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No Longer on the Map
No Longer on the Map [Mass Market Paperback] Raymond H. Ramsay (Author) Mass Market Paperback Ballantine Books (July 12, 1973) English 0345234219 978-0345234216 Product 6.9 x 4 x 0.8 inches Shipping 6.4 ounces
276 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 16, 2016
ავტორი გეოგრაფიული მითების ყველაზე გავრცელებულ ამბებს ასახავს: წმინდა წყლის ფანტაზიას, მცდარ ინტერპრეტაციასა თუ ფაქტების გაზვიადებას და მკვლევართა შეცდომებს.
წიგნში განხილულია ელდორადო, სამხრეთის იდუმალი მიწა-წყალი, ფრისლანდია, წმინდა ბრანდანი და კუნძული ბრაზილი, სატანას კუნძულები და ა.შ.
მცირე ნაწვეტი ამ წიგნიდან ჩემს პოსტშიც გამახდა, ანუ ის კუნძული, სადაც იუდა ისკარიოტელი იტანჯებოდა: bit.ly/2cecIZn
წიგნში განხილულია ელდორადო, სამხრეთის იდუმალი მიწა-წყალი, ფრისლანდია, წმინდა ბრანდანი და კუნძული ბრაზილი, სატანას კუნძულები და ა.შ.
მცირე ნაწვეტი ამ წიგნიდან ჩემს პოსტშიც გამახდა, ანუ ის კუნძული, სადაც იუდა ისკარიოტელი იტანჯებოდა: bit.ly/2cecIZn
January 8, 2020
I found this book many years ago (in the pre-Internet age) in the Champaign, IL public library and, years after that, was able to procure a copy on Amazon. Ramsey tells the story of places that were once included on maps produced by Europeans, but now are known to have been either fictitious, such as the island of Antilla, or were consistently misplaced, such as Greenland. Most of the myths he discusses were products of the early years of European transatlantic voyages, but a few small islands were included on maps as late as the 20th century before it was generally agreed that they did not exist.
Ramsey covers very famous myths, such as El Dorado and more obscure ones, such as Friesland (not the existing region of the Netherlands, but a supposed large, inhabited island south of Ireland). For me, the most interesting part of the book is his discussion of the origins of famous, but vaguely understood geographical myths. For instance, many people think of the Spanish myths of Quivira, Cibola and the Seven Cities as describing essentially the same thing, but Ramsey shows that they were actually separate myths describing different places. The book's examination of how geographical myths like these developed, were nurtured, and eventually died makes for very entertaining reading.
The downside is that, since the book was published in 1972, some of the information is out of date. For instance, Ramsey discusses at length the Zeno narrative. This is the account, published in 1558, of the voyages of two Venetian seafaring brothers that supposedly took place in the late 1300s. They were in the service of a prince "Zichmni" who ruled a domain in northern waters (north of Great Britain) and voyaged to many obscure places. There was a popular theory that "Zichmni" was actually Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, a real historical person, and that among the places visited by Sinclair and the Zenos were sections of the North American coastline. The Westford Knight, a supposed picture of a medieval knight bearing Sinclair arms on his shield carved into a rock near Westford, Massachusetts, has been cited as evidence to back this up. Ramsey gives credence to all these theories. However, it is now generally believed by scholars that the Zeno narrative is a hoax and the "Westford Knight" is actually just natural weathering on the rock.
Despite this, the book is still a fascinating journey to mythical lands and well worth a read if you can find a copy.
Ramsey covers very famous myths, such as El Dorado and more obscure ones, such as Friesland (not the existing region of the Netherlands, but a supposed large, inhabited island south of Ireland). For me, the most interesting part of the book is his discussion of the origins of famous, but vaguely understood geographical myths. For instance, many people think of the Spanish myths of Quivira, Cibola and the Seven Cities as describing essentially the same thing, but Ramsey shows that they were actually separate myths describing different places. The book's examination of how geographical myths like these developed, were nurtured, and eventually died makes for very entertaining reading.
