Evening star., 1915-07-16

are the old portolanos. or sea charts.
used by navigators preceding ana
throughout the fifteenth century. These
with the richest colorings, painted in
after the fashion of the illuminattons
upon the old missals and prayer books.
They are painted on parchment or
sheepskin. and show what was known Tn
Of the most interesting. dated 14s4. IN
dicates the principal cities Of the dif-
ferent countries by towers embellfshed
with the coats Of arms OF the pewers
ruling them.
Many manuscript maps connected
with tho early history Of the American
colonies are to be seen.
Man Drawn One Of them, drawn
n:. by Capt. T h o m s
6y q 1Hate. Pound, a famous
pirate in 1881. is supposed to represent
tho region surrounding Boston. It's
spelling is unique. "Matthathusetts"
map. drawn by George Washington. of
the land granted him along the Great
Kanawha river. in West Virginia, by
the British government. Is carefully
preserved. A large map of exquisitely
fine workmanship. drawn by the engi-
neer Of Sir William Howe. showing
Philadelphia and its defenses in 1777.
is one of the most perfect manuscript
map acquired during the present year
Is large manuscript map Of the Phil
ippine Islands, made in 1857 by Pedro
Freylin.
Roller maps have become practically
obsolete because of the Inconvenience
OF handling them, and also because the
varnish hardens and cracks with age,
destroying the map. All old maps are
carefully cut into sections, each Of
which is mounted upon a sheet Of
strong manila. and these are placed in
folios Special metal cases. designed
by Mr.. Phillips for the Library of Con-
gress, have been copied by many other
large Libraries. They are practically
have the added advantage of being Are
proof The maps in the Library of
Congress are classified chronoloeically
and by subjects in thirteen separate
divisions.
Map making is one Of the Oldest arts
IN the world and has been used by the
most primitive
Among Oldest Arts people. The
"'Ai" tronomy was not
! utilized in map making until after the
| Christian era, although the ancient
Babylonians had divided space into $50
degrees containing sixty minutes of
| sixty seconds each. Most of the old
maps are largely allegorical. and were
based upon travelers' tales, which were
| anything but authentic. An old map of
the sixteenth century shows the in
terror Of Africa, embellished by a Pc
| culiar human being holding up a foot
| half the length OF Its body. Sir Henry
| Vaudeville, a traveller of that period
told that the Inhabitants of Africa had
feet SO large that they held them up
| themselves from the rays of the sun.
| Another curious old map represents the
earth as rectangle. 1t is based upon
the chapter in Revelations describing
| the four corners of the earth.
The hieroglyphics and ancient draw
! tngs OF primitive races which cannot
| be interpreted are supposed by some
photographers to represent maps. The
| painted rocks of Arizona are supposed
| to indicate trails and physical land
| marks Of that country centuries ago.
The Eskfmos make crude maps and
drawings, some of which were of suf-
fctent accuracy to enable Sir Edwin
Perry to locate Heckla's strait, as well
! as to guide the relief party sent out
in search of the members of the Frank
lin expedition.
The contrast between such crude
| drawings and the finished map Of to-
| day is as strong as between any other
production of savagery and civiliza-
| tion. The American Geographical So
ciety of New York has had the windows
of its magnificent new building at
Broadway and 156th street decorated
with transparencies representing the
development of map making. There
are forty-two maps in this collection.
ranging from the first century to the
| close of the seventeenth. The maps
contained in the library of the society
inside Of the building indicate the
| progress made by tho map makers
since then.
The general geographical map Of the
modern atlas is a triumph Of combined
art and science. It Is
A,4