Catalog Archive
Auction 149, Lot 764

NO RESERVE

"[Lot of 3] The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation [and] The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation ... New Edition [and] Proceedings of the Vinland Map Conference",

Subject: References

Period: 1965-95 (published)

Publication:

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A. The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation, by R.A. Skelton, Thomas E. Marston, and George D. Painter, published 1965, black & white (9.1 x 11.8"). 291 pages with 30 illustrations and maps. This book analyzes 2 documents that surfaced in the late 1950's. The first is a manuscript account of the expedition of Friar Carpini across Central Asia on a mission to the Mongols in 1245-47. The second is a world map including the Western Ocean with representations of Iceland, Greenland and a land mass named "Vinland" (the North American mainland as known to the medieval Norsemen). Hardbound in red boards. Condition: The spine is sunned and dust jacket missing. Contents very good.

B. The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation ... New Edition, by R.A. Skelton, Thomas E. Marston, and George D. Painter, published 1995, printed color (9.3 x 11.8"). New edition of the above title with an introduction by George Painter and essays by Wilcomb Washburn, Thomas Cahill, Bruce Kusko and Laurence Witten, II. The Vinland Map is reputed to be the only pre-Columbian map showing Norse discoveries in America. The claim is that if this part of the map originated in the North, and probably in Iceland, it represents the only surviving medieval example of Norse cartography. Painter's new introduction presents scientific and humanistic evidence of the map's authenticity, while the new essays focus on the maps provenance, the tests that have been performed on it, and its compositional and structural aspects. Also included is an account by the rare-book dealer who sold the map. 291 pages plus 65 pages of new material with 9 figures (maps) and 4 color plates, plus a large folded map (figure 1), 19 plates (3 large folded), and 26 pages of the facsimile of the original manuscript. Condition: Contents very good with a few short tears on the dust jacket.

C. Proceedings of the Vinland Map Conference, by Wilcomb E. Washburn, published 1971, black & white (8.8 x 11.3"). Two-page color plate of the Vinland Map, black & white illustrations. A comprehensive chronicle of the debate surrounding the then controversial Vinland Map. If genuine, the Vinland Map, believed to be printed mid-15th Century, is the only known pre-Columbian map showing the existence of North America. Edited by Washburn and published for the Newberry Library by The University of Chicago Press. Maroon cloth and blue boards, with dust jacket. 185pp. Condition: Contents very good with one small chip and an unobtrusive abrasion on the dust jacket, else fine.

References:

Condition: A

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Estimate: $100 - $140

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Closed on 5/21/2014

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