Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
First map to name America goes on display at Library of Congress
The Library has the only surviving copy of the famous Waldseemüller map, created in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller, a German cartographer living in France. The map was a major departure from earlier maps in that it relied less on the received wisdom of Classical geographers like Ptolemy and more on reports by the many explorers of the time.
Waldseemüller studied reports by Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci and decided Columbus was wrong in thinking he had reached India. Waldseemüller favored Vespucci's theory that the lands they were exploring on the other side of the Atlantic were actually part of a previously unknown continent. Waldseemüller rewarded Vespucci by naming the continent after him. America is the feminized Latin form of Vespucci's first name. All other continents had Latin feminine names, so it fit.
The map is not only correct about the New World, but also portrays other parts of the globe far more accurately than other maps of the time. It's a fine work of art too, with detailed depictions of terrain and portraits of Ptolemy and Vespucci.
The map is on display as part of the exhibition "Exploring the Early Americas."
Gallery: The 10 most common foreign cities in which Americans are arrested
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, North America, United States
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian Nov 2nd 2009 2:35PM
Actually, the map is part of the ongoing exhibit "Exploring the Early Americas." (http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/EarlyAmericas/Pages/default.aspx)
The interactive features on the Waldsemüller map are available at: http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/EarlyAmericas/AftermathoftheEncounter/DocumentingNewKnowledge/CartographicTreasures/ExhibitObjects/INT_WaldsMaps.aspx
The Lewis & Clark Exhibit was in 2003.
Matt Raymond Nov 2nd 2009 4:03PM
Hi, Sean. I'm the Library's communications director. Could you point me to what you're looking at? As far as I know, everything is current.
We made a massive media effort last year to make sure people knew about the new "Library of Congress Experience," of which the Waldseemueller map is a crown jewel. (We believe that effort is paying off, as average visitorship this year is up more than 50 percent.)
Matt Raymond
Library of Congress
Sean McLachlan Nov 2nd 2009 4:04PM
Matt,
A colleague sent me your Information Bulletin on the map, but failed to include the margins, which showed that it was not your current bulletin. My mistake for not going to the source. Keep up the good work at the LoC.
Matt Raymond Nov 2nd 2009 4:15PM
Aha. Well, it wouldn't have been the first mistake we had made -- nor the last. ;-)
Thanks for the post.
Hugo Nov 2nd 2009 8:53PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKqIJs5pPQM
Personne Nov 9th 2009 6:06PM
So. The continent was originally named America. But it should be renamed since the US has usurpated its name and fooled a lot of people into thinking that it is a nation or a country.
There is no such thing as an "american" flag. There is no such thing as an "american" dollar. This continent has no flag or currency. Mexico is on the same continent as the U.S. and - believe it or not - they are de facto americans too.
The United States used to be just a part of America, not America itself; hence the name: United States OF America. Trying to set it straight is absolutely impossible now given the jingoistic and fanatical closed-mindedness of US citizens.
The Continent should therefore be renamed.