Mirela Slukan-Altić

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Presentations                                                                                                                                                                      KiG 2002,1146      Historic Maritime Maps Used for HistoricExploration 12901699Donald WigalThe book Historic Maritime Maps by Donald Wigal(Parkstone Press, New York, 2000, 264 pages, hardcover) will be a real delicacy for every fan of oldmaps and the period of the New World Discoveries.It is an exceptionally lavishly produced monograph.Old charts, especially portolans, are not a meredecorative illustration here. High quality of theattached map reproductions provides a very goodlegibility and usability for various historicresearches, which makes the book exceptionallyvaluable. These are rare and very valuable maritimecharts made mostly in the period of GreatGeographic Discoveries, as a need, but also as aconsequence of sea travels and discoveries of untilthen unknown countries and civilisations.The book consists of six chapters. In the firstintroductory chapter (Maps and Exploring) the roleof maps in discovering and exploring the world isemphasised. There are the first explorationsdescribed starting with Alexander the Great in the4th century BC, through Viking raids to Greenlandand America up to the journey of Marco Polo. In thesecond chapter (Discovering New Worlds, West andEast: 14001500) and in the third chapter (Beyondthe New World: 15001550) there are Spanish,Portuguese, French and British explorations andconquering of America described and documentedwith maps. In the fourth chapter (Bridging theOceans: 15501600) and in the fifth chapter (TheRenaissance of Discovery: 16001700) the discoveryand mapping of Africa, Australia and Asia aredescribed, and the sixth chapter (Sailing Towards theModern World: 17001900) is dedicated to thejourney of James Cook and to the explorations ofOceania and polar territories. Each of the chapters isaccompanied by a large number of charts, eitherbeing the basis upon which the journeys were made,or were made as the result of those journeys. At theend of each passage the characteristics anddevelopment of charts at that time are mentioned, aswell as navigation manners, and the most importantcartographic schools. Almost all well known creatorsof charts are presented, as e.g. Petrus Vesconte,Angelino Dulcert, Buillelmus Solieri, CristoforoBuondelmonte, Jacobo Giroldis, Petrus Roselli,Grazioso Benincasa, Gaspar Viegas, Piri Reis,Giacomo de Maggiolo and Francesco Oliva, but alsovery many less known cartographers deservingcredit. The presented charts are kept in the NationalLibrary in Paris, City Libraries in Lion and Dijon, inthe Government Office in Paris, the State Archives inLisbon, the State Archives in Den Haag, the BritishLibrary in London, the National Museum in Tokyo,and in several private collections.Rarity maps are not easily available even if they arekept in Croatia, and since in this case there are raremaps and atlases collected from the whole worldinvolved they would be absolutely unavailable forthe majority of researchers without suchmonographs. Our researcher will now be able to getan insight not only into the history of world researchand into the irreplaceable role of maps, but also intothe development of the sea navigation itself andcartography developed on the basis of abovementioned research without having to travelthemselves.Mirela Slukan-AltićPrikazi                                                                                                                                                                                   KiG 2002,1147    Historic Maritime Maps Used for HistoricExploration 12901699Donald WigalKnjiga Povijesne pomorske karte Donalda Wigala(Parkstone Press, New York, 2000, 264. str, tvrdiuvez) za svakog će ljubitelja starih karata i razdobljaotkrivanja Novog svijeta biti prava poslastica. To jeiznimno bogato opremljena monografija, u kojojstare pomorske karte, osobito portulani, nisu samodekorativna ilustracija. Visoka kvaliteta reprodukcijapriloenih karata osigurava njihovu dobru čitljivost iupotrebljivost za različita povijesna istraivanja, toknjizi daje osobitu vrijednost. Radi se o rijetkim iiznimno vrijednim pomorskim kartama nastalimauglavnom u razdoblju velikih geografskih otkrića,kao potreba, ali i posljedica putovanja morskimprostranstvima i otkrića do tada nepoznatih zemalja icivilizacija.Knjiga se sastoji od est poglavlja. U prvom,uvodnom poglavlju (Maps and Exploring) ističe seuloga karata u otkrivanju i istraivanju svijeta.Opisuju se prva istraivanja, počevi od AleksandraVelikoga u 4. stoljeću pr. Kr., preko vikinkih pohodaprema Grenlandu i Americi sve do putovanja MarkaPola. U drugom (Discovering New Worlds, West andEast: 14001500) i trećem poglavlju (Beyond theNew World: 15001550) opisuju se i kartamadokumentiraju panjolska i portugalska, francuska ibritanska istraivanja i osvajanja Amerike. Učetvrtom (Bridging the Oceans: 15501600) i petompoglavlju (The Renaissance of Discovery: 16001700) riječ je o otkrivanju i kartiranju Afrike,Australije i Azije, dok je esto poglavlje (SailingTowards the Modern World: 17001900) posvećenoputovanjima Jamesa Cooka te istraivanjimaOceanije i polarnih krajeva. Svako je poglavljepopraćeno velikim brojem karata, bilo da su setemelju njih putovanja odvijala, bilo da su nastalekao njihov krajnji rezultat. Na kraju svakog odlomkaposebno se navode osobine i razvoj pomorskih karatatoga razdoblja, načini navigacije te najvanijekartografske kole. Zastupljeni su gotovo svinajpoznatiji majstori pomorskih karata kao sto suPetrus Vesconte, Angelino Dulcert, GuillelmusSolieri, Cristoforo Buondelmonte, Jacobo Giroldis,Petrus Roselli, Grazioso Benincasa, Gaspar Viegas,Piri Reis, Giacomo de Maggiolo i Francesco Olivate niz iznimno zaslunih ali manje poznatihkartografa. Prikazane karte čuvaju se u Nacionalnojknjinici u Parizu, Gradskim knjinicama u Lionu iDijonu, Vladinu uredu u Parizu, Dravnom arhivu uLisabonu, Dravnom arhivu u Haagu, Britanskojknjinici u Londonu, Nacionalnome muzeju u Tokijute u vie privatnih zbirki.Raritetne su karte teko dostupne i kada se čuvaju uHrvatskoj, a kako se tu radi o rijetkim kartama iatlasima sakupljenima iz cijeloga svijeta, bez takvihmonografija one bi za većinu istraivača bile gotovonedostupne. Tako će nai istraivači putem te knjigemoći dobiti uvid ne samo u povijest istraivanjasvijeta i u nezamjenjivu ulogu karata već i u razvojpomorske navigacije i kartografije, koja se temelji naspomenutim putovanjima.Mirela Slukan-Altić

Historic Maritime Maps Used for Historic Exploration 1290-1699, Donald Wigal

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