================================================ MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ** MAPS-L ================================================ Subject: The Gough Map - new website details Date: Tues, 6 Sep 2005 From: Nick Millea <[log in to unmask]> To: maps-l Dear All, Apologies for cross-posting to Carto-soc, Liber-gdc, Lis-maps, Maphist-l, Maps-l, and various Gough Map aficionados ...... The Bodleian Library is collaborating with scholars from Queen's University Belfast on 'Mapping the Realm', a research project funded by the British Academy to create an interactive online version of the Bodleian's celebrated medieval Gough Map of Great Britain. The map itself is believed to date from around 1360, the clues to its accurate dating based on historical changes of place name and studies of the hand used to inscribe those names onto the map. However, neither the identity of its author or its exact origins are known. Drawn in pen, ink and coloured washes on two skins of vellum, the map's dimensions measure 115 x 56cm. It was donated to the Bodleian Library in Oxford by Richard Gough in 1809, along with the rest of his collection of maps, prints, books and drawings, under the terms of his will. The map was bought by Gough at a sale in 1774 for half a crown. The 'Mapping the Realm' research project consists of a multi-disciplinary team of academics based at Queen's University Belfast. It is being directed by Keith Lilley (Geography), with support by Chris Lloyd (Geography) and Paul Ell (Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis). The research fellow is Steve Trick. The project team also includes Professor Bruce Campbell (Geography), Professor John Thompson (English), and Mark Gardiner (Archaeology). The research is being carried out in collaboration with the Bodleian Library through Map Librarian, Nick Millea. The project seeks to find out more about this enigmatic map. Using a scan of the original, undertaken by DigiData Technologies for an Oxford Digital Library project, the Gough Map has been analysed at the School of Geography at Queen's using a Geographical Information System (GIS). GIS has made it possible to study the map's content and attempt to assess how it was made, who made it, and what it was made for - all questions yet to be resolved. The map has also been made interactive and is accessible via the following link from the Bodleian Map Room's home page: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/herefrme.htm There is also a direct link via Queen's: http://sarah.gg.qub.ac.uk/website/goughmap/viewer.htm As well as seeing a digital version of the Gough Map users will also be able to identify the features that the map shows, such as towns and cities, roads and rivers, and study accompanying data relating to these places. It is hoped that 'Mapping the Realm' will inspire future research into what is both the earliest surviving route map of Britain, and the earliest surviving map depicting Britain with a recognisable coastline. With best wishes, Nick Millea ________________________________________________________ Nick Millea Map Librarian, Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG tel: 01865 287119 fax: 01865 277139 email: [log in to unmask] homepage: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/ ________________________________________________________ --