anniekoh:

The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps

Edward Brooke-Hitching

There appears to be a boomlet in pop-cartography, I blame Atlas Obscura maybe? I came across The Phantom Atlas in the new books section at the library, and thoroughly enjoyed the introduction’s factoids.

  • Previously labeled as “Existence Doubtful,” 123 islands cleared from British Royal Navy’s chart of North Pacific in 1875
  • Sandy Island in eastern Coral Sea finally had its nonexistence established in Nov 2012, 136 years after it was first ‘sighted’ (and a whole seven years after google Maps was launched)
  • Cartographers themselves have even indulged in minor deceptions for protection, devising their own fictitious geographies to use as copyright ‘traps’ in the same way as lexicographers have included fictitious entires to prove rivals have stolen their material. This isn’t solely antiquated practice, either. In 2005, a representative of the Geographers’ A-Z Street Atlas revealed to the BBC that the London edition of their map book at that time contained more than 100 fabricated streets. (pg. 11)

Phantom atlas