This thrice-yearly journal with articles on maps, the history of cartography, and exploration is the only journal of its kind in the Americas.   Below is information on the Spring 2014 issue recently published.   See http://www.washmapsociety.org/The-Portolan-Journal.htm   for details on ordering the current or past issues of “The Portolan”.  That link also takes the reader to the contents list of all back issues and an index to those issues.  The focus of the society and the journal is not solely Washington; topics are widespread in scope. 

 

"THE PORTOLAN": JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON MAP SOCIETY
ISSUE 89  (Spring 2014)
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Issue 89 (Spring 2014), consisting of 72 pages, was published in March 2014  and is in distribution to all paid subscribers and members in good standing of the Washington Map Society.  Copies are available for purchase.

 

JUSTIN DELLINGER’s 2013 Ristow Prize-winning paper presents interesting research into the geographical depiction and importance of a town at the mouth of the Mississippi River. JOHN HESSLER describes early computer mapping now archived at the Library of Congress.  PETER MEURER describes the production and non-production of atlases in the early 1500’s in central Europe.  PETER DICKSON comments on STEFAAN MISSINNE’s research into the Ostrich Egg and Lenox globes; MISSINNE replies to the comments.  LEIGH LOCKWOOD reports on a trip he made with DICK PFLEDERER to see portolan atlases at the Morgan Collection in New York City. JULIE SWEETKIND-SINGER tells the story of the scanning and cataloging of the McLaughlin Collection maps of California as an Island at Stanford University.  BILL STANLEY remembers the early formative years in this 35^th anniversary year of the Washington Map Society.  Five books are reviewed.  And there is more.

 

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"The Portolan" is published three times per year; issue 90 is due for release in August 2014.

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CONTENTS OF ISSUE 89 – Spring 2014
 
ARTICLES

2013 RISTOW PRIZE PAPER.  “La Balise: A transimperial focal point”, by Justin T. Dellinger

“Species of Spaces: The Early Computer Cartography Project at the Library of Congress”, by John W. Hessler  

“Non-realized Editions of Ptolemy’s Geography in Early German Humanism”, by Peter Meurer

“Commentary on the Twin Lenox and Ostrich Egg Globes”, by Peter Dickson with response by Stefaan Missinne

 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
This regular feature, a bibliographic listing of articles and books appearing worldwide on antique maps and globes and the history of cartography, is compiled by Joel Kovarsky.

 

BOOK REVIEWS

“Map Worlds: A History of Women in Cartography” (Reviewer: Julie Sweetkind-Singer)

“The Horizons of Christopher Columbus – Using the Heavens to Map America.” (Reviewer: Chip Reynolds)

“Monaco Autrefois” (Reviewer: Bert Johnson)  

“The Vesconte Maggiolo World Map of 1504 in Fano, Italy” (Reviewer: Dick Pflederer)

“Mapping India” (Reviewer: Stephen R. Fox)    

 

SHORTER ITEMS

1.  President’s Spring 2014 Letter, by J.C. McElveen

2.  Washington Map Society Meetings, April – September 2014

3.  Exhibitions and Meetings

4.  Letters to the Editor

5.  Map Site Seeing

6.  Ristow Prize Competition 2014

7.  35th Anniversary of the Washington Map Society – The Beginning – A Look Back, by Bill Stanley

8.  A Trip to the Portolan Atlases in the Morgan Collection, NYC, by Leigh Lockwood 

9.  Seoul and Maps - 2014 IMCoS Symposium, by Sanghoon JANG 

10.  California as an Island collection now at Stanford, by Julie Sweetkind-Springer

11.  Spotlight on the WMS Membership – Albert H. Small

12.  Cartographic Notes, by Thomas Sander

 

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AUTHORS OF ARTICLES AND REVIEWS

 

JUSTIN T. DELLINGER is the winner of the 2013 DR. WALTER RISTOW PRIZE FOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN THE HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY.  After completing his Master of Arts degree in 2010 at the University of Texas at Arlington, Justin began studying for his Ph.D. with a research focus on colonial Louisiana. 

 

PETER DICKSON is the author of several books, including “The Magellan Myth:  Reflections on Columbus, Vespucci and the Waldseemueller Map of 1507” (Second Edition 2009) which includes a chapter offering the first in-depth review of previous scholarship concerning the Lenox globe. 

 

STEPHEN R. FOX is a retired US Foreign Service Officer who served in New Delhi from 1993-95. 

