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In 2020, the worldwide pandemic forced a late cancellation of the symposium. As an alternative, authors of accepted presentations were encouraged to submit full papers on their work for publication in an open access proceedings volume, which can be found here: https://www.proc-int-cartogr-assoc.net/3/. The volume also contains a preface by commission chair Imre Demhardt, with the full story on the course the symposium took from spring 2020 to the summer of 2021.

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The Symposium offered the opportunity to meet again in person, at the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), to participate in a four-day programme of lectures by talented speakers, and special visits to museums and map rooms.
It was a great challenge to organise this international conference in these complicated times; it was taken up by an enthusiastic organising committee which concocted an entertaining programme mainly focused on Belgium.
The dedicated web site of the 38th IMCoS International Symposium is still accessible here. Do not miss the gallery.
For the record, here are the links to the lectures broadcast: The 39th Symposium is already on track. The University of Texas will welcome us in 2022.
[Updated on 30 October 2021]

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As part of the SEPAC organisation’s 2021 joint issue of stamps on the theme of Historical Maps, POST Philately is depicting the oldest, precise map of the city of Luxembourg drawn by Jacob van Deventer in the sixteenth century. He created this important document shortly after 1559 on the orders of King Philip II of Spain.

Read more.

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Terrae Incognitae, the Journal of the Society for the History of Discoveries, aims to examine the history and impact of geographic exploration and cross-cultural interaction around the globe prior to the modern era. Some articles are freely available.
Volume 53, 2021 has been recently issued.
It contains a fascinating article, by Paolo Chiesa, entitled Marckalada: The First Mention of America in the Mediterranean Area (c. 1340), examines discussions about Markland, a geographic region scholars today consider to be part of the Atlantic coast of America. As the title of the article indicates, Chiesa suggests that geographic knowledge about Markland circulated in the Mediterranean region during the first half of the fourteenth century, well before the time of Columbus.
Link to the full article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00822884.2021.1943792

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Contents

  • Looks at Books
    • La Carte d’Avignon : De la Méditerranée à la Baltique 1190 – 1490 [The Avignon Chart: From the Mediterranean to the Baltic 1190 – 1490] by Jacques Mille (Nicola Boothby)
    • Atlas wilde bomen en struiken - Landschappelijk groen erfgoed in de provincies van Nederland en Vlaanderen [Atlas of Wild Trees and Shrubs – Scenic Green Heritage in the Provinces of the Netherlands and Flanders]
    • Catalan Maps and Jewish Books: The Intellectual Profile of Elisha ben Abraham Cresques (1325-1387)
  • History and Cartography
    • What Dick Pflederer’s Census tells us about portolan charts
    • Agnese atlas owned by Philip II emerges in Spain!
  • The Brussels Map Circle
    • The 38th IMCoS International Symposium Programme
    • Three Milleniums of Measurement of Earth

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The proceedings of the postponed symposium Mapping the Ottoman Realm: Travelers, Cartographers and Archaeologists (which was due to take place in Istanbul in April 2020 before the pandemic intervened), have been published in an open access volume which can be found here. The volume also contains a preface by the commission chair Imre Demhardt, with the full story on the course the symposium took from spring 2020 to the summer of 2021.
The proceedings contain a paper by Wouter Bracke, President of the Brussels Map Circle, entitled From the Atlas de l’Europe by Philippe Vandermaelen (1828–1833) to the Weiss Map by Thomas Best Jervis (1854).

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The Vinland Map, which purports to be a fifteenth-century map with a pre-Columbian depiction of the North American Coast, was drawn with modern inks, suggests a new analysis by Yale scientists and conservators.
Read more on YaleNews.

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As the 38th European Heritage Days are held on 18 and 19 September 2021, IGN France website presents some of the most emblematic jewels in the world history of cartography.
From the first representations on clay tablets to the digital age, IGN offers a look at thirty centuries of maps and appreciate the legacy of genius cartographers who, at the crossroads of the arts, sciences and spirituality, drew maps that reflected their perception of the world. (free version)
The cartographic representations developed by civilisations evolve with their own techniques and aesthetic sense. The thirty examples that illustrate this historical journey seem to be characteristic of particularly remarkable cultures with an undeniable influence in the spiritual, artistic and technical development of humanity. It is also an invitation to discover other maps, treasures that are both art and science, such as those of the IGN France presented at the end of this panorama.
Read more.

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This issue includes Emily Boak’s 2020 Ristow prize-winning essay on the British mapping of Afghanistan, Matthew Edney’s article on Joachim Lelewel’s editing early maps, Wesley A. Brown’s favorite map that engages James W. Abert’s exploration of the southwestern United States, Dirk de Pagter’s journey of maps by Don Juan Corradi, Donald McGuirk’s discussion of Giovanni Vavassore’s Tuto il Mondi Tereno (c. 1522), Ira Lourie’s inquiry about A.J. Johnson’s maps, and four book reviews.
Read more.

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