Friends of the Geography and Map Division Fall 2013 Volume XI, Number 4 Philip Lee Phillips Map Society Find Us Online: of the www.loc.gov/phillips Library of Congress
Inside this issue: Remembering Richard Stephenson
Steering Commit- 2 tee Meets in Forty Five Years of Service at the Library of Congress Florida Austro-Hungarian 3 Map Project Richard W. Stephenson, a founding member of the Philip How the Nazis 3 Lee Phillips Map Society, and Wiped a Czech who served 45 years at the Li- Town from Map brary of Congress, died on Sep- Sea Monsters and 4 tember 25, 2013 at the age of 83. Medieval Maps Ralph E. Ehrenberg, Chief of G&M, recalls Mr. Stephenson’s Sea Monster 5 work at the Library. Artists When I first met Dick G&M Staff at 7 nearly fifty years ago while National Book doing research in the Read- Festival ing Room of the Library of Colleagues 7 Congress’s Geography and Remember Rich- Map Division, then located ard Stephenson in the Library’s Adams Building, he was already a
veteran member of the Li- brary, having begun work there on a temporary basis during World War II at the Cartographic History. Science from The Catholic age of 14. He was born and raised University of America, His career at the Library some eight blocks from the which he completed while of Congress would go on to Library of Congress, where taking night classes. span 45 years. Dick retired his father served as custodi- Not one to rest on his from the Library of Con- [email protected] an of the Library’s Capital laurels, following his retire- gress in 1992 after spending Station and as Assistant Li- ment from the Library of News and information about 40 years with the Geography brarian of the Loan Division. Congress, Dick began his the premier map collections of and Map Division, where he second career after moving the Library of Congress. supervised the acquisitions Dick earned a B. A. de- to Winchester, VA, where he unit and the Reading Room, gree in Geography from The quickly became associated and served as the Library’s George Washington Univer- sity and a Masters in Library first Specialist in American Story continues on page 6 Philip Lee Phillips Map Society Volume XI, Number 4 Pa ge 2 Steering Committee Meets in Fla.
The Steering Committee met on * November 1 in Tampa, Florida. Chief Ehrenberg reported that the Di- Three new members were added to vision, in conjunction with the Phillips the Steering Committee: Bob David of Society, will be publishing an “Occasional Florida, Richard Pflederer of Virginia, Papers” series. The first installment will be and James Walker of Oregon. Each an article on the mapping of Washington, gentleman brings an interesting pro- D.C. by the late Richard W. Stephenson. fessional background and a great en- * thusiasm for maps to the group. A joint publication with the Academia * Sinica Digital Center in Taiwan titled, The group has agreed to “table” Reading Imperial Cartography: Ming—Quing any substantial name change. Going Historical Maps in the Library of Congress, is The Philip Lee Phillips Map forward, publications will bear the title scheduled to be released in November. It Society of the Library of Congress is Philip Lee Phillips Map Society of the includes contributions and translations named in honor of Philip Lee Phil- Library of Congress: Friends of the from Min Zhang, G&M Head of Catalog- lips (1857-1924), the first Superin- Geography and Map Division. ing, Cordell Yee of St. John’s College and tendent of Maps at the Library of Congress when the Hall of Maps * a member of the Phillips Society’s Aca- demic Advisors, prepared a contextual and Charts was established in 1897. Dr. Margrit Krewson, former Li- essay. Mr. Ehrenberg wrote an introduc- The group is a non-profit, vol- brary of Congress German/Dutch tion on the acquisition of the maps. Dr. untary association whose objective Area Specialist, was a special guest Tien-jen Lin from the National Palace Mu- is to develop, enhance, and promote who was honored for her unwavering seum, Taiwan provided descriptive anno- the work of the Geography and commitment to the Library's acquisi- tations to 157 maps. Map Division by advancing its pub- tions of the unique Waldseemüller lication, education, exhibition, world wall maps of 1507 and 1516 and * preservation and acquisition pro- the recently purchased 1516 Dürer The Phillips Society has received grams. Star Chart, which was originally part $52,100 in donations for calendar year of the same portfolio with the Wald- 2013. The group spent $32,663. The larg- For membership seemüller maps. est expense was the annual conference. and The budget’s present balance is $239,381. Chief Ralph Ehrenberg thanked Dr. activities information, Krewson in a letter of gratitude that * please contact: he read before the Committee de- The Steering Committee has set a goal scribing her two decades long effort, of raising an accumulated $1 million in much of it during her retirement, to donations by the time of the annual con- Newsletter Staff ensure that these treasures were ac- ference in May 15, 2014. The organization quired by the Library. has accumulated $939,154 since its incep- Ryan Moore, In recognition of her significant tion in 1995. Editor contributions to the Library, G&M, and to scholarship, the Steering Com- [email protected] mittee named Dr. Krewson the first By Ryan Moore 202-707-7779 honorary member of the Phillips Soci- Ralph E. Ehrenberg, ety. Managing Editor
