Readers probably think I am just a little bit obsessed with the Library?s 1507 Waldseem?World Map, which opens Dec. 13 in the dazzling new ?Exploring the Early Americas? exhibit.
Thankfully, it would seem that I am not alone. Clicking over to Reuters? main page for U.S. news, I found that their story on the map and the exhibit is at the top of the list under ?most read articles.? (The story also has some good photos of the meticulous job of installing the map.)
UPDATE: The story on Yahoo! News?also on the front page?includes 19 gorgeous photos (I?m a huge fan of ?13 of 19,? with the Capitol in the background).
Comments (5)
I was disappointed with the spin that was placed upon the maps title and writer. It is well known that the writer changed the name of the map after feeling that Amerigo Vespucci’s voyages were not all factual. This comes from wikipedia.org-
In 1507, Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the new continent “America” after Vespucci’s first name, Amerigo. In an accompanying book, Waldseemüller published one of the Vespucci accounts, which led to criticism that Vespucci was trying to usurp Christopher Columbus’s glory. However, the rediscovery in the 18th century of other letters by Vespucci, primarily the Soderini Letter, has led to the view that the early published accounts were fabrications, not by Vespucci, but by others. Waldseemüller may have suspected the self promoting tenancies of Vespucci even in his own time as later publications replaced “America” with “Terra Incognita”.
Amerigo Vespucci is the name after which we named the America’s and in terms of discovery in North and South America, Vespucci far surpassed Columbus. In my opinion Vespucci is one of the most underrated of the “American” explorers. We have no “Vespucci Day”, lol, more spin, sadly. Please email me if you would like to discuss this further.
It’s amazing that there is so much buzz about the maps. Glad to see Reuters covering it.
I noticed that the Yahoo article says that the map will be on “permanent display”. Will the location be the same for the next few months? I won’t in DC until the summer of 08 but I’d love to see the map.
Very informative. Thanks for this info. I had seen the reuters story but had not as of yet seen the yahoo images. I’m going to check those out now.
super