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Archive: January 2022 (4 Posts)

Visualizing Injustice: Early NAACP Cartographers and Racial Inequality in America

Posted by: John Hessler

No good result can come from any investigation which refuses to consider the facts. A conclusion that is based upon a presumption, instead of the best evidence, is unworthy of a moments consideration.                       –Ida B. Wells, 1901 The use of cartography to highlight economic and …

Hand-drawn and beautifully colored map of Sicily with South towards the top.

Al-Idrisi’s Masterpiece of Medieval Geography

Posted by: Carissa Pastuch

German archeologist and historian Konrad Miller’s 1928 recreation of Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Idrisi’s (also al-Sharif al-Idrisi; circa 1100–66) Tabula Rogeriana, titled Weltkarte des Idrisi vom Jahr, Charta Rogeriana, has been explored in previous blog posts by both my colleague and section head. In this post, I highlight the oldest known copy of al-Idrisi’s original geographical work …