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Thanks to the encouragement of my associate, Ross Togashi at Hamilton
Library, I am finally connected to this invaluable access route of map
illumination.  Although Ross has been extremely helpful in the activities
of my project (the Multicultural Discovery Project) he is in no way
formally affiliated with the project nor is he responsible for the press
releases or conclusions put forth by me or my colleagues on the project.
 
Dr. Thomas Kloeti of Cartographica Helvetica has asked for clarification
regarding a statement in the recent press release concerning Irish
settlement in America by 1350 AD.  The question he raised was in regard
to the statement that "His discovery (referring to Thompson and colleagues
on the project) of a 1414 survey map of North America by the English
friar Nicholas of Lynn, was reported in the prestigious journal,
_Cartographica Helvetica_, in January."  Unfortunately, the press release
was written for a local, Honolulu newspaper and therefore embodies the
kind of communication limitations inherent in the public newspaper
media.  The article by Arthur Durst in _Cartographica Helvetica_ in fact
makes no mention of Nicholas of Lynn, but it does include a copy of
Thompson's facsimile of the DeVirga map (variously dated 1411, 1414, or
1415).  And this facsimile has Thompson's identification of North and
South America as shown on DeVirga's map.  DeVirga used the term "Norveca
Europa" on his map to identify the continental land mass extending out to
the northwest of Norway.  A thorough cartographical examination of this
North American continent on a 1414 (or so) map will be included in my
forthcoming book, "The Friar's Map of Ancient America--1360 AD."  Of
course, Albertin DeVirga compiled his 1414 map from existing sourcesQ-one
of which was the survey of "Polar Regions" by the English Franciscan,
Nicholas of Lynn ca. 1360 and reported in his book, _Inventio
Fortunatae_.  Indeed, it is most likely that DeVirga used this source for
his map.  I base this conclusion on numerous historical references to the
Franciscan survey of the Polar Regions and use of the name "Norveca"
which was current between 1261 and 1380--the same time the Franciscans
conducted their survey.  The somewhat misleading sentence which Thomas
Kloeti refers to would have been more accurately written to say that: "the
map was by the Venetian, Albertin DeVirga in 1414--and based on earlier
maps including a map of Polar Regions by the English Franciscan, Nicholas
of Lynn, completed circa 1360."  Of course, _Cartographica Helvetica_
has not indorsed my theory that DeVirga relied on English sources,
although the editors have recognized the potential importance of my
identification of North America and South America on the map.
 
Those who are interested in the DeVirga map might compare the
southeastern continent--the huge isle southeast of Asia--with the
outline of the coast of South America near the Gulf of Guayaquil.  I
have noted that the outline is extremely close to the actual outline of
the gulf region.  Also, DeVirga used the name Ca-paru for this
continent; and this is the earliest mention of Peru on a map.  It is
followed by Andrea Bianco's 1436 mappamond which designates an isle in
the same location as "Ixola Per-linda" or the isle of Per Land.  This is
in reference to Peru--as "Per" is one of the variations of Ophir which
some 16th-century historian/geographers identified as the Land of Peru
in South America.  More on this in my forthcoming book.
 
Some question has been raised concerning the Mecia Viladestes map of
1413 that was mentioned in the same press release as evidence of an
Irish settlement in North America.  Although Irish lands in the west,
particularly "Hy-Bresail" were legendary, Norse sagas reported Irish
settlers near Vinland (the Norse colony near the Gulf of St.
Lawrence).  This Irish settlement was referred to as "Albania Magna,"
"Hvitramannaland," or "Great Ireland."  This same Albania Magna is seen
on 15th-century maps north of China!  One of these is the Borgia Carte
of 1458.  But by the 16th century,
geographers realized that Albania Magna was located in the western
continent (North America) and it occupies such a position in the New
England or Nova Scotia region on maps by Erlend Thordsen (1568) and Jon
Gudmundsson (ca. 1600).  These maps are discussed in my book, "American
Discovery (1994)," and will also be mentioned in my forthcoming
bookQ-"The Friar's Map."  "Irland-al-Kabirah," or Great Ireland, was
also mentioned in Al-Idrisi's 1154 geography as a land beyond
Greenland.  It is mentioned in the 1350 account by an anonymous Spanish
Franciscan as an isle ("Ibernia") northwest of "Irlanda."  That means
an Ireland northwest of Ireland--or a second Ireland!  The importance
of the Viladestes map is that it identifies this Ibernia as an island
beyond Iceland--and this is important because here-to-fore, historians
have assumed that the friar's mention of "Ibernia" was a mistake for
Iceland.  However, the Viladestes map confirms that Ibernia was
regarded as a separate isle or territory beyond Iceland.  On earlier
maps in the Majorcan-Jewish Catalan tradition, this Ibernia is also
called Archania (or Arcadia) and this territory was eventually placed
in the region of Nova Scotia on 16th-century maps as L'Arcadia.  The
Majorcan maps, as early as 1330, identified the land directly east of
Archania as Alloland or alogia--the Norse freehold estates of
Greenland.  It is thus apparent from all the evidence that the isle,
Ibernia or Archania, is regarded as beyond both Iceland and Greenland
to the west relative to Europe.  When the Spanish friar identifies this
as a land of forests with fat birds that are delicious either boiled or
roasted--we are led to conclude that the place being referred to is
Albania Magna--the Nova Scotia region of forests and turkeys.  The
clincher is the friar's claim that this Ibernia flew the Norwegian flag
in 1350--which is within the time frame 1261 to 1380 during which
Norway claimed sovereignty over the Polar Regions--i.e., North
America.  I have a whole bunch of maps to confirm this interpretation
in my forthcoming book.  Space and pressing duties prevent me from
being more elaborative in this context.
 
Another issue addressed in my book is the authenticity of Yale's
Vinland Map.  A few years ago, I corresponded with Walter McCrone--the
person whose chemical analysis branded the map a fraud.  It was his
belief that a yellow line on the map beneath the map outline was an
attempt by the "forger" to mimic the effects of aging.  Of course,
McCrone had never drawn a map.  I mentioned that I had used a similar
technique when tracing a map--using a preliminary sketch with light
ink--in order to assure that the final lines got in the right position.
Later, I noticed that the spelling of Vinland on the
map--"Vin-i-landa"--is actually a peculiar Danish spelling that was
current between 1350 and 1500.  Most historians are ignorant of this
fact, and it is unlikely that a forger would have been knowledgeable
concerning such a peculiar item.  Also, you might notice the truncated
form of the coast of Asia--which ends in India Terza (the third India).
What happened to the other two?  A forger wouldn't have done this to a
map; indeed, even R.A. Skelton was baffled by the truncation of Asia.
The reason why it was so drawn is that it is actually an early