"THE PORTOLAN"

[txmapsociety]

This thrice-yearly journal with articles on maps, the history of cartography, and exploration is the only journal of its kind in the Americas. Below is information on the Fall 2011 issue just published. See http://www.portolan.washmap.org for details on ordering the current or past issues of “The Portolan”. That link also takes the reader to the contents list of all back issues and an index to those issues. The focus of the society and the journal is not solely Washington; topics are widespread in scope.

"THE PORTOLAN": JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON MAP SOCIETY
ISSUE 81 (Fall 2011)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Issue 81 (Fall 2011), consisting of 72 pages, was published in August 2011 and is now in distribution to all paid subscribers and members in good standing of the Washington Map Society. Copies are available for purchase.

MARIANNE McKEE provides a selected bibliography of books relating to maps for children and young readers. EMMA THOMPSON in detail describes sea monsters on the Olaus Magnus map.

BARNET SCHECTER exposes many of the maps likely to have been used by George Washington.

GENE SCHEEL tells of a map he drew for Elizabeth Taylor. BERT JOHNSON reports on a triple-header map event in Texas. LEIGH LOCKWOOD describes a visit to the Museo Nacional de la Cartographia in Mexico City. LEIGH LOCKWOOD also provides a primer on using RSS feeds to collect map information from the internet. And there is more.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The Portolan" is published three times per year; issue 82 is due for release in late November 2011.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CONTENTS OF ISSUE 81 – FALL 2011

ARTICLES

“Expanding a Child’s World: a Selected Bibliography of Books Relating to Maps for Children and Young Readers” by Marianne McKee

“The Sea Monsters of Olaus Magnus: Classifying Wonder in the Natural World of Sixteenth Century Europe” by Emma Thompson

“George Washington's America: A Biography Through His Maps” by Barnet Schecter

“Elizabeth Taylor and the Map-maker” by Eugene Scheel

“Triple Texas Map Extravaganza – October 2010” by Bert Johnson

“A Visit to the Museo Nacional de la Cartografía, Mexico D. F.” by Leigh Lockwood

“immodicus notitia = Too much information (A Primer on RSS Feeds)” by Leigh Lockwood

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
This regular feature, a bibliographic listing of articles and books appearing worldwide on antique maps and globes and the history of cartography, is compiled by Joel Kovarsky.

BOOK REVIEWS

“Journeys beyond the neatline: expanding the boundaries of cartography” (Reviewer: Leah Thomas)

“Imagining Mount Athos - Visions of a Holy Place, from Homer to World War II” (Reviewer: Bert Johnson)

“Torn in Two – 150th Anniversary of the Civil War” (Reviewer: Richard Stephenson)

“Johann Schöner’s Globe of 1515 – Transcription and Study” (Reviewer: John Grubbins)

SHORTER ITEMS

1. Washington Map Society Meetings, September 2011 – April 2012

2. Vice President’s Fall 2011 Letter, by Dennis Gurtz

3. Exhibitions and Meetings

4. Map Site Seeing

5. Ristow Prize Competition 2012

6. WMS Business Meeting – April 2011, by Harold Meinheit

7. WMS Annual Dinner – May 2011, by Thomas F. Sander

8. Spotlight on the WMS Membership – Patrick Ahrens, Rolph Langlais, James Wolf

9. Cartographic Notes, by Thomas F. Sander

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

AUTHORS OF ARTICLES AND REVIEWS

JOHN GRUBBINS, made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 2000, served for twenty years in the U.S. Navy.

HUBERT O. (BERT) JOHNSON, a frequent contributor to “The Portolan,” is a student of the history of cartography of Greece, among other things.

JOEL KOVARSKY is proprietor of The Prime Meridian: Antique Maps & Books.

LEIGH LOCKWOOD lived in Mexico for more than 30 years. His technical experience began with a Radio Shack 100 in the early 1980’s in which programs were loaded from a cassette tape. He has donated a teaching map collection with corresponding commentary to The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.

A graduate of the Catholic University of America School of Library Science, MARIANNE M. MCKEE retired in early 2005 from the Library of Virginia, where she worked full-time since 1982 and with the map collection since 1987.

HAROLD MEINHEIT is Secretary of the Washington Map Society.

THOMAS SANDER is editor of “The Portolan”.

BARNET SCHECTER’s “George Washington's America: A Biography Through His Maps” chronicles the life of Washington, using 26 of the maps he created or used, and over 200 additional detail views.

Virginia historian and map maker EUGENE SCHEEL has drawn several county, farm and estate maps. Currently writing an agricultural history of his home county of Loudoun, he writes the “Piedmont Stories” column for “The Washington Post” newspaper.

RICHARD W. STEPHENSON retired from the Library of Congress in January 1992 as the Geography and Map Division’s Specialist in American Cartographic History. He is the author or editor of numerous articles and publications including “Civil War Maps”, and with Marianne M. McKee, “Virginia in Maps: Four Centuries of Settlement, Growth, and Development “.

LEAH M. THOMAS is the former Senior Maps Cataloger and Cataloging Coordinator at the Library of Virginia. She is now a PhD student in Media, Art, and Text at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her areas of interests are literature and cartography.

EMMA THOMPSON received honorable mention in the 2010 Dr Walter Ristow Prize for Academic Achievement in the History of Cartography. This article is based on her senior colloquium project at Skidmore College, from which she graduated in 2009 with a degree in history. Emma is currently working for the New England Aquarium in Boston.