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Date: | Tue, 19 Mar 1996 09:44:18 EST |
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----------------------------Original message----------------------------
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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