Friends of the Geography and Map Division Pa ge 3 Austro-Hungarian Map Project
G&M has re-housed its collection ones existed. The erstwhile empire was fore, utilizing historical gazetteers along of topographic maps of the former plagued with internal strife that with the collection is suggested. Austria-Hungarian Empire known as prompted a series of exoduses. The Most of the geographic data was Spezialkarte der osterreichisch-ungarischen United States was the primary destina- compiled from rigorous mathematical Monarchie. With the original maps safe- tion. Since 1820 more than 4.3 million surveys. The earliest editions of the ly protected, a microfilm copy is availa- people immigrated to America. Notable sheets especially were beautifully drawn ble for general research. The Division among them were newspaper publisher and engraved, and printed in single col- intends to scan and place the set online Joseph Pulitzer, escape artist Harry or on heavy linen paper. For later edi- in the future. Houdini and composer Antonin Dvo- tions, however, the publishers resorted The materials are an invaluable tool rak. to the more economical lithography for genealogical and historical study. The collection, mapped at a scale of that allowed them to add minimal col- They were published by the Austro- 1:75,000, depicts nearly all towns, vil- oring to vegetation and place names. Hungarian Monarchy’s Militärgeogra- lages, hamlets, and shtetls (Yiddish for The maps include a trove of other phisches Institut from 1877 to 1914, with “little town”) throughout the former physical and cultural features, such as subsequent editions drafted, printed, empire. Earlier editions tend to record highways, roads, and trails; railroads; and re-issued by other mapping author- place names by their German cognates, telegraph lines; post offices; churches, ities into the late 1930s. Initially con- though they can also identify them by synagogues, and mosques; cemeteries; sisting of 776 sheets, revisions and new their Slavic, Hungarian, Latin, or Ro- castles; mines; mills; factories; bridges; editions have increased this to more manian cognates. rivers, streams, and lakes; international than 5,000. The feature is especially helpful to and lower-level administrative bounda- The Austro-Hungarian Empire col- those seeking the location of an ances- ries; and woodlands, forests, and lands lapsed suddenly at the end of WWI. tral community, which may have under cultivation. She was multinational and had eight changed names one or more times By Mike Klein official languages; many more unofficial within a brief historical period. There- How the Nazis Wiped a Czech Town from the Map The Nazis razed the small Czech vil- lage of Lidice in 1942 in retaliation for the assassination of SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the chief German official in occupied Czechoslovakia, by two Czech partisans. Every adult male and fifty-two women were shot, and all surviving women and children were deported either for exter- mination or "Germanization." The entire village was blasted with dynamite and ploughed with bulldozers so that no trace The later, German edition of the of it remained. map, dated October 1943, excludes the name and depiction of the village. Illustrated here are two editions of sheet 3952 from the Spezialkarte der oster- Literally, Nazi cartographers have reichisch-ungarischen Monarchie series. The wiped Lidice off the map. A new town earliest edition dated 1881 depicts Lidice, by the same name has since been re- or the German form, Liditz, which for established not far from its original site. centuries had been a small agricultural By Mike Klein village. Friends of the Geography and Map Division Pa ge 4
Sea Monsters and Medieval Maps G&M Scholar Explores Topic in Latest Book
