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     The following is the text of a Press Release by Yale
     University Press:
 
     Title: The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation.
     Authors: R. A. Skelton, Thomas A. Marston and George D.
     Painter. Foreword by Alexander O. Vietor.
     New Edition with an Introduction by George D. Painter
     and
     Essays by Wilcomb E. Washburn, Thomas A. Cahill and
     Bruce H. Kusko, and Laurence C. Witten II.
     Price: $45.00.   ISBN: 0-300-06520-5 Publication Date:
     March 13, 1996
 
     Oh dear, oh dear, Mr Thiry.  It will be an eventful, if
     not entirely straightforward, path through life for you
     if you accept each time the last thing you hear.  Yale
     has republished the good Mr Washburn's book, because he
     thinks the map is genuine.  He also held a private
     symposium of like-minded people to the same effect.
     Publicity is not the same as proof, though it can
     induce a sense of well-being among the well-disposed.
     (I hope there is no connection between this and the
     story of the political candidate who inadvertently
     declaimed the speechwriter's instruction as part of the
     speech: 'Argument weak here: shout louder'.)
 
     It seems there has arisen a legitimate doubt about the
     validity of one of the scientific tests which had been
     used to argue against the genuineness of the map.  This
     is a long way from proving that the map is genuine.  It
     is interesting that Yale curators are keeping quiet.
     'When there is nothing to be gained by saying anything
     ...'  I don't think Yale University Press has entered
     the subsequent discussion either.
 
     There is another interesting theory developing from
     aassessment of the Vinland Map and Tartar Relation from
     a different angle.  See Seaver's article in The Map
     Collector last year.
 
     There has been a lot of traffic on MAPHIST in February
     on the renewed interest in the Vinland Map.  Why not
     subscribe, and ask to see the February archive file?
 
     By the way, the most straightforward way to get to
     handle the Vinland Map is to go into the Beinecke, look
     it up in the catalogue, and request it by call number
     to be brought to the Reading Room.  That's what I did
     last time I wanted to check various points on the map
     the Tartar Relation together.  I think the NPR reporter
     may have been running at an open door but colliding
     with the door frame instead.
 
     Andrew Cook
     India Office Records
     London
 
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