The downside is that, since the book was published in 1972, some of the information is out of date. For instance, Ramsey discusses at length the Zeno narrative. This is the account, published in 1558, of the voyages of two Venetian seafaring brothers that supposedly took place in the late 1300s. They were in the service of a prince "Zichmni" who ruled a domain in northern waters (north of Great Britain) and voyaged to many obscure places. There was a popular theory that "Zichmni" was actually Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, a real historical person, and that among the places visited by Sinclair and the Zenos were sections of the North American coastline. The Westford Knight, a supposed picture of a medieval knight bearing Sinclair arms on his shield carved into a rock near Westford, Massachusetts, has been cited as evidence to back this up. Ramsey gives credence to all these theories. However, it is now generally believed by scholars that the Zeno narrative is a hoax and the "Westford Knight" is actually just natural weathering on the rock.
Despite this, the book is still a fascinating journey to mythical lands and well worth a read if you can find a copy.
March 6, 2014
I adore this and books like this. Books and stories that evolve around old maps and events that may or may not have taken place. I love the way they transport me into the never-never-maybe land of forgotten possibilities. I love their useless yet captivating speculations. As the book jacket states, the subject may be fugitive but it's FUN!
January 20, 2011
This random discovery in a used book store many years ago has become one of my favorite "rainy day" books. Ramsay is a talented amateur rather than a professional historian, but his love of the subject makes for a good read.
October 24, 2020
'A book with a map' - more than one map
March 25, 2017
This was a brief but fun read. Ramsay manages to piece together the rather thin gruel of rumor, myth and legend surrounding a variety of places that appeared on maps but either never really existed, or (like the Island of Mam or Mayda) once may have existed, but have long since sunk.
Cartography and its evolution plays an outsize role in this book. Ramsay discusses locations such as Freisland, Quivira and Norumbega, which once upon a time featured prominently on maps, until explorers definitively proved their non-existence. He also recounts the mapping and exploration of the Straits of Anian, the Northwest Passage and Greenland, all of which exist (In the Straits of Anian's case as the present-day Bering Strait) but not exactly in the form they first appeared.
Even stranger are the Ramsay's discussion of places that really do exist, but proof of their existence was gained only with great difficulty, perhaps most strangely in the case of Bouvet Island. I had first heard of Bouvet Island while looking at a world map in my bedroom as a boy. It is a small, isolated Antarctic rock SSW of Cape Town, roughly 1,000 miles from the nearest landfall in any direction. Apparently it was originally discovered in the 18th Century by a French captain who gave it it's name. However, numerous subsequent voyages failed to find it (not hard to imagine as it sits in one of the most Godforsaken parts of the planet) and it vanished from maps, only to be rediscovered in the early 19th century, claimed by the British, once again fail to be located by subsequent voyages and only fixed in location in the early 20th century by the Norwegians (who were looking for whaling stations in the Antarctic) and subsequently claimed by Norway in the 1920's. Thus Norway has territory (as it is uninhabited and uninhabitable it cannot be considered a colony) on the opposite side of the planet from its Nordic homeland, on an island that for much of its history was doubted to exist.
Cartography and its evolution plays an outsize role in this book. Ramsay discusses locations such as Freisland, Quivira and Norumbega, which once upon a time featured prominently on maps, until explorers definitively proved their non-existence. He also recounts the mapping and exploration of the Straits of Anian, the Northwest Passage and Greenland, all of which exist (In the Straits of Anian's case as the present-day Bering Strait) but not exactly in the form they first appeared.
Even stranger are the Ramsay's discussion of places that really do exist, but proof of their existence was gained only with great difficulty, perhaps most strangely in the case of Bouvet Island. I had first heard of Bouvet Island while looking at a world map in my bedroom as a boy. It is a small, isolated Antarctic rock SSW of Cape Town, roughly 1,000 miles from the nearest landfall in any direction. Apparently it was originally discovered in the 18th Century by a French captain who gave it it's name. However, numerous subsequent voyages failed to find it (not hard to imagine as it sits in one of the most Godforsaken parts of the planet) and it vanished from maps, only to be rediscovered in the early 19th century, claimed by the British, once again fail to be located by subsequent voyages and only fixed in location in the early 20th century by the Norwegians (who were looking for whaling stations in the Antarctic) and subsequently claimed by Norway in the 1920's. Thus Norway has territory (as it is uninhabited and uninhabitable it cannot be considered a colony) on the opposite side of the planet from its Nordic homeland, on an island that for much of its history was doubted to exist.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews