Hic Sunt Dracones
August 26, 2013 10:28 AM   Subscribe

A collector has found what may be the oldest globe to depict the New World, dated 1504 and engraved two half ostrich eggs. The Hunt-Lenox Globe may be, according to analysis by Stefaan Missinne in The Portolan, designed after this new discovery.
"John W. Hessler of the Library of Congress said he saw “a couple red flags that popped up” while reading Missinne’s paper. He has heard from a number of sources that Missinne is actually the anonymous owner of the globe, raising a possible conflict of interest, given that Missinne is touting the importance of the discovery."
Press coverage of the globe, from the Washington Map Society.
posted by frimble (5 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Yeah, this thing is just covered in red flags. It'll be fun if it turns out to be authentic, but right now it's definitely in the "a little too good to be true" box. "Here be dragons" indeed.
posted by yoink at 11:17 AM on August 26, 2013


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I have a weird feeling about this. I sell a fair number of 20th century globes and have several map and globe dealer buddies, and all of the ones I've talked to about this also feel hinky about this.
posted by julen at 11:34 AM on August 26, 2013


yoink: “Yeah, this thing is just covered in red flags. It'll be fun if it turns out to be authentic, but right now it's definitely in the 'a little too good to be true' box. 'Here be dragons' indeed.”

I totally agree on the red flags. However, while I'm not sure you meant it this way, the "HIC SUNT DRACONES" inscription doesn't seem to be a red flag, actually. This is claimed to be the globe that the Hunt-Lenox globe from 1510 was cast from; and the Hunt-Lenox is one of very few contemporary globes that actually contain that phrase.
posted by koeselitz at 2:53 PM on August 26, 2013


(To be honest, though, the fact that it's kind of an exact copy of the Hunt-Lenox globe is a huge red flag to me.)
posted by koeselitz at 2:54 PM on August 26, 2013


I meant it mostly in a "caveat emptor" way, koeselitz (i.e., if you were a museum thinking about acquiring this object, you'd better be careful about navigating those waters), but I also think it's a bit of a sign that the object's a little too perfect.
posted by yoink at 2:57 PM on August 26, 2013


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