Maps Inchoate

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Tue, 21 May 2013 20:17:28 -0700

Piri Reis, Venice, early 16th century

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:24:13 -0700

Piri Reis, Venice, early 16th century

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Mon, 20 May 2013 11:24:08 -0700

Patent illustration for Alexander Graham Bell’s Tetrahedron...

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:43:47 -0700

Patent illustration for Alexander Graham Bell’s Tetrahedron Kite. 1904. *

Map of Rome, Detail from Emperor Joseph II with Grand Duke...

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:42:09 -0700

Map of Rome, Detail from Emperor Joseph II with Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany, Pompeo Batoni, 1769 {via imagediver}

Drawings by Henry Fonda {via thingsmagazine}

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:47:06 -0700

Drawings by Henry Fonda {via thingsmagazine}

Nicolaus Copernicus’s revolutionary 1543 view of the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:25:32 -0700

Nicolaus Copernicus’s revolutionary 1543 view of the universe + {via explore-blog}

Rocks and minerals of Egypt. From Napoleon I, Description de...

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:24:09 -0700

Rocks and minerals of Egypt. From Napoleon I, Description de l’Egypte: Histoires Naturelles Planches. Volume 2 bis. Mineralogie. 1809.

Munro Leaf, from The Boy Who Would Not Go To School: Robert...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:51:12 -0700

Munro Leaf, from The Boy Who Would Not Go To School: Robert Francis Weatherbee {via mythologyofblue}

Kunyu Wanguo Quantu,Matteo Ricci’s complete map of all the...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:27:58 -0700

Kunyu Wanguo Quantu,Matteo Ricci’s complete map of all the nations of the world from 1602.

The map (Chinese 坤輿萬國全圖, pinyin: Kūnyú Wànguó Quántú which literally means A Map of the Myriad Countries of the World) was printed at the request of the Wanli Emperor. It is a xylograph (wood block print) on six panels of fine native paper (made with bamboo fiber), in all measuring approximately 182 x 365 cm. The large scale, Ricci explained, let the viewer “travel about, as it were, while reclining at ease in his own study.”

Li Zhizao (1565-1630), a Chinese mathematician, astronomer and geographer, was the cartographer who engraved the map, it took him and his assistants an entire year to carve the wood blocks! The first versions of the map were printed by Zhang Wentao of Hangzhou, possibly an official printer of the Ming court. Although printed in great quantities, today only six complete examples are known to exist.

Ricci’s monumental work is as elusive as it is legendary. Popularly called The Impossible Black Tulip because of its rarity, or Map of the Ten Thousand Countries of the World, it is the oldest surviving Chinese map to show the Americas. To create it, Ricci resourcefully drew from both Western and Eastern cartographic traditions. He relied on 16th-century Dutch atlases, and also consulted Chinese scholars just as he made use of Chinese maps and land surveys. As the map was completed one year after Ricci was allowed to roam in the Forbidden City, he most likely had access to a copy of Zheng He’s map in the imperial archive. For Ming period Chinese to know the comparative size of the three largest oceans (Pacific, Atlantic and Indian) and draw the map, they must have circumnavigated and returned safely. It is thus beyond reasonable doubt that Ricci actually uncovered and redrew a Chinese world map of Zheng He’s era (1405-1433), proving that Chinese were the first to start the Great Discovery Age.

The main map shows an oval shaped world map, and includes insets of astronomical and seasonal maps. On top right is “Seventh Heaven” chart; on bottom right is “Armillary sphere”; on top left is a map of “Northern Hemisphere”, “Solar and Lunar Eclipse” chart; and on bottom left is a map of “Southern Hemisphere”, map of “Chinese 24 seasonal segments calendar” and “Quantity-day ruler”.

Wikipedia has a good account of the entire history of the original and the derived copies here. Interesting academic on-line discussions on the origins here and here.

1. Version of the map attributed to Giulio Aleni, 1620 @ Vatican Apostolic Library Collection, see here

2. Version of the 1602 map belonging to James Ford Bell Trust

3. The James Ford Bell Trust map exhibited @ University of Minnesota, good optical exploration tool here

4. Small scale north polar projection map at the top of the first left panel

5. Copy of the Giulio Aleni version, 1620’s

6. Version of the original map created by Li Yingshi in 1603 @ Liaoning Provincial Museum in Shenyang.

7. Unattributed two page colored Japanese copy of the original, from 1604. {via matteoricci}

A satirical profile of Napoleon. His face is made of dead bodies...

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:55:27 -0700

A satirical profile of Napoleon. His face is made of dead bodies and his upper torso is a battle map. Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie. 1814-1815 +

Louis Richeome S. J. - Tableaux sacrez des figures mystiques du...

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:51:19 -0700

Louis Richeome S. J. - Tableaux sacrez des figures mystiques du tres-auguste sacrifice et sacrement de l’Eucharistie (1601). > Engraving by Léonard Gaultier. {via speciesbarocus}

Pyramids as maps. Great Pyramid. Vertical and horizontal...

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:24:59 -0700

Pyramids as maps.

Great Pyramid. Vertical and horizontal sections. Fig. 1. Vertical section from south to north through passages and chamber, 1837 {via mythologyofblue}

Krishna’s Victory Over Aghasura, Early 18th century...

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:24:15 -0700

Krishna’s Victory Over Aghasura, Early 18th century {via anticipatedstranger}

Carl Andre - Now Now (1967) {via likeafieldmouse}

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:23:34 -0700

Carl Andre - Now Now (1967) {via likeafieldmouse}

Gebrauchsgraphik magazine, Oct. 1969 cover {via arpeggia}

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:21:27 -0700

Gebrauchsgraphik magazine, Oct. 1969 cover {via arpeggia}

The women of Souli, according to folklore, collectively jumped...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:28:51 -0700

The women of Souli, according to folklore, collectively jumped from the cliff of Zaloggo to avoid the Ottoman Turkish army. Their politicization of suicide still haunts the Greek social imaginary. {via thestolencaryatid}

Christian Waldvogel {via defacedbook}

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:03:19 -0700

Christian Waldvogel {via defacedbook}

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Sat, 11 May 2013 15:47:00 -0700

Duane Michals + {via mythologyofblue}

Fri, 10 May 2013 21:57:20 -0700

Duane Michals + {via mythologyofblue}