Brussels International
Map Collectors' Circle
The traditional Map Evening, which followed the BIMCC Annual General Meeting, was an opportunity for some twenty-five members and guests to travel back through time.
Conrad Cleasby started with an aeronautical map of 2002 (probably the most recent ever discussed at BIMCC!) showing how recent mapping techniques had been used to present information to pilots about exclusion zones created to protect the Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City. He also presented another item from the collection of aeronautical charts he is starting at EUROCONTROL: a 1929 foldable route chart from Le Bourget to Zurich with, at the back, interesting advertisements and itinerary information meant for visual flying.
Hans Kok also presented an air navigation map, one of the north Atlantic in 1962, pointing out the unreliability still remaining about the terrain topography of Greenland.
The President, Wulf Bodenstein, proposed to create a pole of interest within BIMCC about aviation maps and invited the two first speakers to discuss the idea further. He noted that similar interest was developing regarding old roadmaps (see article in Newsletter No 16, p. 11).
Christophe Klein presented detailed maps of the city of Den Haag, respectively of 1942 and 1980, which were published in … Russian, speculating whether it was an indication of USSR intents regarding their advance to the West.
Kit Batten introduced another kind of pocket roadmaps of the early 1900s intended for cyclists; he pointed out the interesting ads at the back from a whisky producer.
Still referring to the turn of the century, Wulf Bodenstein presented a recently published facsimile edition of the Grosser Deutscher Kolonial Atlas, which presents the remarkable work of the German cartographers who explored and mapped previously unknown regions of Africa (see the review in Newsletter No 16, page 9).
In this connection Jan De Graeve mentioned the current project of having the so-called Strüwe meridian (established 1860, at ca 29° E, from the Baltic states to the Black Sea) declared a UNESCO monument of humanity and wondered if a connection could be made with the measurements of the 30° E meridian established during colonial times in Africa. He will publish an article on this in the next Newsletter.
Moving on to the Black Sea, Francis Herbert showed two maps of the Crimea, both dated 06.06.1854, but showing notable differences; he warned the audience not to put too much trust in dates printed on maps.
Going back one century, Eric Leenders displayed a large wall map (about 1.50 x 2.0 metres) of Zeeland which he had been lucky to discover, and acquire, hidden in a small hotel of the area. This turned out to be a composite print of different copper plates produced at different periods, between the mid 16th and mid 17th centuries, by Visscher, Ottens and Ottens's widow.
Brendan Sinnott presented two maps of Ireland he had recently acquired at the Paris map fair, one by Blaeu and another more recent one by Valk. He also circulated an interesting Historical Atlas of Central Europe recently published (Newsletter No 16, p. 10).
Sam Humes introduced a 16th century map by Hondius showing the strait of Magellan, before it was known that the Tierra del Fuego is an island, with at both sides the fleets of Magellan and Vasco de Gama (read all the details in Sam's article in the next Newsletter).
Wulf Bodenstein asked participants if they knew the origin of the cartouche being used for the titles of BIMCC publications; our new student member Monica Morril correctly identified it as being from Blaeu's map of Madagascar, which Wulf passed around.
The four plates, which Hans Kok presented, had also been published in the 16th century, by Ortelius, but reproduced much older representations of the world, those of the 4th century roadmaps known as Peutinger's table (from the name of the man who rediscovered them in the 16th century).
Philippe Swolfs showed two maps of Flanders, including one by Tramezini, published respectively in 1558 and 1580 that proved that the original 1540 map of Mercator's Atlas had been copied for at least 40 years.
Alex Smith presented a map of France he had acquired, looking for more information about it and its author Battista van Doetecum. Contacts established around the table with other members will certainly permit subsequent identification of the map.
Robert Sussmeyer passed around a carefully restored old maritime instruction book; it had been translated into French in 1554 from the 1540 Spanish original — and ignored the new astronomical concepts introduced by Copernic in 1553! Particularly remarkable was the world map, which was presumed to be of Italian manufacture.
Still about maritime navigation, but more recent, Michael Weiss circulated a photo of an 1854 large-size navigation chart showing exploratory trips around Australia.
Finally Wulf Bodenstein presented the facsimile edition by editor Il Bulino of the Castiglioni World Map dated 1525 and attributed to Diego Ribeiro, piloto maior of Emperor Charles V (now preserved by the University Library of Modena); the 1:1 facsimile reproduced faithfully the 2.14 m long parchment roll and gives a spectacular view of the cartographical knowledge accumulated only 30 years after Columbus' discovery of America (see also the advert in Newsletter No 16, p. 13).
The Map Evening discussions continued around wine and sandwiches prepared and graciously presented by Dominique Bodenstein and her successor, Aline Parmentier. The President presented his wife with flowers and expressed the members' gratitude for her role in catering for the BIMCC events for the past five years.
by Jean-Louis Renteux