I recently purchased on Amazon a reprint of an old book entitled Legendary Islands of the Atlantic: A Study in Medieval Geography. Originally published in 1922 by the American Geographical Society the book discussed the various legendary islands of the Atlantic which were charted on medieval European maps going back centuries.
The author, William H. Babcock, endeavored to discuss the origin of each legend, and any possible link the legend might have to the real world. The legends he studied are as follows:
- Atlantis
- St. Brendan's Island (and Exploration)
- The Island of Brazil
- The Island of the Seven Cities
- Mayda
- Greenland or "Green Island"
- Markland, Otherwise Newfoundland
- Estotiland and the Other Islands of Zeno
- Antillia and the Antilles
- Corvo
- The Sunken Land of Buss and other Phantom Islands
To my disappointment the reprint I purchased was really low quality. The reprint was basically just a scan of the original, including all of the old maps. However, the pdf scan was really low quality, rendering most of the maps unreadable. The worst part about this reprint was that it was missing nearly fifty whole pages of the original work, some of the best chapters.
So, months later, after studying for and taking the dreaded Bar Exam, I found myself online again looking for legendary islands of the Atlantic. I found an original 1922 edition on eBay for a bargain price and made the purchase. It arrived at my place a few days later in very good condition. I think, from what I've seen online, they only printed one run of the original edition in 1922.
Because this work is now out of copyright and in the public domain, I will be sharing the missing contents with the public, and probably re-scanning the maps in high quality.
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