Oceans in medieval times were by sailors who frightening places filled with monsters, claimed to have according to the maps of the era. mistaken whales for Chet Van Duzer, G&M staff mem- islands or were ber, has written a book on the topic tricked into harm’s titled Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renais- way by sirens. Oth- sance Maps. The 144-paged book is pub- ers claimed that fly- lished by the British Library. ing creatures plucked fellow sail- Van Duzer supported his book’s ors from their ships release with a talk at the Library of and cast them into Congress in September. the deep blue sea. The author was inspired to write after a trip in 2009 to the National Li- brary in Madrid, where he consulted a Warding off fifteenth-century manuscript of Ptole- Monsters my’s Geography and “saw that its maps Sea charts were a had sea monsters everywhere.” Realiz- favored medium for ing there was not a thorough study of presenting levia- the topic, Van Duzer commenced his thans of the deep, research. Van Duzer said. The final product is a book that Olaus Magnus’s A siren from Paolo Forlani's map of 1565. takes a meticulous, encyclopedic ap- chart of 1539 proach to describing sea monsters. showed the waters off the Norwegian the next page for more information.) Whenever possible, Van Duzer refer- coast filled with dangerous monsters. By the seventeenth century, man's ences the sources from where the map The Swedish cartographer illustrated knowledge of the seas had advanced, creators “borrowed” their conceptions. desperate sailors unleashing barrels as and many illustrations of monsters The book begins with the earliest a man on the ship plays a trumpet in were largely decorative and at times, mappaemundi, a type of proto-world map order to scare a pair of whale-like purposely symbolic. on which these monsters appear in the monsters away. These were suggested A famous example is present in tenth century, and continues to the end “methods” to ward off attacks. Martin Waldseemüller’s 1513 Carta of the sixteenth century. Marina. It shows King Manuel of Por- Sea Monsters as Symbols tugal riding a sea monster Triton-style just to the east of the Cape of Good Monsters Based on “Science” Drawing sea monsters was a busi- Hope. The empire’s dominance over Van Duzer argues that medieval ness for skilled artists who specialized the sea is being noted, Van Duzer said. in the genre. Pierre Desceliers’s world cartographers believed that the sea monsters they were depicting were real, map of 1550 is one example, where a and that they relied on “scientific siren is depicted admiring herself in a By Ryan Moore sources” of the day. The notion was mirror. The colors and brushstrokes that for every land animal, there was a are different from the main body of sea animal equivalent. the work. Van Duzer argues this sug- gests the hand of a “sea monster spe- Cartographers based these represen- cialist” was employed. (Editor’s note: see tations of the seas from accounts given Philip Lee Phillips Map Society Volume XI, Number 4 Pa ge 5 Sea Monster Artists Alive in Brushstrokes The names of medieval with ships as well as sea of the water are not alike. Library. artists who illustrated maps monsters, each with a patch Additionally, differences may By Ryan Moore with depictions of monsters of wavy ocean water paint- be perceived in the water are lost to history, but evi- ed beneath it. beneath other sea monsters dence of their input to the While studying the map, and ships elsewhere on the mapmaking process can be a scene along the Horn of map, he said. found in brushstrokes, said Africa caught his attention. Desceliers probably col- Chet Van Duzer, G&M There along southern tip of ored the water beneath the staff member and author on Africa is a siren admiring ships, and it seems likely that the topic. herself in a mirror in a ges- he painted the ships, he said. A good example is ture of vanity, and to the However, its highly likely Pierre Desceliers’s large and right, a ship sailing to the he had help from a specialist gloriously colored manu- east. who painted the sea mon- script world map of 1550, The styles in which the sters, Van Duzer said. which was made for either water is painted beneath the Illustrated below is a por- King Henry II of France or siren and that under the the Duc de Montmorency. tion of Desceliers’s 1550 ship are quite different, he map which is in the British The map is decorated said adding that the colors Friends of the Geography and Map Division Pa ge 6 Remembering a Colleague with the Handley Regional Library Board, serving as its chairman for six years, and co-chair of the Hand- ley Regional Library’s 100th Anni- versary Planning Committee. During a distinguished career that spanned seven decades, Dick generously shared his unrivaled knowledge of the Geography and Map Division’s collections, histori- cal cartography, and map librarian- ship through teaching, and through numerous exhibitions and publica- tions. For many years he taught gradu- ate level courses, including “Map Librarianship,” the “History of Maps and Map Collection,” and the Richard Stephenson introducing G&M’s