Cartographer’s Dream

E 35° — INTO THE PAST

Mappæ Mundi

Sailing into the deep past, when the world was still half-legend.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi — Hereford Mappa Mundi, Richard of Haldingham (attributed), c. 1300

c. 1300

The Hereford Mappa Mundi

The largest medieval map of the world.

east-up
The Catalan Atlas — The Catalan Atlas, Abraham Cresques (attributed), Majorca, 1375

1375

The Catalan Atlas

The most beautiful map of the Middle Ages.

The Tabula Rogeriana — Tabula Rogeriana, Muhammad al-Idrisi, 1154

1154

The Tabula Rogeriana

The world's finest map — drawn upside down.

south-up
The Fra Mauro Map — Fra Mauro Mappa Mundi, Fra Mauro, Camaldolese monk, c. 1450

c. 1450

The Fra Mauro Map

A monk's crowdsourced world, on the eve of discovery.

south-up
The Kangnido — Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Ji Do, Yi Hoe & Kwon Kun (Joseon Korea), 1402

1402

The Kangnido

The Korean map that saw farther than the West.

The Peutinger Table — Tabula Peutingeriana, After a late-Roman original, c. 1200 copy

c. 1200 copy

The Peutinger Table

The road map of the Roman Empire.

The Arctic — Septentrionalium Terrarum descriptio, Gerard & Rumold Mercator, 1595

1595

The Arctic

the Rupes Nigra, a black magnetic rock at the pole.

polar azimuthal