 

JOHN W. HESSLER is Cartographic Reference Specialist, Geography and Map Division Library of Congress and Curator, Jay I. Kislak Collection for the History of the Early Americas. Among his many writings are “The Naming of America – Martin Waldseemüller 1507 World Map and the ‘Cosmographiae Introductio’”, and, with Chet Van Duzer, “Seeing the World Anew – The Radical Vision of Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 & 1516 World Maps.”

 

SANGHOON JANG is Curator, National Museum of Korea, and a Member of the IMCoS 2014 Organizing Committee.

 

BERT JOHNSON, a frequent contributor to “The Portolan” and past president of the WMS, studies maps of the Mediterranean.

 

JOEL KOVARSKY is proprietor of The Prime Meridian: Antique Maps & Books.

 

LEIGH LOCKWOOD is Webmaster of the WMS, and a frequent contributor to “The Portolan.”

 

PETER H. MEURER has headed several research projects at the Universities of Cologne, Duisburg and Trier as well as in cooperation with private collectors. He is the author of more than 150 publications on pre-1700 history of cartography mainly in Germany and the Low Countries.

 

STEFAAN MISSINNE, PhD, is a Belgian resident in Austria. He is the author of “A Newly Discovered Early Sixteenth-Century Globe Engraved on an Ostrich Egg: The Earliest Surviving Globe Showing the New World” which appeared in “The Portolan”, Issue 87 (Fall 2013) and drew worldwide media and scholarly interest.  His research into the actual engraver of the globe continues.

RICHARD PFLEDERER is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of “The Portolan” and is a frequent contributor to the journal.  He is the author of several reference books on the subject of Portolan charts, the latest “Finding Their Way at Sea: the Story of Portolan Charts, the Cartographers who Drew Them and the Mariners who Sailed by Them.”

 

WILLIAM T. (CHIP) REYNOLDS is Director, New Netherland Museum, and Captain, Replica Ship Half Moon. His article ‘September 11, 2001 Aboard the Half Moon [in New York Harbor]’ appeared in “The Portolan’s” issue 52 (Winter 2001-2002, and his review of “Testarossa” appeared in Issue 73 (Winter 2008).

 

THOMAS SANDER is editor of “The Portolan”.

 

WILLIAM A. STANLEY is Retired Chief Historian, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Owner of Cartographic Associates, antique map and print dealer.  A WMS Charter member, he led the 25^th Anniversary organizing committee.

 

JULIE SWEETKIND-SPRINGER is the Assistant Director of Geospatial, Cartographic and Scientific Data and the Head of the Branner Earth Sciences Library and Map Collections at Stanford University.  She has published numerous articles on map librarianship and on the long term preservation of geospatial information.

 

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Web Site for more information about the Washington Map Society:   http://www.WashMapSociety.org   
A listing and index of the contents of all issues of 'The Portolan' is accessible at http://www.washmapsociety.org/Portolan-Indexes.htm
Also at http://www.washmapsociety.org/The-Portolan-Journal.htm   is information

on how to order and locate issues of the journal, and procedures for prospective authors.

Online links to several past articles are also at the “Portolan” web page.
 
Membership/Subscription Cost: Subscription cost is the same as membership, and may be commenced at any time. To U.S. addresses, the cost is US $45.00 per year. To Canadian addresses the rate is US$50.00 per year.  For other foreign addressees, the annual cost is US$ 65.00. Multiple year memberships/ subscriptions are available; the annual cost is reduced if a multiple year membership is chosen – see web site.  All non-US address copies of the journal are sent airmail; the US Postal Service no longer offers a surface option.  Payment is accepted in US dollars only. Payment may be made via PayPal for membership/subscriptions and back issues.   Membership/ subscription/PayPal details form can be found at the Washington Map Society Web Site below. For further information, contact John Docktor at [log in to unmask] 

Current/Past Copies: Copies of 'The Portolan' beginning with issue 66 cost US$16.00 postpaid for US; $18 postpaid to Canada, and $23 to other foreign addresses.  Payment is accepted in US dollars only, and may be paid via check or PayPal.  Issues 65 and earlier are available at a lower cost. A discount is given for orders of multiple issues. See http://www.washmapsociety.org/Purchase-of-Back-Issues.htm for details on ordering the current or past Portolans.

 

NOTE: The Portolan business office will be closed from 3-15 April due to scheduled absence. 
 
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Posted By:
Thomas F. Sander
Editor, 'The Portolan'
Washington Map Society
9501 Burke Road, # 10793
Burke, VA 22009-8036 USA
 
Phone: 703.426.2880       International: +1.703.426.2880         Fax: 703.426.2881 
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Washington Map Society Web Site:  www.WashMapSociety.org
Portolan Web Site: http://www.washmapsociety.org/The-Portolan-Journal.htm

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