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+--- Thread: f57v and the Catalan Atlas (/thread-2022.html)
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f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Koen G - 27-07-2017
In another thread, Searcher mentioned compass roses (or wind roses). When one looks for info on these, the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is unavoidable, since it contains the first compass rose on a map. I'll select some info from the wiki for those who are unfamiliar with the work:
Quote:The Catalan Atlas is the most important map of the medieval period in the Catalan language (drawn and written in 1375). It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham (also known as "Abraham Cresques"), a Jewish book illuminator [...] The Catalan Atlas originally consisted of six vellum leaves folded down the middle, painted in various colors including gold and silver. The leaves are now cut in half. Each half-leaf is mounted on one side of five wooden panels. n overall size of 65 × 300 cm.
The first two leaves contain texts in Catalan covering cosmography, astronomy, and astrology. These texts are accompanied by illustrations. The texts and illustration emphasize the Earth's spherical shape and the state of the known world. They also provide information to sailors on tides and how to tell time at night.
[...]
Unlike many other nautical charts, the Catalan Atlas is read with the north at the bottom.
Now, you might notice I placed this thread in the Voynich forum instead of "Non-Voynich medievalia". That is because at just a glance I saw two indications which link this map to f57v.
The first one is that on this chart, several rulers are depicted, and ones who have a lot of gold are shown in a rather specific pose, holding up a gold nugget. I attach Mansa Musa, the 14th century king of Mali who, according to legend, brought along so much gold that he caused massive inflation where he went. The text on the Atlas reads:
Another such figure is queen Sebba. The legend reads: Arabia Sebba. Province that had queen Sebba; now it belongs to the Arabs Sarracens, and in it there very good aromas, as well as myrth and frankincense. Gold, silver and precious stones are plentiful, and there you can find a bird named Phoenix.
Now the second thing. In the other thread, I noted that the "North" on the compass rose is marked with an emblem for, according to the literature, the pole star. I have often said that at least in quire 13, this type of line denotes the northern polar region in the sky, so that's when my internal alarm went off.
But there's something else. On the first panel (cosmological) there is again a wind diagram, again topped with the curious pole star symbol. But here the symbol has been circled with a line, creating (or rather, bringing to the fore) a familiar shape, one very similar to the one in the centre of f57v. Just to show how similar they are, I have traced both (bottom).
I must say I haven't been following many discussions about this folio since it seems somewhat separate from the main sections. For all I know this is old news, though I haven't found anything in the forum search, apart from Diane mentioning the Atlas' relevance in more general terms.
I do think that it might hold more relevant information. For example, there is something to the way it draws cities (also found in some manuscripts). A city is basically a political symbol (flag, tower, dome...) placed inside cylindrical city walls.
Any thoughts?
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Koen G - 27-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Anton - 27-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Koen G - 27-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Anton - 27-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Koen G - 27-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Anton - 28-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - MarcoP - 28-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - ReneZ - 28-07-2017
RE: f57v and the Catalan Atlas - Koen G - 28-07-2017