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For over two years I have been preparing, and steadily placing on the web, a
series of pages about early portolan charts. In size it is equivalent to a
medium-sized monograph.
This has now been formally 'published', under the general heading:
'A critical re-examination of early portolan charts with a reassessment of
their replication and seaboard function'.
http://www.maphistory.info/portolan.html
They comprise 40 web 'pages' of essays, notes and tables:
~ Corrections and additions to my 1986 Census and the chapter in Vol. 1 of
the History of Cartography (1987)
~ A detailed study of the colours and shapes used for islands and estuaries,
leading to a wide range of new conclusions about consistency, 'accuracy',
attributions and workshop practice
~ Analysis of the work of Grazioso Benincasa
~ An ongoing, previously unpublished, toponymical analysis over four
centuries
~ A comprehensive post-1986 bibliography
I would much value comments, suggestions, criticism and any additional
material. I would also appreciate being told about web navigation problems,
broken links, and so on. Or of places where the meaning is unclear.
It would be good to learn of any post-1986 references that should be added to
the Bibliography.
Almost all the pre-1470 charts and atlases are available in high resolution in
the marvellous DVD accompanying Ramon J. Pujades i Bataller, Les cartes
portolanes: la representació medieval d'una mar solcada (Barcelona: Institut
Cartogràfic de Catalunya; Institut d'Estudis Catalans; Institut Europeu de la
Mediterrània; Lunwerg, 2007 - with the text also in English).
I have compiled a list of facsimiles and online scans of dated works produced
after 1470 and would much appreciate additions to that census, particularly for
the lean years before1550:
http://www.maphistory.info/LaterChartsTable.doc [a Microsoft Word table]
There is a full pre-1501 Census (as an Excel table) and a page on charts that
have surfaced since 1986. One or two are described here for the first time.
Specifically, I have one rather obscure question. Do you know of anybody who
has copied a portolan chart by hand?
A reassuring note, I hope, for all those concerned about the permanency of
self-published webpages. The 'Map History' site is captured, twice-yearly, by
the UK Web Archive. As regards the stability of the text, these pages are
certainly intended to be dynamic, with updates and amendments on a regular
basis. However, any substantive changes will be identified as such.
Praise is always enjoyable, but criticism is even more valuable!
Tony Campbell
[email protected]
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