The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps

197 Pages·2014·3.2 MB·English

by  Benjamin B. Olshin

The Mysteries of
the Marco Polo Maps

The Mysteries of
the Marco Polo Maps
BENJAMIN B. OLSHIN
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
BENJAMIN B. OLSHIN is associate professor of philosophy and
the history and philosophy of science and technology at the Univer-
sity of the Arts, Philadelphia.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2014 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2014.
Printed in the United States of America
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-14982-0 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-14996-7 (e-book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226149967.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Olshin, Benjamin B., author.
The mysteries of the Marco Polo maps / Benjamin B. Olshin.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-226-14982-0 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-226-14996-7 (e-book) 1. Polo, Marco,
1254–1323? 2. Cartography—History. I. Title.
G370.P9O57 2014
912.092—dc23
2014003274
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Introduction 1
1 The “Marco Polo Maps” and the Polo Family 15
2 Who Was “Biaxio Sirdomap”? 28
3 To the Distant East 38
4 The Daughters’ Maps 56
5 Chronicles and Histories 68
6 Maps of the New World 88
7 Conclusions and Future Directions 98
Acknowledgments 123
Appendix 1: An Inventory of the Documents 125
Appendix 2: A Partial Genealogy of the Rossi Family 129
Appendix 3: Genealogy of the Family of Marco
Polo the Traveller 131
Notes 133 Bibliography 155 Index 167
v

Illustrations
Figures
1 Filomeno Emanuele Marciano Rossi 4
2 Luigi Rossi 5
3 Document 13 (“Keynote to Pantect Map”), recto and
verso 17
4a Document 14 (“Moreta Polo Map 2”), recto (full and
close-up views) 18
4b Document 14 (“Moreta Polo Map 2”), verso 18
5 The 1517 map of Pedro Reinel 50
6 The 1522 map of Nuño Garcia de Toreno, eastern
portion 51
7a A printed version of the world map of Ptolemy, 1482 53
7b A close-up of the eastern regions of Ptolemy 53
8 One of the 1513 sketch charts of Francisco Rodrigues 54
9a The 1566 map of Paolo Forlani/Bolognino Zaltieri 76
9b The 1566 map of Paolo Forlani/Bolognino Zaltieri: detail
of strait between Asia and North America 76
10 A German edition of the late eighteenth-century “Chart
of the Strait Between Asia & America . . .” by Aaron
Arrowsmith 78
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
11 A comparison of the regions around the Bering Strait in the
Arrowsmith map with the same area in the “Map with Ship” 79
12 The 1507 world map of Martin Waldseemüller 84
13 The Johann Ruysch map of 1507 85
14 A comparison of the island of Antilla in the “Map of the New World”
with Cuba in the “Columbus Map” 89
15 A comparison of the isle of Yezo from the 1630 map of João
Teixeira Albernaz with the island of Antilla in the “Map of the
New World” 90
16 The “Columbus Map” with the Americas reoriented north to
south 96
17 A comparison of the British Isles in the “Moreta Polo Map 2,” verso,
and the British Isles in a 1490 edition of Ptolemy 101
18 The West African coast below the Strait of Gibraltar in the “Moreta
Polo Map 2,” verso, compared to the West African coast in an edition
of Ptolemy 102
19 India/Taprobane in “Moreta Polo Map 2,” verso; India/Taprobane in
document 8 (“Moreta Polo Map 1”), recto; and India/Taprobane in a
typical Ptolemaic map, with encompassing outline added 103
20a Detail of the region of Fousang on Philippe Buache’s 1752 map 106
20b Detail on Buache’s 1752 map of the supposed route of Hui Shen 106
Plates (following page 94)
1 Document 1 (“Sirdomap Map”), recto
2 Document 2 (“Sirdomap Text”), recto
3 Document 3 (“Bellela Polo Chronicle”), recto
4 Document 4 (“Map with Ship”), recto
5 Document 5 (“Pantect Map”), recto
6 Document 6 (“Fantina Polo Map 1”), recto
7 Document 7 (“Fantina Polo Map 2”), recto
8 Document 8 (“Moreta Polo Map 1”), recto
viii
ILLUSTRATIONS
9 Document 9 (“Lorenzo Polo Chronicle”), recto
10 Document 12 (“Spinola Chronicle”), recto
11a Document 10 (“Map of the New World”), recto
11b Document 10 (“Map of the New World”), verso
12 Document 11 (“Columbus Map”), recto
ix