ON SOME POINTS ON THE EARLY CARTOGRAPHY OF NORTII AMERICA

By Mr JohnB. SHLPLEV.

The first portion of the paper which lias been handed in for publication in the printed proceedings of the Congress, deals in a new way with the very puzzling question of the authenticity and origin of the map of the northern seas of Europe, with portions of the continent of America, published in Venice in 1558 to illustrate the travels, 150 years earlier, of Nicolo Zeno and his brother Antonio. The results obtained can only be very slightly indicatedat the présent tirae, especially as they differ materially from those of previous writers on the subject. The map published in 1558 is believed to hâve been intended toembody the best cartographical knowledge of that time, parts of it being taken from maps only published in that same year, while other portions are much older, owing to want of récent information as to the more northern countries delineated. The map is therefore a compound one, being founded upon various sources, to which hâve been added the names mentioned in the text of the narrative, which were placed upon it in accordance with the notions of the compiler. Thèse names must therefore be removed before proceeding to examine those which must liave been inserted on independent authority. The names on Greenland we find are ail referable to a map of 1467, brought to light by professer Baron Nordenskjôld, and although they occur also on

the map of Donio, of 1482, y et the form of Greenland shows that the former rather than the latter has been the model. Some of the naines on Iceland (Islanda) are referable to the same map, while others, and those in the north of Norway, are tobe referred to the map of Olaus Magnus, of 1539. This last identification has been made by D"" 0. Brenner, who also notices that thefloating masses of amberon the map of 1539 correspond to a curions unintelligible marking on the Zeno map. This latter was probably copied from a map which combined the information of the two older maps, and in which the amber-marking may hâve been less definite than on that of Olaus Magnus.

D' Bi'enner refers to an anonymus Italian mapof 1562 as probably fouuded on that of 0. Magnus. The author of this paper finds that it was a rough copy of a very carefuUy engraved map published at Venice in 1558, from the plates of Michael Iramezinus. This last map contains outlines of Denmark and southern Scandinavia which almost exactly correspond with those on the Zeno map, and the names also correspond almost precisely. There need be no doubt whatever that either this map or an immédiate predecessor fornied the model for the map of Zeno, as far as thèse countries are concerned, and as far north as «Stopel» . The joining of the two sets of maps has been very defective, and six degrees of latitude bave been altogether omitted between this point and the north of Norway.

The Shetland Isles (Estlanda) bave been taken probably from a map founded on Olaus Magnus, and the north point ofScotland is marked twice over, once as mainland and again on a smaller scale as an island.

In addition tothe représentation of Iceland in nearlyits proper place relatively to Greenland, a second and more correct outline of the same island has been pressed into the service and made to do duty as Irisland, its southern border being placed in the correct latitude of the island of Suderoe in the Faroe group, or 61 1/2 degrees north latitude. The names mentioned in the text, and those on Olaus Magnus's map, which apply to this group,

hâve been placed on this island. There are also other names, many of which are to be found, though in difFerent positions, yet in the same relative order, on the north and west coasts of the Iceland of Mercator. *

In short, Islanda on the map is a compound of the delineations of that island on the maps of 1467 and 1539, while Irisland is a later drawin§- of Iceland, with différent names, to which hâve been added the names of the Faroe group on the map cf Olaus Magnus, and others taken from the text of the narrative of the brothers Zeni.

The British Muséum lias an enlarged copy, by Petrus de Nobilibus, of the Irisland of the Zeno map, on which the names can be read very distinctly : Lut whether thèse readings are more correct than we can obtain from the original map, may be doubted. This enlargement is conjecturally dated at 1560.

It is intended to follow out thèse dues in every possible direction, and it is hoped that ultimately the authority may be found for every name and outline on this celebrated cartographical enigma.