Phantom Islands: In Search of Mythical Lands

by Dirk Liesemer, Peter Lewis (Translator)

From the famed Atlantis to the remote Rupes Nigra, islands have long held our they are locales isolated from ordinary life, lurking in unexplored corners of the globe and thus full of undisclosed mysteries. At times, however, our fascination with islands has bled into reality, as real maps bear the coordinates of fictional lands and travelogues tell tall tales of their inhabitants, their natural wonders, or their treasures. In  Phantom Islands , Dirk Liesemer tells the stories of thirty of these fantastical islands. Beginning with their supposed discovery, he recreates their fabled landscapes, the voyages that attempted to verify their existence, and, ultimately, the moment when their existence was finally disproven. Spanning oceans and centuries, these curious tales are a chronicle of human lust for discovery and wealth.

Beautifully illustrated with colored maps and charts, Phantom Islands shows the cunning of imposters and frauds, the earnestness of explorers searching for knowledge, and the pleasure that can be found in our willingness to deceive and to be deceived.

Genres: History, Geography, Nonfiction

155 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2016

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was disappointing. A surprise find at McKay Used Books, this looked to be a nice addition to my growing library of "weird geography" books, including the wonderful Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?: The Place Names that History Left Behind, The Clumsiest People in Europe: Or, Mrs. Mortimer's Bad-Tempered Guide to the Victorian World and Ken Jennings' Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks; harking back to those forgotten, pre-GPS and Google Map days when the entire planet wasn't yet mapped down to the square yard, when there was still the possibility of finding - and then misplacing again - entire Lost Continents and Kong Islands…

However, after the first half dozen islands or so this became dull and predictable, lacking even a sprinkling of the humor that made those other books so enjoyable. Basically, it's a litany of Mad Libs or "Create Your Own Adventure"-type stories: "In (year between 1500-1850), the island of (name) was spotted by (sailor/explorer) in the (North/South Atlantic, North/South Pacific) Ocean, and then seen again in (later year) by (later sailor/explorer); after which it was never found again."

Mildly interesting to learn that for a long time both Baja California and Korea were thought to be islands…but otherwise, sorry to say there's very little here to recommend.

[Ute · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelungener Überblick über Inseln, die es nicht gibt mit einer angemessenen kartographischen Darstellung - interessant zu lesen.

[Jim Coughenour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every week there’s a column in the New York Times Book Review called “By the Book” in which literate celebrities share their reading secrets, and every week the interview begins with the question “What books are on your nightstand?” I’m usually amused by the answers, which often feature titles of solemn weighty tomes. On my nightstand I only keep books that will swiftly sweep me away from the day just passed and launch me into reverie, the blissful antechamber to untroubled sleep. The last couple weeks those books have been two Penguin classics – One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse and The Tales of Ise, brilliantly translated and annotated by Peter MacMillan. And this completely marvelous book Phantom Islands by the German writer Dirk Liesemer, translated by Peter Lewis.

If you are the sort of reader who never outgrew your wonder at maps, atlases, globes; if you’re an aficionado of imaginary places; if you’re a denizen of that charmed circle of armchair travelers; this is a book for you. Leisemer has given us accounts by explorers, sometimes from hundreds or even thousands of years ago, of islands discovered then lost because in fact they never existed. With each account we get a map – the coordinates, position and shape of these islands, often with a description of their flora and fauna. The book is beautifully published, illustrated in shades of ultramarine, printed on fine paper with a ribbon bookmark, a book of tactile pleasure to accompany the spindrift of imagination.

It’s also an impressive feat of research, mostly invisible to the reader. “If my research had been forced to rely solely on works in municipal and university libraries, then this book would have never have seen the light of day,” Liesemer writes in his Author’s Note. “Fortunately, quite a number of centuries-old primary sources - or at the very least extracts from them - are now available on the internet. In addition, virtual specialist libraries hold many logbooks of explorers and seafarers, or even academic treatises containing excerpts from logbooks.” This is all music to my sleepy brain.

A perfect book of its kind, whatever that kind is. Put it on the same select shelf as the lovely Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky, the atlases of Rebecca Solnit, Robert Harbison’s Eccentric Spaces and if you can still find them, that fantastic set of tiny travel books Penguin Great Journeys.

[Ambrose Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a place in my soul or heart for mythical things that don't exist. I have a great fondness for islands, real or not so real. This is a great book of these mythical island sightings. I'm also fond of maps. I have a National Geographic map from 1943 that shows the physical location of at least two of these non existent places. (Maria Theresa Reef and Sandy Island).

[Lorens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kleines nettes Buch für Zwischendurch. Schöne Geschichten und Notizen über diverse phantastische Inseln.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about all these untained (possibly been there)...but difficult to be "seen" again islands...
Great BOOK!


目錄
導讀／方凱弘（台北海洋科技大學航海系助理教授）
前言

1.安提利亞
2.亞特蘭提斯
3.奧羅拉群島
4.波羅的亞
5.貝梅哈
6.布威島群
7.布雷西爾島
8.巴斯島
9.拜爾斯島與莫雷爾島
10.克洛克島
11.弗里斯蘭島
12.哈姆斯沃思島
13.胡安德里斯本島
14.下加利福尼亞島
15.康提亞島
16.基南島
17.高麗島
18.瑪麗亞．特里薩礁
19.新南格陵蘭島
20.皮普斯島
21.菲利普島與篷查特蘭島
22.黑岩
23.珊迪島
24.聖布倫丹群島
25.薩森貝格島
26.未知的南方大陸
27.惡魔島
28.圖勒島
29.圖阿納奇群島
30.威洛比之地

[Ottohsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

原來韓國在歐洲人的認知裡，最早也是一個島嶼。

台灣則是三個島嶼。此書中沒提到。