The mismapping of America / Seymour I. Schwartz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwartz, Seymour I., 1928-2020.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cartography--United States--History.

Cartography.

History.

United States--History--Errors, inventions, etc.

United States.

Physical Description:

xv, 233 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Rochester, N.Y. : University of Rochester Press, 2003.

Summary:

America is named for Amerigo Vespuscci. Yet how did a little-known explorer earn such a distinction? He didn't he never even set foot on the North American continent and played no significant part in the discovery of South America. The reason for his fame: a simple error made by an early sixteenth-century cartographer, who misinterpreted earlier records. Other such 'mismapping' errors include the description of California as an island; the existence of an apocryphal 'Isle Philippeaux' in Lake Superior; Giovanni da Verranzano's mistaking either the Parnlico or Albemarle Sound for the Pacific Ocean; and the belief in a North-West passage. This book examines these five major mistakes made in mapping America, and the effects that they had, in some cases so profound that they became ingrained over time.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1580461298

OCLC:

51235174