Congratulations James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota.

forwarded from MapHist-------- Original Message --------
Subject:         1602 Ricci world map to be digitized after James Ford Bell
acquires it
Date:   Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:54:31 -0000
From:   Tony Campbell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To:
To:





The 1602 Ricci world map acquired by the James Ford Bell Library for $1
million

December 16. <
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/12/16/tulip-map/ >
'Historic map coming to Minnesota' (by Madeleine Baran for Minnesota Public
Radio News).

     ' One of the world's rarest maps -- a massive print from 1602 showing
the world with China as its center -- will soon be on permanent display at
the University of Minnesota. The James Ford Bell Trust announced this week
that it has acquired the "Impossible Black Tulip," the first map in Chinese
to show the Americas, from a London books and maps dealer for $1 million.
Only six copies of the map remain and several are in poor condition ... The
cartographer Matteo Ricci created the map, which is five feet high and 12
feet wide [152 x 366 cm], at the request of the Chinese emperor, who wanted
the document to serve as a resource for explorers and scholars. Ricci, a
Jesuit priest, was among the first Westerners to travel to China.'

     'The Library of Congress will display the map for the first time in
North America on Jan. 12, where it will be scanned to create a permanent
digital image available to scholars. The map will then travel to the
Minneapolis Institute of Arts for a brief exhibition before moving to its
permanent home at the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota
in the spring.' [with links to a 3-image slideshow].

     It is good to know that, as a result of this purchase, the map will be
made generally accessible online.

Tony Campbell

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