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Category: 16th century cartography

An image of the title page for the atlas by Ortelius.

Ortelius: A Legendary Mapmaker

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

Many years ago I visited an antique show held at the Washington D.C. Stadium Armory. Dealers from all over the United States displayed almost every kind of antique on tables throughout the market. One of the dealers owned an antique map store in St. Louis. I looked at many maps, dated from the 19th century …

A map of the world that was published in 1541.

Taprobana: Sumatra or Ceylon?

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

The Greek explorer and historian Megasthenes wrote that Taprobana was divided by a river and abundant in pearls and gold. Taprobana  was located somewhere in the Indian Ocean and usually shown on historical maps as a large island south of India. There have been many theories about the identity of the island. Some thought Taprobana …