This, my blogging buddies, is the 500th post in
Tales from here and there about this and that; the blog is a few years old now because back in the early days, we didn't post every day. Given the themes reflected in this blog, such as adventure, travel and art, it is fitting that we should draw your attention in our 500th post to the 500th anniversary of the publication of the first map known to show the whole earth.
The remarkable map is the work of German cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller, in 1507 and was designed to be cut out and pasted onto a sphere. Much is made of the map because it is believed to be the first document that names America, be it South America, and both North and South America are depicted as land masses separate from Asia. Consider also, that the map was drawn using data obtained from sailors and explorers, and in those days travel really was an adventure activity.
More.
You can see the Waldseemüller Globe Gores Map at the University of Minnesota,
T.R. Anderson Gallery, in the James Ford Bell Library, where it is the central feature in an anniversary exhibition celebrating '
The Map that Named America, 1507-2007', which runs through to December 31, 2007.
Labels: 500, America, blog, map, Oldest Map, U.S.A., University of Minnesota, Waldseemueller Globe Gores Map