Civil War exhibit in 1989. “History of Cartography” at The Catholic University of America and George Mason University. More recently, he had taught an eight- week course for senior citizens at Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps Shenandoah University's Center for and Atlases in the Library of Congress Lifelong Learning. (1989); "A Plan Whol[l]y New": Pierre Dick’s passion for the history Charles L’Enfant's Plan of the City of Wash- and geography of our region found ington (1993); and Virginia in Maps: Four expression in major exhibitions, Centuries of Settlement, Growth, and Develop- several authoritative books, refer- ment, which he co-edited with Marianne ence aids, and some 40 articles. McKee (University of Virginia Press, The exhibitions included City of 2000). Magnificent Distances: The Nation’s Dick will be greatly missed. Capital, a memorable exposition at By Ralph E. Ehrenberg the Library of Congress in 1991 that commemorated the 200th anniver- Chief of G&M sary of Peter Charles L’Enfant’s plan of Washington, D.C., and Jed Hotchkiss: Shenandoah Valley Mapmak- er, a similarly impressive presenta- tion that opened at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, Va. in 2009 and then traveled to the Library of Congress. Richard Stephenson on the Lewis and His major publications include Clark Historic Trail in 1999. Friends of the Geography and Map Division Pa ge 7 G&M Staff Assist at National Book Festival Jacquie Nolan (right) and six other G&M staff members volunteered to work at the National Book Festival September 21-22 on the National Mall. Ms. Nolan gave a presentation on the Division’s Congressional Cartog- raphy Program, which includes the use of GIS, geographic information sys- tem, a software program that allows for the creation of original maps or to add data to existing maps to illustrate a problem or plan. Chet Van Duzer gave a talk on Renaissance Cartography. Iris Taylor, Colleen Cahill, Edward Redmond and Mike Buscher volun- teered at the event. Colleagues Recall Stephenson “Dick was a mentor to many.” — Congress, and Dick used to play on and after a short pause they burst out John Hébert, former Chief, G&M Capitol Hill as a small boy. He knew the laughing. I immediately felt welcomed history of the cartography of Washing- and at home.” — Mike Buscher, Acting ton like few did.” — Bert Johnson, for- Head of Reference, G&M “I recall Dick with fondness and mer President, Washington Map Society friendship. He was always a charming and helpful colleague.” — Francis Her- “He was well known to historians bert, former Map Curator, The Royal “I will always remember the first day of American cartography.” — Ron Geographic Society I reported to work at the Geography Grim, Boston Public Library and Map Division. It was 1979 and the Division was located at South Pickett St. “Dick leaves behind an impressive in Alexandria, VA. I was the first to ar- “Sad to learn of Dick’s passing. body of work … He remains with us in rive that day and the LC Police wanted Such a friendly, gentle guy.” — Edward many ways.” — Heather Wanser, some verification beyond an ID before I Dahl, Curator, National Archives of Preservation Specialist, Library of Con- was allowed to enter. A couple of Canada gress minutes later Dick Stephenson arrived and I introduced myself. Dick, who was Head of the G&M Reading Room at the “I will always think of him as the re- time, listened carefully and told the of- incarnation of Philip Lee Phillips.” — ficer that I was legitimate. He also told John Hessler, Kislak Collection Curator, the officer that he could certainly under- G&M stand the officer’s reluctance to allow me to enter and commented that the “Dick was one of the nicest, most Library of Congress must have dramati- congenial men I have known in my life. cally lowered its standards in hiring new His dad had worked at the Library of technicians. The officer heartily agreed Friends of the Geography and Map Division Pa ge 8 Steering Committee
George Tobolowsky, Texas (Chair) Dianne G. Powell, Texas (Vice Chair) Wesley A. Brown, Colo. Robert David, Fla. Joseph H. Fitzgerald, Fla. William B. Ginsberg, N.Y. Arthur Holzheimer, Ill. Jay Lester, N.C. Glen McLaughlin, Calif. Kenneth Nebenzahl, Ill. Richard Pflederer, Va. Seymour I. Schwartz, N.Y. J. Thomas Touchton, Fla. James Walker, Ore. William Wooldridge, Va. Academic Advisors
Ronald Grim, Boston Public Library Alice Hudson, New York Public Library, Ret. Mark Monmonier, Syracuse University Mary Pedley, Univ. of Michigan Dennis Reinhartz, Univ. of Texas at Arlington, Emeritus Norman J. W. Thrower, Univ. of California at LA Cordell D. K. Yee, St. John’s College, Annapolis
Ex Officio
Ralph E. Ehrenberg, Chief, G&M
John R. Hébert, Chief, G&M , 1999-2011
John A. Wolter, Chief, G&M, 1978-1991