mercator (1512‑1594). He is by many considered to be the most important cartographer since Ptolemy. Nearly all modern sea charts are constructed by the method he first employed in his nautical world chart of 1569. Continue reading ‘Dutch sea charts from Hollands golden age Chapter II’ »
Rodney Shirley Corrigenda & Addenda to TMOTW
CORRIGENDA and ADDENDA
Corrections and Additions to the fourth edition of The Mapping of the World.
CORRIGENDA and ADDENDA Update as at April 2011
Corrections and Additions to the fourth edition of The Mapping of the World.
Since publication of the fourth edition of The Mapping of the World in July 2001 the following corrections and additions have come to my notice. This compilation includes all corrections/additions post July 2001, but does not include the C & A entries that previously appeared in the fourth published edition of 2001 up to that date.
Continue reading ‘Rodney Shirley Corrigenda & Addenda to TMOTW’ »
Antique Maps Market Place
Private collectors can make a small announcement in the category ‘Antique Maps Market Place / I am looking for a map/book’, in which they can announce their wants. Continue reading ‘Antique Maps Market Place’ »
Antique Maps Market Place
Private collectors can make a small announcement when they want to sell or swap a map/atlas. Continue reading ‘Antique Maps Market Place’ »
Howard Golden, collector of maps of the Holy Land, is working on a book on the subject. He will publish part of the content in concept form. You are invited to give comments and additions.
Welcome antique maps lovers
Welcome antique maps lovers,
I have started a blog on antique maps. It is my hope that it will develop into a meeting place for collectors of antique maps and atlases.
As part of its activities I will publish the English edition of my book ‘Dutch sea charts from Hollands Golden Age’ in 8 successive parts.
I also will re-publish an article on an important document on early mapping of Australia and further research by Simon Dewez.
Furthermore I want to start a discussion on the subject of maps attached to treaties, peace negogations etc. I think there must be a lot of such maps, resting unknown in the archives of ministries of froreign affairs around the world. Anyone who can make a contribution to the subject is invited to do so.
In general anyone who has a suggestion or contribution on any subject in the field of collecting maps is invited to do so.
Hope to hear from you,
Robert Putman